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Wyoming Stories
Brokeback Mountain
WINNER OF THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL GOLDEN LION AWARD
Annie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many, Brokeback Mountain is her masterpiece.
Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheep herder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer.
Both men work hard, marry, have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it.
Brokeback Mountain was originally published in the New Yorker -- it won the National Magazine Award and was included in the O. Henry Stories 1998. In gorgeous and haunting prose Proulx limns the difficult, dangerous affair between two cowboys that survives everything but the world's violent intolerance.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published October 13, 1997
552 people are currently reading
45926 people want to read
About the author
Annie Proulx
110 books3,415 followersEdna Annie Proulx (Chinese:安妮 普鲁) is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News (1993), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994. Her short story "Brokeback Mountain" was adapted as an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-winning major motion picture released in 2005. Brokeback Mountain received massive critical acclaim and went on to be nominated for a leading eight Academy Awards, winning three of them. (However, the movie did not win Best Picture, a situation with which Proulx made public her disappointment.) She won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her first novel, Postcards.
She has written most of her stories and books simply as Annie Proulx, but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx.
She has written most of her stories and books simply as Annie Proulx, but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,801 reviews
January 15, 2019
I rarely go to the movies. Truly, the last movie I saw in a theater was Lincoln, in 2012.
But, one day back in 2005, a good friend called and wondered if I'd like to spend that snowy Sunday in a theater with her, watching something called Brokeback Mountain.
Brokeback Mountain? Never heard of it. Sure, I'd go.
Almost no one was in the theater that morning. My friend got popcorn, and I got comfortable. When Heath Ledger appeared on the giant screen, I got sassy, and my friend got uncomfortable.
For those of you who know me, you know I can get very outspoken about my leading men, and Heath has always made my heart beat faster. Before anyone could say “Ledger,” I was making Mmmm, Mmmm yummy sounds and saying things like “Mama like, oh, Mama like.”
My friend slid deeper into her seat and was like, “Rein it in, sister.”
But then Jake Gyllenhaal appeared on the screen and I had never seen him before and I was like, “What's up, Mr. Dimples? Mr. Sparkles? Why don't you come on over here with those shiny eyes?”
I swear I was worse than a 1940s sailor freshly docked at bay.
And just as my eyes were happily feasting on all of that eye candy in Levi's, the weirdest thing happened. . . the Heath character violently grabs the Jake character and they start to have a man-on-man fuck fest. Ain't no other way to describe it, folks.
I remember. . . my hands went numb and I was like. . . WTF? Why are those two hot, hetero guys up there doing that, instead of down here in this row, asking me if I'd like a drink? What is this? I thought we were having a good time, up on that mountain together. (Well, they were, I wasn't).
I was surly after that. Whenever someone asked me if I'd seen the movie, I'd respond with, “Yeah, I've seen the damn movie.”
While other people were getting themselves worked up and quoting scripture. . . I was like, “Why couldn't they have picked less attractive actors?” I didn't have a problem with them being gay, or whatever they were, I had a problem with not being able to imagine them with me. Let's face it, people, you go to a romantic movie, and part of the appeal is imagining yourself in that situation. I wish I had been AWARE of what was going to happen in the movie. I felt. . . taken unawares.
I also wish I had been one of the readers who had known the rather obscure short story when it came out in 1997. I wasn't an Annie Proulx reader yet, but I would become one, in 2013, and fall deeply in love with The Shipping News, too.
If I had read the story, before the movie, it would have been a completely different experience.
Well, anyway, now I have.
I spent last night discovering it, and I can't believe it, but it's one of the best stories I've ever encountered. The writing is stunning, just stunning, and Ennis and Jack's love story pulls you in immediately.
Please, do not mistake me. . . it is NOT a subtle story. The nearly violent interactions between the men in the movie have their basis here, in the original story. . . neither man is a shrinking violet when it comes to his love for the other.
But, oh, it is a love story.
It startled me, stunned me, aroused me, and saddened me. It is truly one of the best works of short fiction I've ever encountered.
And this line: if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it.
To me, this story isn't about being gay; it's about being in love with someone you can't have.
But, one day back in 2005, a good friend called and wondered if I'd like to spend that snowy Sunday in a theater with her, watching something called Brokeback Mountain.
Brokeback Mountain? Never heard of it. Sure, I'd go.
Almost no one was in the theater that morning. My friend got popcorn, and I got comfortable. When Heath Ledger appeared on the giant screen, I got sassy, and my friend got uncomfortable.
For those of you who know me, you know I can get very outspoken about my leading men, and Heath has always made my heart beat faster. Before anyone could say “Ledger,” I was making Mmmm, Mmmm yummy sounds and saying things like “Mama like, oh, Mama like.”
My friend slid deeper into her seat and was like, “Rein it in, sister.”
But then Jake Gyllenhaal appeared on the screen and I had never seen him before and I was like, “What's up, Mr. Dimples? Mr. Sparkles? Why don't you come on over here with those shiny eyes?”
I swear I was worse than a 1940s sailor freshly docked at bay.
And just as my eyes were happily feasting on all of that eye candy in Levi's, the weirdest thing happened. . . the Heath character violently grabs the Jake character and they start to have a man-on-man fuck fest. Ain't no other way to describe it, folks.
I remember. . . my hands went numb and I was like. . . WTF? Why are those two hot, hetero guys up there doing that, instead of down here in this row, asking me if I'd like a drink? What is this? I thought we were having a good time, up on that mountain together. (Well, they were, I wasn't).
I was surly after that. Whenever someone asked me if I'd seen the movie, I'd respond with, “Yeah, I've seen the damn movie.”
While other people were getting themselves worked up and quoting scripture. . . I was like, “Why couldn't they have picked less attractive actors?” I didn't have a problem with them being gay, or whatever they were, I had a problem with not being able to imagine them with me. Let's face it, people, you go to a romantic movie, and part of the appeal is imagining yourself in that situation. I wish I had been AWARE of what was going to happen in the movie. I felt. . . taken unawares.
I also wish I had been one of the readers who had known the rather obscure short story when it came out in 1997. I wasn't an Annie Proulx reader yet, but I would become one, in 2013, and fall deeply in love with The Shipping News, too.
If I had read the story, before the movie, it would have been a completely different experience.
Well, anyway, now I have.
I spent last night discovering it, and I can't believe it, but it's one of the best stories I've ever encountered. The writing is stunning, just stunning, and Ennis and Jack's love story pulls you in immediately.
Please, do not mistake me. . . it is NOT a subtle story. The nearly violent interactions between the men in the movie have their basis here, in the original story. . . neither man is a shrinking violet when it comes to his love for the other.
But, oh, it is a love story.
It startled me, stunned me, aroused me, and saddened me. It is truly one of the best works of short fiction I've ever encountered.
And this line: if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it.
To me, this story isn't about being gay; it's about being in love with someone you can't have.
September 17, 2023
“Jack, I swear —” he said, though Jack had never asked him to swear anything and was himself not the swearing kind.
Not a single word is wasted in this very short Annie Proulx story. It has the weight of a novel, with every word so carefully chosen, with every deceptively simple sentence packing an unexpected punch.
It’s a story of love punctuated by the weight of fear, longing that never gets rewarded, crushing loneliness that is meant to stay, and the price of denial of your needs. It’s the story of regret, the one that comes when it’s too late.
I can say it’s heartbreaking, but it’s actually way more subtle than that. It doesn’t as much break your heart - from the beginning you know there is no happy ending here - but instead makes it ache in a raw, haunting way.
“There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it.”
Two young men in working-class rural 1960s America where living life together in the open could have had dire consequences. And one of them was unwilling to take that risk. And so they carried out their affair in stolen minutes and days here and there over two decades — “One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough.”
And it’s a protracted gut punch.
“Try this one,” said Jack, “and I’ll say it just one time. Tell you what, we could a had a good life together, a fuckin real good life. You wouldn’t do it, Ennis, so what we got now is Brokeback Mountain. Everything built on that. It’s all we got, boy, fuckin all, so I hope you know that if you don’t never know the rest. Count the damn few times we been together in twenty years. Measure the fuckin short leash you keep me on, then ask me about Mexico and then tell me you’ll kill me for needin it and not hardly never gettin it. You got no fuckin idea how bad it gets. I’m not you. I can’t make it on a couple a high-altitude fucks once or twice a year. You’re too much for me, Ennis, you son of a whoreson bitch. I wish I knew how to quit you.”
So sad, but such a well-written utterly devastating story. Those two shirts on a wire hanger — that’s the image that will always stay in my mind. The price of prejudice, denial and regret. And love.
5 stars.
________
A link to the pdf version of this story: https://www.taosmemory.com/oscar/Brok...
——————
Also posted on my blog.
March 4, 2013
Normally, I would never read something like this. No, I am not homophobic (my older brother is gay); but I do get uncomfortable when reading about two men kissing. So, needless to say, I wasn't expecting much from this very short novella.
Let me be the first to say how utterly wrong I was. This novella is not merely about two men who fall in love; it is about love itself. The love story these men share is intense, stormy, beautiful, and heart-wrenching, and I found myself thankful that I have only ever loved one woman my entire life--I duped her into marrying me later--and, therefore, have never had my heart broken.
Put away your preconceived ideas and give this story a chance. If anything, it will only take you a few hours to read. But if you like it, I am sure you will leave this story with a greater insight to what it means to be in love with someone.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Let me be the first to say how utterly wrong I was. This novella is not merely about two men who fall in love; it is about love itself. The love story these men share is intense, stormy, beautiful, and heart-wrenching, and I found myself thankful that I have only ever loved one woman my entire life--I duped her into marrying me later--and, therefore, have never had my heart broken.
Put away your preconceived ideas and give this story a chance. If anything, it will only take you a few hours to read. But if you like it, I am sure you will leave this story with a greater insight to what it means to be in love with someone.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
June 29, 2025
In honor of Brokeback Mountain being nearly 20-years old (!!) and newly released on 4K disc, I'm journeying back to the story and screenplay which changed my life.
I was 16.5 years old when the film debuted on December 9, 2005. The limited release in LA/NYC was already a box office smash and critical reviews were stellar. In Oklahoma we had to wait a while longer for it to appear in local theaters. Unlike Utah, where it was banned in at least one cinema due to its "dangerous" portrayal of non-traditional family, I'm not aware of any protests or controversy. Of course everyone was talking about it. Much later, after sweeping the Golden Globes, it even started playing in my small town. The local paper gave it a glowing review. I was shocked.
Before it debuted locally, however, I drove over an hour each way to see it on the big screen near Oklahoma City. I also drove any friend willing to go with me. In total, I ended up seeing it around 14 times in theaters. Somewhere I still have the ticket stubs to prove it. Huge thank you to all the box office attendants who let me buy tickets to an R-rated movie without adult accompaniment.
Of course I also read Annie Proulx's 1997 short story, originally published in The New Yorker and later included in the Pulitzer-nominated collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories. At the time I remember enjoying the story, but finding it perhaps too veiled in its description of physical love. I was a horny teenager, what can I say?
Reading it back now, I appreciate the original story a lot more. All the film's iconic dialogue is pulled straight from these pages, unabridged and in its entirety. Sometimes internal thoughts are converted to dialogue in the film, and occasionally a single word might be exchanged. Otherwise, it's all here, miraculously housed in a mere 28 pages.
Annie Proulx's writing is gorgeous and crisp. Arguably too sparse at times. She loves her commas and the best imagery is often breezed through in a string of clauses. It would be wise to read her very slowly and allow the weight of each word to take hold. Or just watch the movie. This is a rare case where I do think the movie is better. Without the masterful delivery of Heath Ledger, Jack Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid, and Anne Hathaway, the pitch-perfect dialogue doesn't land quite as strong on the page.
Reflecting back on my youth, I think there's a number of reasons I found the movie so moving. It was my first experience with high art in popular culture, for one. I often brought notepad and pencil to my cinema viewings, conducting literary analysis in real time. I recall noting how each time Jack and Ennis allow themselves joy, a natural element or interpersonal conflict separates them. In the end, these factors both succeed and fail to keep them apart. I remember doing a lengthy comparison to Romeo & Juliet at one point, but that was only one of my many literary musings.
Of course, there was also a more personal impact. Being gay in Oklahoma during the G.W. Bush years, there wasn't a lot of positivity in my life. My peers enjoyed my company more as a curiosity of nature rather than any real friendship. Later, I discovered, they thought my gayness was a ploy for attention. When I actually started having relationships with guys, they rebuked me. My family was exceedingly homophobic. I lived with the fear they would place me in conversion therapy at any moment. Every day I wasn't 18 felt like a day of danger, when somebody might use their parental authority to destroy my life.
Separate from the ground-breaking plot of Brokeback Mountain, I think the critical acclaim changed my life. Gay pop culture references at this time were largely farces (Will & Grace, for example). The mere concept that a gay storyline could be profound and award-worthy was completely new to me. I checked its Rotten Tomatoes score daily, almost in tears to see it so overwhelmingly "Fresh."
I don't think I was alone in feeling this way. It's likely why there's still so much fury that Crash won Best Picture over Brokeback. I was furious too. But in hindsight, I'm okay with it. Crash is a great movie too. At the time, though, that critical validation felt like everything. Our lives mattered, our stories mattered. Our love was just as worthy of analysis as straight love.
Anyway, these thoughts all came rushing to me after re-reading the short story. I'll pick back up after reading the screenplay, also included in this book.
The Screenplay
For those who never or rarely read screenplays, this is a wonderful place to start. It's certainly among the best I've read, from a technical perspective as well as content. The directions are crisp yet wildly visual, and there's plenty of descriptions which give new insights to iconic scenes I knew by heart. Small things, such as a bottle of "cheap white wine" found in Ennis' refrigerator being a "legacy of Cassie" got me very excited.
There's also gorgeous character detail. These words were largely intended for the actor and director, but readers will relish them as well. For example, when Ennis discovers the two shirts in Jack's old bedroom, there's this direction:
ENNIS presses his face into the fabric and breathes in slowly through his mouth, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of JACK. But there is no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain, of which nothing is left but what he now holds in his trembling hands.
The screenplay is full of such moments. While the cast somehow managed to convey these emotions without words, the added detail brings new insight into their performance.
Also included in the book are a section of glossy images from the film and three short essays from the writers.
"Getting Movied" by Annie Proulx
A marvelous short essay offering insight into Annie Proulx's creative vision behind Brokeback Mountain.
She recalls seeing an "older ranch hand" at a bar in 1997. Though the bar was full of beautiful women, she noticed his fixation was on a particular cowboy playing pool. Something about his expression suggested "bitter longing" and Proulx wondered if he might be "country gay."
Her creative mind began to whirl with possible backstories for this stranger across the bar, what he might've endured living in "homophobic rural Wyoming."
A few days later, Proulx overheard a cafe owner ranting about how two "homos" came in and ordered dinner the other night. Soon the pieces started coming together for her short story.
As much as I've watched and read Brokeback Mountain, I hadn't read this essay before. It's surprisingly forthright for an author describing the creative process. It also improves my opinion of Annie Proulx who has come across in recent years as almost annoyed by the emotional reactions to her story. She even said that she "regretted" writing the story after receiving so many manuscripts of fan fiction with alternative happy endings. Probably she was only joking.
In this essay, we see her very sympathetic of hardships faced by the gay community. She references Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming student who was tortured and murdered just one year after her story was published. She expressions gratitude for the fan letters after the story's publication in The New Yorker and mentions the letters she wrote to Ang Lee, urging him to make certain changes to the film.
The essay makes it abundantly clear that Brokeback Mountain was important to Proulx and not just something she whipped up one day on a whim. She believed in the story and feared the movie might be inadequate. In the end, she provides a long list of things the movie got right and even did better than her story.
Larry McMurtry - "Adapting Brokeback Mountain"
As Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry was no stranger to Western life and fiction. This short essay is less about his process of adapting Brokeback Mountain for screen as it is theoretical musings on the challenges of adapting great literature in general. This thought then trails off to the dangers of picturesque idealism. The West landscape is rich with splendor and beauty, but is also deadly and prone to heartbreak. A fitting setting for the story of Jack and Ennis. McMurtry describes his source material as a modern masterpiece. Also, a story that has been there all along, waiting eons for someone with Proulx's skill to write it.
While not as revealing as Proulx's essay, and somehow meandering despite its short length, there are enough reveals from the late master of Western fiction and Academy Award-winner to make it a noteworthy text for anyone studying Brokeback's legacy.
Diana Ossana - "Climbing Brokeback Mountain"
In this essay we learn the backstory of how Brokeback Mountain became a film, from Ossana first reading the story in the New Yorker to the many years of waiting for Hollywood to take a chance on it. The essay oozes with vulnerable reflection, such as obsession with the source material and the fear of failure. There's a short note about the decision to never let threat of political backlash impede on their devotion to the story. Overall, a bit vague at times perhaps but generally satisfying to curious fans like me who want to know how a great film came to be.
Overall...
Revisiting Brokeback Mountain after several years has been an emotional journey. It's brought back memories from my coming-of-age years and reflection in general how this story has shaped my life.
Perhaps my favorite memory is of sneaking a piano rendition of the film's iconic "Wings" score into a high school Shakespeare performance. I was Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew and for some reason there was a scene with a piano on stage. I spent weeks learning the Brokeback theme song for just this moment, when my character would randomly play a few bars. It was all a hilarious inside joke for us theater kids. I'd dragged most of them to see the movie with me. After the performance, my mother was prouder of me playing the piano than having the lead role. Of course she had no idea where the tune was from LOL.
There's a question of how well Brokeback Mountain has aged. It's set in the 1960s in Wyoming and will be forever timeless of that era, but today our appetite for gay tragedies has lessened, I think. We still like the battle against adversity, but this is a Red, White & Royal Blue era of gay romance. We want that happy ending. We want prejudice to lose. In a way, Brokeback Mountain can feel hopeless at times. What if Ennis had decided to get a ranch with Jack? It's hard to imagine any scenario where things end happily. Of course, Annie Proulx would wag a finger at me for calling the story a romance. It isn't. It's a raw, real-life Western, and all the difficulties that come with the territory. Yes, love is part of it, but it's only a part.
Back in 2005, life didn't feel so different from the 1960s. Progress was happening, but not always well-received. Gay sex had just become legal in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas supreme court case. In 2004, gay marriage became legal in the state of Massachusetts. Rather than celebration, the nation at large—certainly in Oklahoma—was skeptical, fearful, and furious to see gay people normalized. Like Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas still feels today, a majority saw these legal victories as a slippery slope to full gay rights in the United States. And they weren't shy in their disagreement.
When I first saw the film, the idea of two cowboys living a happy, normal relationship was about as far-fetched as it appeared in Ennis' imagination. That made the movie more powerful and more real. Even today, that life wouldn't come without hardships. But now, I think, most viewers are more disconnected from the historical context. They might see Ennis as annoyingly stubborn and not a tragic hero of circumstance. The ending might feel played out, too much of a victory for the homophobes. Perhaps that explains the avalanche of fan fiction Annie Proulx receives, almost always with an alternative ending to her story.
Regardless of how trends come and go, however, there will always be a need for great tragedy. Revisiting Brokeback now, I didn't find it dated at all. That may or may not be a good thing. It may be a testament to its genius, or a reflection of the dark clouds looming in our current political environment.
I was 16.5 years old when the film debuted on December 9, 2005. The limited release in LA/NYC was already a box office smash and critical reviews were stellar. In Oklahoma we had to wait a while longer for it to appear in local theaters. Unlike Utah, where it was banned in at least one cinema due to its "dangerous" portrayal of non-traditional family, I'm not aware of any protests or controversy. Of course everyone was talking about it. Much later, after sweeping the Golden Globes, it even started playing in my small town. The local paper gave it a glowing review. I was shocked.
Before it debuted locally, however, I drove over an hour each way to see it on the big screen near Oklahoma City. I also drove any friend willing to go with me. In total, I ended up seeing it around 14 times in theaters. Somewhere I still have the ticket stubs to prove it. Huge thank you to all the box office attendants who let me buy tickets to an R-rated movie without adult accompaniment.
Of course I also read Annie Proulx's 1997 short story, originally published in The New Yorker and later included in the Pulitzer-nominated collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories. At the time I remember enjoying the story, but finding it perhaps too veiled in its description of physical love. I was a horny teenager, what can I say?
Reading it back now, I appreciate the original story a lot more. All the film's iconic dialogue is pulled straight from these pages, unabridged and in its entirety. Sometimes internal thoughts are converted to dialogue in the film, and occasionally a single word might be exchanged. Otherwise, it's all here, miraculously housed in a mere 28 pages.
Annie Proulx's writing is gorgeous and crisp. Arguably too sparse at times. She loves her commas and the best imagery is often breezed through in a string of clauses. It would be wise to read her very slowly and allow the weight of each word to take hold. Or just watch the movie. This is a rare case where I do think the movie is better. Without the masterful delivery of Heath Ledger, Jack Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid, and Anne Hathaway, the pitch-perfect dialogue doesn't land quite as strong on the page.
Reflecting back on my youth, I think there's a number of reasons I found the movie so moving. It was my first experience with high art in popular culture, for one. I often brought notepad and pencil to my cinema viewings, conducting literary analysis in real time. I recall noting how each time Jack and Ennis allow themselves joy, a natural element or interpersonal conflict separates them. In the end, these factors both succeed and fail to keep them apart. I remember doing a lengthy comparison to Romeo & Juliet at one point, but that was only one of my many literary musings.
Of course, there was also a more personal impact. Being gay in Oklahoma during the G.W. Bush years, there wasn't a lot of positivity in my life. My peers enjoyed my company more as a curiosity of nature rather than any real friendship. Later, I discovered, they thought my gayness was a ploy for attention. When I actually started having relationships with guys, they rebuked me. My family was exceedingly homophobic. I lived with the fear they would place me in conversion therapy at any moment. Every day I wasn't 18 felt like a day of danger, when somebody might use their parental authority to destroy my life.
Separate from the ground-breaking plot of Brokeback Mountain, I think the critical acclaim changed my life. Gay pop culture references at this time were largely farces (Will & Grace, for example). The mere concept that a gay storyline could be profound and award-worthy was completely new to me. I checked its Rotten Tomatoes score daily, almost in tears to see it so overwhelmingly "Fresh."
I don't think I was alone in feeling this way. It's likely why there's still so much fury that Crash won Best Picture over Brokeback. I was furious too. But in hindsight, I'm okay with it. Crash is a great movie too. At the time, though, that critical validation felt like everything. Our lives mattered, our stories mattered. Our love was just as worthy of analysis as straight love.
Anyway, these thoughts all came rushing to me after re-reading the short story. I'll pick back up after reading the screenplay, also included in this book.
The Screenplay
For those who never or rarely read screenplays, this is a wonderful place to start. It's certainly among the best I've read, from a technical perspective as well as content. The directions are crisp yet wildly visual, and there's plenty of descriptions which give new insights to iconic scenes I knew by heart. Small things, such as a bottle of "cheap white wine" found in Ennis' refrigerator being a "legacy of Cassie" got me very excited.
There's also gorgeous character detail. These words were largely intended for the actor and director, but readers will relish them as well. For example, when Ennis discovers the two shirts in Jack's old bedroom, there's this direction:
ENNIS presses his face into the fabric and breathes in slowly through his mouth, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of JACK. But there is no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain, of which nothing is left but what he now holds in his trembling hands.
The screenplay is full of such moments. While the cast somehow managed to convey these emotions without words, the added detail brings new insight into their performance.
Also included in the book are a section of glossy images from the film and three short essays from the writers.
"Getting Movied" by Annie Proulx
A marvelous short essay offering insight into Annie Proulx's creative vision behind Brokeback Mountain.
She recalls seeing an "older ranch hand" at a bar in 1997. Though the bar was full of beautiful women, she noticed his fixation was on a particular cowboy playing pool. Something about his expression suggested "bitter longing" and Proulx wondered if he might be "country gay."
Her creative mind began to whirl with possible backstories for this stranger across the bar, what he might've endured living in "homophobic rural Wyoming."
A few days later, Proulx overheard a cafe owner ranting about how two "homos" came in and ordered dinner the other night. Soon the pieces started coming together for her short story.
As much as I've watched and read Brokeback Mountain, I hadn't read this essay before. It's surprisingly forthright for an author describing the creative process. It also improves my opinion of Annie Proulx who has come across in recent years as almost annoyed by the emotional reactions to her story. She even said that she "regretted" writing the story after receiving so many manuscripts of fan fiction with alternative happy endings. Probably she was only joking.
In this essay, we see her very sympathetic of hardships faced by the gay community. She references Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming student who was tortured and murdered just one year after her story was published. She expressions gratitude for the fan letters after the story's publication in The New Yorker and mentions the letters she wrote to Ang Lee, urging him to make certain changes to the film.
The essay makes it abundantly clear that Brokeback Mountain was important to Proulx and not just something she whipped up one day on a whim. She believed in the story and feared the movie might be inadequate. In the end, she provides a long list of things the movie got right and even did better than her story.
Larry McMurtry - "Adapting Brokeback Mountain"
As Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry was no stranger to Western life and fiction. This short essay is less about his process of adapting Brokeback Mountain for screen as it is theoretical musings on the challenges of adapting great literature in general. This thought then trails off to the dangers of picturesque idealism. The West landscape is rich with splendor and beauty, but is also deadly and prone to heartbreak. A fitting setting for the story of Jack and Ennis. McMurtry describes his source material as a modern masterpiece. Also, a story that has been there all along, waiting eons for someone with Proulx's skill to write it.
While not as revealing as Proulx's essay, and somehow meandering despite its short length, there are enough reveals from the late master of Western fiction and Academy Award-winner to make it a noteworthy text for anyone studying Brokeback's legacy.
Diana Ossana - "Climbing Brokeback Mountain"
In this essay we learn the backstory of how Brokeback Mountain became a film, from Ossana first reading the story in the New Yorker to the many years of waiting for Hollywood to take a chance on it. The essay oozes with vulnerable reflection, such as obsession with the source material and the fear of failure. There's a short note about the decision to never let threat of political backlash impede on their devotion to the story. Overall, a bit vague at times perhaps but generally satisfying to curious fans like me who want to know how a great film came to be.
Overall...
Revisiting Brokeback Mountain after several years has been an emotional journey. It's brought back memories from my coming-of-age years and reflection in general how this story has shaped my life.
Perhaps my favorite memory is of sneaking a piano rendition of the film's iconic "Wings" score into a high school Shakespeare performance. I was Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew and for some reason there was a scene with a piano on stage. I spent weeks learning the Brokeback theme song for just this moment, when my character would randomly play a few bars. It was all a hilarious inside joke for us theater kids. I'd dragged most of them to see the movie with me. After the performance, my mother was prouder of me playing the piano than having the lead role. Of course she had no idea where the tune was from LOL.
There's a question of how well Brokeback Mountain has aged. It's set in the 1960s in Wyoming and will be forever timeless of that era, but today our appetite for gay tragedies has lessened, I think. We still like the battle against adversity, but this is a Red, White & Royal Blue era of gay romance. We want that happy ending. We want prejudice to lose. In a way, Brokeback Mountain can feel hopeless at times. What if Ennis had decided to get a ranch with Jack? It's hard to imagine any scenario where things end happily. Of course, Annie Proulx would wag a finger at me for calling the story a romance. It isn't. It's a raw, real-life Western, and all the difficulties that come with the territory. Yes, love is part of it, but it's only a part.
Back in 2005, life didn't feel so different from the 1960s. Progress was happening, but not always well-received. Gay sex had just become legal in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas supreme court case. In 2004, gay marriage became legal in the state of Massachusetts. Rather than celebration, the nation at large—certainly in Oklahoma—was skeptical, fearful, and furious to see gay people normalized. Like Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas still feels today, a majority saw these legal victories as a slippery slope to full gay rights in the United States. And they weren't shy in their disagreement.
When I first saw the film, the idea of two cowboys living a happy, normal relationship was about as far-fetched as it appeared in Ennis' imagination. That made the movie more powerful and more real. Even today, that life wouldn't come without hardships. But now, I think, most viewers are more disconnected from the historical context. They might see Ennis as annoyingly stubborn and not a tragic hero of circumstance. The ending might feel played out, too much of a victory for the homophobes. Perhaps that explains the avalanche of fan fiction Annie Proulx receives, almost always with an alternative ending to her story.
Regardless of how trends come and go, however, there will always be a need for great tragedy. Revisiting Brokeback now, I didn't find it dated at all. That may or may not be a good thing. It may be a testament to its genius, or a reflection of the dark clouds looming in our current political environment.
October 10, 2013
I picked this up at the library last night because it was a tiny book, perfect for today's lunch time read.
I'm ashamed to say that I attempted to watch the film, but fell asleep about 45 minutes in. Now that I've read this story, I'm going to revisit the film.
This is the first time I've read Annie Proulx. It is amazing how much story she covers in so few pages. Her spare prose, concise style and quiet intensity really worked for me.
An absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking love story! Makes me want to crack open a bottle of whiskey and roll a joint.
I'm ashamed to say that I attempted to watch the film, but fell asleep about 45 minutes in. Now that I've read this story, I'm going to revisit the film.
This is the first time I've read Annie Proulx. It is amazing how much story she covers in so few pages. Her spare prose, concise style and quiet intensity really worked for me.
An absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking love story! Makes me want to crack open a bottle of whiskey and roll a joint.
November 20, 2017
Annie Proulx is one of the foremost American writers today. Her novel The Shipping News won the Pulitzer Prize, and her latest novel Barkskins seems to have been written in the same vain. As I am drawn to Pulitzer winners in my ongoing personal challenge to read them, I decided to sample Proulx's writing before undergoing the reading of one of her full length novels. Brokeback Mountain set high in the Rockies and later made into a movie of the same name was originally published in the New Yorker. A controversial story of forbidden love, the writing did not disappoint.
Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist were both twenty and looking to embark on their ranching careers. Each came from a distinct background from opposite ends of the state of Wyoming yet wound up on the same summer sheep drive up on Brokeback Mountain near the Montana border. Both young men were classic macho cowboys who could hold his own on the range. Ennis was engaged to be married to a local sweetheart the following December. Yet, one cold night while sharing a sleeping bag, the two men engaged in a forbidden act of love that is all but taboo in the cowboy community. This one event commenced Jack and Ennis' relationship for the next twenty years, one that would hold disastrous for them and their families.
At only fifty five pages in length, Proulx weaved a tragic story of forbidden love. It is a subject matter that I often stay away from yet the writing was so compelling that I read the entire story in mere minutes. Proulx is originally from the eastern United States, but her prose describing rural Wyoming is captivating, and one could see how from this short story, that the scenery could easily transfer to the big screen. It is because of the writing that I stuck with the story. I felt for Ennis' wife who had to hide her husband's secret for years, working to support their two daughters while he pined for Jack. Proulx set the story up so that the majority of readers would sympathize with the cowboys, but I was lead to feel for the supporting cast of characters who were all effected by these two men's decision of continuing a forbidden, clandestine, taboo relationship. Not only were the characters well fleshed out, but Proulx weaved in multiple story lines in this short tale, making the writing engaging from start to finish.
After reading the tragic Brokeback Mountain, I am left uncertain whether I will read Proulx's Pulitzer winning novel. I have heard that her full length books are slow moving albeit attentive to detail and emphasizing character development rather than plot. It is obvious that from this short tale that Proulx can write and I am intrigued to fit her novels into my ongoing Pulitzer challenge. For now, I am left with a bittersweet taste in my mouth after engaging in this short story.
4.5 stars writing
2.75 stars story
Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist were both twenty and looking to embark on their ranching careers. Each came from a distinct background from opposite ends of the state of Wyoming yet wound up on the same summer sheep drive up on Brokeback Mountain near the Montana border. Both young men were classic macho cowboys who could hold his own on the range. Ennis was engaged to be married to a local sweetheart the following December. Yet, one cold night while sharing a sleeping bag, the two men engaged in a forbidden act of love that is all but taboo in the cowboy community. This one event commenced Jack and Ennis' relationship for the next twenty years, one that would hold disastrous for them and their families.
At only fifty five pages in length, Proulx weaved a tragic story of forbidden love. It is a subject matter that I often stay away from yet the writing was so compelling that I read the entire story in mere minutes. Proulx is originally from the eastern United States, but her prose describing rural Wyoming is captivating, and one could see how from this short story, that the scenery could easily transfer to the big screen. It is because of the writing that I stuck with the story. I felt for Ennis' wife who had to hide her husband's secret for years, working to support their two daughters while he pined for Jack. Proulx set the story up so that the majority of readers would sympathize with the cowboys, but I was lead to feel for the supporting cast of characters who were all effected by these two men's decision of continuing a forbidden, clandestine, taboo relationship. Not only were the characters well fleshed out, but Proulx weaved in multiple story lines in this short tale, making the writing engaging from start to finish.
After reading the tragic Brokeback Mountain, I am left uncertain whether I will read Proulx's Pulitzer winning novel. I have heard that her full length books are slow moving albeit attentive to detail and emphasizing character development rather than plot. It is obvious that from this short tale that Proulx can write and I am intrigued to fit her novels into my ongoing Pulitzer challenge. For now, I am left with a bittersweet taste in my mouth after engaging in this short story.
4.5 stars writing
2.75 stars story
November 6, 2021
Late in the afternoon, thunder growling, that same old green pickup rolled in and he saw Jack get out of the truck, beat up Resistol tilted back. A hot jolt scalded Ennis and he was out on the landing pulling the door closed behind him. Jack took the stairs two and two. They seized each other by the shoulders, hugged mightily, squeezing the breath out of each other, saying, son of a bitch, son of a bitch, then, and easily as the right key turns the lock tumblers, their mouths came together, and hard, Jack’s big teeth bringing blood, his hat falling to the floor, stubble rasping, wet saliva welling, and the door opening and Alma looking out for a few seconds at Ennis’s straining shoulders and shutting the door again and still they clinched, pressing chest and groin and thigh and leg together, treading on each other’s toes until they pulled apart to breathe and Ennis, not big on endearments, said what he said to his horses and his daughters, little darlin.”
Who’d have known this special movie was based on a short story? Obviously I am late to the party, a common theme with me, but I had no idea. I watched the movie years ago and loved it, and only just realised my work library held the audio CD. I grabbed it quick smart. Excellent and quality narration by Campbell Scott, this is a love story that is never fully realised by our two leading men.
Meeting in summertime, 1960’s, Ennis and Jack meet as ranch hands, their physical attraction immediate. Something catches these two men and summer after summer they try to grab back what they felt that first time. Both marry, and carry on with lives that lack lustre when apart, both joining again for snatches of time in the years to come.
Brutally honest writing as seen in the above excerpt, it is such succinct writing where ridiculous amount of depth is packed into something so small in volume, but so large in everything else.
I loved the scene where two work shirts joined together, unwashed sitting inside each other is a metaphor for a forever love, joined together, never to be parted.
"If you can't fix it, you have to stand it".
I loved it, can you tell?
Who’d have known this special movie was based on a short story? Obviously I am late to the party, a common theme with me, but I had no idea. I watched the movie years ago and loved it, and only just realised my work library held the audio CD. I grabbed it quick smart. Excellent and quality narration by Campbell Scott, this is a love story that is never fully realised by our two leading men.
Meeting in summertime, 1960’s, Ennis and Jack meet as ranch hands, their physical attraction immediate. Something catches these two men and summer after summer they try to grab back what they felt that first time. Both marry, and carry on with lives that lack lustre when apart, both joining again for snatches of time in the years to come.
Brutally honest writing as seen in the above excerpt, it is such succinct writing where ridiculous amount of depth is packed into something so small in volume, but so large in everything else.
I loved the scene where two work shirts joined together, unwashed sitting inside each other is a metaphor for a forever love, joined together, never to be parted.
"If you can't fix it, you have to stand it".
I loved it, can you tell?
June 10, 2024
[The movie is famous and I’ll soon leave a review for the book. All I’ll say at this point is the movie was filmed where I live, I accidentally walked on set during shooting, and we all loved Heath, everyone loved Heath. It broke our hearts to lose him 💔💔💔]
I knew about the story, like everyone else, but I didn’t “know” the story and I’ve never seen the film because I was waiting to do the read first. And now I have.
I didn’t realize the story was going to be a tragedy, but it is, with the more than hint that it’s a darker tragedy than a person recognizes on the surface. It’s as much a story about persecution as anything else. I came away sad which I think many people likely do. Nothing could really fit together for Jack and Ennis in their kind of world at that time in history.
The writing is very good. I’ll have to see what else she’s authored. There’s a solidness to her style.
I knew about the story, like everyone else, but I didn’t “know” the story and I’ve never seen the film because I was waiting to do the read first. And now I have.
I didn’t realize the story was going to be a tragedy, but it is, with the more than hint that it’s a darker tragedy than a person recognizes on the surface. It’s as much a story about persecution as anything else. I came away sad which I think many people likely do. Nothing could really fit together for Jack and Ennis in their kind of world at that time in history.
The writing is very good. I’ll have to see what else she’s authored. There’s a solidness to her style.
February 11, 2024
My kind of romance.
30% love, 80% depression and 0% maths.
30% love, 80% depression and 0% maths.
One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough.
June 2, 2021
I have to admit that when I first read this story, I had difficulty understanding a few scenes or passages, since it was written in the vernacular of the back country. But regret and fear of discovery are languages we can all understand.
We live in a global community where tolerance and acceptance are not always uniform. Many people who make lifestyle choices that may not be acceptable to their respective communities still suffer both physical and mental retaliation and ostracism. Although we have come a fair distance in North America, and in many other parts of the world, we still have a long way to go.
This story, and The Hours by Michael Cunningham, helped me understand that we have to stop succumbing to society's views of "normal, acceptable and popular." Years ago, I made it a point never to follow fads - it is just too easy to "follow the herd" and adopt the current thinking or mode. The first time I heard the phrase "march to the beat of your own drum," I liked it. It hasn't been easy, and very often I still err on the side of caution, but for the most part, I try.
Such a heartbreaking story, but worth the read. (The movie was a fairly decent adaptation, but a few key elements were changed. Broke my heart, too.)
We live in a global community where tolerance and acceptance are not always uniform. Many people who make lifestyle choices that may not be acceptable to their respective communities still suffer both physical and mental retaliation and ostracism. Although we have come a fair distance in North America, and in many other parts of the world, we still have a long way to go.
This story, and The Hours by Michael Cunningham, helped me understand that we have to stop succumbing to society's views of "normal, acceptable and popular." Years ago, I made it a point never to follow fads - it is just too easy to "follow the herd" and adopt the current thinking or mode. The first time I heard the phrase "march to the beat of your own drum," I liked it. It hasn't been easy, and very often I still err on the side of caution, but for the most part, I try.
Such a heartbreaking story, but worth the read. (The movie was a fairly decent adaptation, but a few key elements were changed. Broke my heart, too.)
March 23, 2019
Late to the party but I when I did get there I sure as heck enjoyed myself
This book was given to me by a friend who said I cant believe you have never read this or at least seen the movie. Well I hadn't and at 60 pages this short novela has a lot to say and really does pack quite a punch.
Originally published in The New Yorker in 1997 for which it won the National Magazine Award for fiction 1998.
In 1963 two young men Ennis del Mar and Jack Twish are hired for the summer to look after sheep at a seasonal grazing range on the fictional Brokeback mountain in Wyoming where they form a relationship that emotionally attaches them for the rest of their lives.
Terrific storytelling in so few pages and the emotion I felt while reading it really did surprise me. The author's writing and understanding of the characters really makes this story what it is, strong and sympathic characters make for great stories and I really found a lot of emotion in this little novel. A timeless story that that made me think, great character development and writing.
The one thing I did realise when finishing the novel is I DONT want to see the movie as I think the book works very well and while the movie may be great I dont want it to spoil my first impressions on reading this novel as even the actors playing the books characters are way too cute for the characters described in the book.
I really think a book group would get a great discussion from this one.
This book was given to me by a friend who said I cant believe you have never read this or at least seen the movie. Well I hadn't and at 60 pages this short novela has a lot to say and really does pack quite a punch.
Originally published in The New Yorker in 1997 for which it won the National Magazine Award for fiction 1998.
In 1963 two young men Ennis del Mar and Jack Twish are hired for the summer to look after sheep at a seasonal grazing range on the fictional Brokeback mountain in Wyoming where they form a relationship that emotionally attaches them for the rest of their lives.
Terrific storytelling in so few pages and the emotion I felt while reading it really did surprise me. The author's writing and understanding of the characters really makes this story what it is, strong and sympathic characters make for great stories and I really found a lot of emotion in this little novel. A timeless story that that made me think, great character development and writing.
The one thing I did realise when finishing the novel is I DONT want to see the movie as I think the book works very well and while the movie may be great I dont want it to spoil my first impressions on reading this novel as even the actors playing the books characters are way too cute for the characters described in the book.
I really think a book group would get a great discussion from this one.
April 20, 2017
That's fine. I didn't need my heart anyway.
This book is like a punch in the gut. I never thought that a short story could have such an impact on me. This isn’t simply a book about two cowboys falling in love: this is the heartbreaking tale of Jack and Ennis who love each other, but deny it not only because they’re afraid of the outside world, but also of their own feelings.
America in the 1960’s wasn’t a safe place for homosexuals after all, and if society can’t accept them, how can they accept themselves? That emotional struggle makes this book so heart-wrenching, because both men know their love for each other is real. It just can’t happen. And that tears them apart.
Maybe this story hits so much harder because the books I read earlier featured happy LGBT-characters. Where young transgender Stella gets the full support of her mother (The Sunlight Pilgrims) and Simon’s coming out is met with positive reactions (Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda), Jack and Ennis’s (love) life is anything but happy and easy. They were two masculine men living in prejudice Wyoming during the sixties, a place where young Ennis saw an old rancher being tortured to death for being gay. This was not uncommon back then, and times haven’t really changed for the better.
Because although the world is slowly getting more accepting of gay love, still so many LGBT-people are getting harassed, kicked out, or physically and/or emotionally abused because of who they love. Don’t get blinded by the Pride Parades or the legalisation of same-sex marriage in America: the world is still a cruel place for many.
This is why I think Brokeback Mountain is a must read for fans of LGBT-books, to get that reality check. To other readers I’d also recommend this book, because for a book with only 60 pages, this short story packs a powerful punch. The prose is concise and the writing style rough, but it suits the characters and their story.
5 stars for this heart-breaking little book, which I won’t forget soon.
This book is like a punch in the gut. I never thought that a short story could have such an impact on me. This isn’t simply a book about two cowboys falling in love: this is the heartbreaking tale of Jack and Ennis who love each other, but deny it not only because they’re afraid of the outside world, but also of their own feelings.
America in the 1960’s wasn’t a safe place for homosexuals after all, and if society can’t accept them, how can they accept themselves? That emotional struggle makes this book so heart-wrenching, because both men know their love for each other is real. It just can’t happen. And that tears them apart.
[Jack:] “You have no fuckin idea how bad it gets. I’m not you. I can’t make it on a couple a high-altitude fucks once or twice a year. You’re too much for Ennis, you son of a whoreson bitch. I wish I knew how to quit you.”
Maybe this story hits so much harder because the books I read earlier featured happy LGBT-characters. Where young transgender Stella gets the full support of her mother (The Sunlight Pilgrims) and Simon’s coming out is met with positive reactions (Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda), Jack and Ennis’s (love) life is anything but happy and easy. They were two masculine men living in prejudice Wyoming during the sixties, a place where young Ennis saw an old rancher being tortured to death for being gay. This was not uncommon back then, and times haven’t really changed for the better.
Because although the world is slowly getting more accepting of gay love, still so many LGBT-people are getting harassed, kicked out, or physically and/or emotionally abused because of who they love. Don’t get blinded by the Pride Parades or the legalisation of same-sex marriage in America: the world is still a cruel place for many.
This is why I think Brokeback Mountain is a must read for fans of LGBT-books, to get that reality check. To other readers I’d also recommend this book, because for a book with only 60 pages, this short story packs a powerful punch. The prose is concise and the writing style rough, but it suits the characters and their story.
5 stars for this heart-breaking little book, which I won’t forget soon.
January 18, 2023
Me ha gustado muchísimo.
La primera vez que leí el nombre de Annie Proulx fue en el libro El poder del perro de Thomas Savage el año pasado en un posfacio sobre la misma novela que me pareció maravilloso. Luego investigué sobre ella y para sorpresa mía resulta que ella es en parte la autora de una de las película que solo vi una vez en mi vida y que tengo fresca en mi memoria a día de hoy.
Aún con tantos años del visionado de la adaptación Brokeback Mountain o "secreto en la montaña" sé que no es para nada diferente a este relato corto, pero que a mí me resulta igual de fantástico por lo bien que deja relucir la ambientación rural y los comportamientos rudos, hostiles y agresivos en ese mismo entorno, incluso aún más cuando sus personajes son homosexuales a puertas cerradas y que sólo encuentran un breve resguardo entre las montañas.
Creo que no sobra decir que encuentro muchas similitudes entre esta historia y la de Thomas Savage porque se nota que nace de allí la inspiración pero también son bastante diferentes porque Annie Proulx es más explícita con la relación que mantienen sus personajes y la manera en que la tensión sexual crece y la atracción romántica es obvia cuando están solo ellos dos y no se enfrentan a las miradas de los demás porque la abominación hacia ellos mismos es tan clara hasta el punto en el que no pueden ser felices y se da el tan conocida amargo final. Creo que el magnífico encuadre de la construcción psicológica de ellos afectada por lo sociológico y asegurada por momentos en una montaña lejos de los demás en un paisaje que solo trae gratos y amargos recuerdos me resulta increíble y dura, pero a la vez tan real todavía.
Para mí, en tan poco ha dejado relucir una crítica bien construida y agridulce en la que ha dilucidado un manejo de la ambientación y la psicología a un gran nivel que solo quiero leer algo más de esta autora.
La primera vez que leí el nombre de Annie Proulx fue en el libro El poder del perro de Thomas Savage el año pasado en un posfacio sobre la misma novela que me pareció maravilloso. Luego investigué sobre ella y para sorpresa mía resulta que ella es en parte la autora de una de las película que solo vi una vez en mi vida y que tengo fresca en mi memoria a día de hoy.
Aún con tantos años del visionado de la adaptación Brokeback Mountain o "secreto en la montaña" sé que no es para nada diferente a este relato corto, pero que a mí me resulta igual de fantástico por lo bien que deja relucir la ambientación rural y los comportamientos rudos, hostiles y agresivos en ese mismo entorno, incluso aún más cuando sus personajes son homosexuales a puertas cerradas y que sólo encuentran un breve resguardo entre las montañas.
Creo que no sobra decir que encuentro muchas similitudes entre esta historia y la de Thomas Savage porque se nota que nace de allí la inspiración pero también son bastante diferentes porque Annie Proulx es más explícita con la relación que mantienen sus personajes y la manera en que la tensión sexual crece y la atracción romántica es obvia cuando están solo ellos dos y no se enfrentan a las miradas de los demás porque la abominación hacia ellos mismos es tan clara hasta el punto en el que no pueden ser felices y se da el tan conocida amargo final. Creo que el magnífico encuadre de la construcción psicológica de ellos afectada por lo sociológico y asegurada por momentos en una montaña lejos de los demás en un paisaje que solo trae gratos y amargos recuerdos me resulta increíble y dura, pero a la vez tan real todavía.
Para mí, en tan poco ha dejado relucir una crítica bien construida y agridulce en la que ha dilucidado un manejo de la ambientación y la psicología a un gran nivel que solo quiero leer algo más de esta autora.
June 24, 2022
These guys went from 0 to 100 real quick. I guess that's because this was a short story and not a full length novel. In this rare case the movie is somehow longer (1 hour audiobook vs 2 hour movie). I did see it years ago and it was definitely a bit more subtle in regards to the first interaction between the main characters.
This story is more about not being able to live the life you want than a gay relationship. It's about society's norms and families' expectations. It's about putting your needs and happiness on the back burner to satisfy others. Even worse, it's also about regret and taking time for granted. Regardless of sexual orientation, I think everyone will have an emotional response from it. Truly moving for such a short story.
This story is more about not being able to live the life you want than a gay relationship. It's about society's norms and families' expectations. It's about putting your needs and happiness on the back burner to satisfy others. Even worse, it's also about regret and taking time for granted. Regardless of sexual orientation, I think everyone will have an emotional response from it. Truly moving for such a short story.
May 27, 2013
Review to come.
This is the first time I like the movie more than the book...
August 10, 2024
***NO SPOILERS***
“Gay cowboy love story” may be how it’s often summed up, but that’s flippant. Brokeback Mountain is emotional, resonant, and ultimately gut-wrenching—and quietly so. This is a humble story, tightly focused almost exclusively on young Wyoming cowboys Ennis and Jack as they spend a summer working together on Brokeback Mountain. Before long they’re forced to reconcile their love for each other with their everyday, conventional, socially acceptable lives.
What’s most powerful about Brokeback Mountain is the frightening reality facing these two, that they would be in danger if together, not just frowned upon and harassed:
“Gay cowboy love story” may be how it’s often summed up, but that’s flippant. Brokeback Mountain is emotional, resonant, and ultimately gut-wrenching—and quietly so. This is a humble story, tightly focused almost exclusively on young Wyoming cowboys Ennis and Jack as they spend a summer working together on Brokeback Mountain. Before long they’re forced to reconcile their love for each other with their everyday, conventional, socially acceptable lives.
What’s most powerful about Brokeback Mountain is the frightening reality facing these two, that they would be in danger if together, not just frowned upon and harassed:
Jack, I don’t want a be like them guys you see around sometimes. And I don’t want a be dead. There was these two old guys ranched together down home, Earl and Rich—Dad would pass a remark when he seen them. They was a joke even though they was pretty tough old birds. I was what, nine years old and they found Earl dead in a irrigation ditch. They’d took a tire iron to him, spurred him up, drug him around by his dick until it pulled off, just bloody pulp. What the tire iron done looked like pieces a burned tomatoes all over him, nose tore down from skiddin on gravel.Proulx bravely addressed a taboo topic head-on but refrained from pushing an agenda or manipulating emotions. Brokeback Mountain is a story she constructed around a reality; there’s a sincerity to what happens in these pages. A surprise toward the end takes the story in a direction the reader won’t predict, and it’s perfect, true to the overall serious, introspective tone but also reinforcing Proulx’s message well.
November 7, 2021
If I had to describe this story in three words, they would be: beautiful, heartbreaking, and unique.
Let’s put this into context: I received not so good news yesterday at night – I really felt in a bad way, a little bit optimistic though. Before too long, I decided to pick up this book, since I have always believed that a book can help us to face any difficult situation when there’s no one around us at that precise moment. So, I read this one at 2 AM today, while I was listening to Can you feel the love tonight? by Elton John again and again and again, so that I could enjoy this love story even more.
I’d also like to say I’ve never watched the film, nor the trailer, which is based on this book; so, I always supposed this would be a love story, I mean, a completely love story; however, as I said at the beginning of my review, it turned out to be rather heartbreaking. This fact was not such a big problem, since people sometimes need to know the difficulties of others to learn how to overcome their own stuff, for instance, as Goethe said at the beginning of The Sorrows of Young Werther: And thou, good soul, who sufferest the same distress as he endured once, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book be thy friend, if, owing to fortune or through thine own fault, thou canst not find a dearer companion. Thus, I decided to take his advice, and make things follow their own course.
By the way, now that I’ve read this story, I think it’s going to be a great idea to watch the movie as soon as possible; we’ll see.
In a nutshell, and in order to be truly honest, this book was even much more astonishing and compelling than I could have imagine: the story itself, its very well developed protagonists (which is impressive if you consider this as a really short story), and the affecting ending; overall, it made me feel such things that I’d never felt reading a book before – perhaps you get what I mean after I told you how I felt last night when I was reading it.
And can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are…
Let’s put this into context: I received not so good news yesterday at night – I really felt in a bad way, a little bit optimistic though. Before too long, I decided to pick up this book, since I have always believed that a book can help us to face any difficult situation when there’s no one around us at that precise moment. So, I read this one at 2 AM today, while I was listening to Can you feel the love tonight? by Elton John again and again and again, so that I could enjoy this love story even more.
I’d also like to say I’ve never watched the film, nor the trailer, which is based on this book; so, I always supposed this would be a love story, I mean, a completely love story; however, as I said at the beginning of my review, it turned out to be rather heartbreaking. This fact was not such a big problem, since people sometimes need to know the difficulties of others to learn how to overcome their own stuff, for instance, as Goethe said at the beginning of The Sorrows of Young Werther: And thou, good soul, who sufferest the same distress as he endured once, draw comfort from his sorrows; and let this little book be thy friend, if, owing to fortune or through thine own fault, thou canst not find a dearer companion. Thus, I decided to take his advice, and make things follow their own course.
By the way, now that I’ve read this story, I think it’s going to be a great idea to watch the movie as soon as possible; we’ll see.
In a nutshell, and in order to be truly honest, this book was even much more astonishing and compelling than I could have imagine: the story itself, its very well developed protagonists (which is impressive if you consider this as a really short story), and the affecting ending; overall, it made me feel such things that I’d never felt reading a book before – perhaps you get what I mean after I told you how I felt last night when I was reading it.
And can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are…
January 5, 2018
I saw Brokeback Mountain when I was quite young (my mom changed channels when a sex scene came on like she always did) and I have to say, it sorta blew my mind. Gay was not a word I heard, unless someone in my class was teasing someone or something. I grew up in the Irish countryside so I was quite sheltered until I was at least 15/16 (hmm, same year we got Wi-Fi). But as a 12 year old, to be "gay" meant something bad and dirty and I never understood why. Nobody could give me an acceptable answer as to why it was wrong but I was afraid to question things so I just went with it. When I watched this, I remember that seed of doubt that was already there in my mind being watered a bit. The two cowboys really loved each other, in their own way and I could see nothing wrong with it. Looking back, this film was the first thing to really open my eyes to what it was like to be gay.
I've been meaning to read the book for a while now and it definitely lived up to my expectations. It is so short but it packs so many emotions into it; it really is incredible. I'm always impressed when an author can pack so much into a short story without hindering any other element. This story is beautiful, tragic, heart-breaking and heart-warming. It makes you wish that things were different for Ennis & Jack. I really enjoyed it and I would love to read more stories like this one.
I was unsure about the writing style at the start but when I got into it, I really liked it. I would definitely recommend this and I would read more by Annie Proulx.
I've been meaning to read the book for a while now and it definitely lived up to my expectations. It is so short but it packs so many emotions into it; it really is incredible. I'm always impressed when an author can pack so much into a short story without hindering any other element. This story is beautiful, tragic, heart-breaking and heart-warming. It makes you wish that things were different for Ennis & Jack. I really enjoyed it and I would love to read more stories like this one.
I was unsure about the writing style at the start but when I got into it, I really liked it. I would definitely recommend this and I would read more by Annie Proulx.
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June 27, 2024
|| 3.5 stars ||
This is such a tragic story, but so beautifully written.
It’s a story that many queer people used to live through in the past, which makes it all the more heartbreaking to read…
There’s not much focus here on the build-up of their love connection, but instead it tells the story of how sad and lonely and angry and impossible their lives were because of that love.
This is such a tragic story, but so beautifully written.
It’s a story that many queer people used to live through in the past, which makes it all the more heartbreaking to read…
There’s not much focus here on the build-up of their love connection, but instead it tells the story of how sad and lonely and angry and impossible their lives were because of that love.
May 20, 2024
4,5 ⭐
Annie Proulx nos describe en pocas páginas una historia de amor homosexual en la Norteamérica profunda de la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Lo hace de forma magistral. No necesita más que dos pinceladas para definir los personajes. Dos vaqueros y veinte años de una relación nunca vivida abiertamente por temor a los condicionantes del lugar y de la época.
Sentimientos y emociones a flor de piel, deseo, pasión, miedo y frustración. El miedo de Ennis, la frustración de Jack y, ante todo, la pena por dos vidas malgastadas. Todo ello narrado con una prosa bonita y directa sin caer en el sentimentalismo fácil. La historia ya es bastante amarga así sin necesidad de revolver más al lector. La película basada en este relato, también muy buena, me dejó hecha polvo cuando la vi.
En conclusión. Una historia amarga condensada en pocas páginas. Una prosa magnífica y una autora a la que seguiré leyendo. Recomendable.
Annie Proulx nos describe en pocas páginas una historia de amor homosexual en la Norteamérica profunda de la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Lo hace de forma magistral. No necesita más que dos pinceladas para definir los personajes. Dos vaqueros y veinte años de una relación nunca vivida abiertamente por temor a los condicionantes del lugar y de la época.
Sentimientos y emociones a flor de piel, deseo, pasión, miedo y frustración. El miedo de Ennis, la frustración de Jack y, ante todo, la pena por dos vidas malgastadas. Todo ello narrado con una prosa bonita y directa sin caer en el sentimentalismo fácil. La historia ya es bastante amarga así sin necesidad de revolver más al lector. La película basada en este relato, también muy buena, me dejó hecha polvo cuando la vi.
En conclusión. Una historia amarga condensada en pocas páginas. Una prosa magnífica y una autora a la que seguiré leyendo. Recomendable.
August 21, 2018
5 Stars
Brokeback Mountain is a beautifully heartbreaking short story about two lonely cowboys falling in love.
Author Annie Proulx is one of the few impressively skilled and deftly capable writers who are able to convey an entire lifetime of joy and sorrow in so few pages. Her prose is lyrical, poignant, and so very precise, with each scarce word used to full effect. Her words moved me, plain and simple.
Regardless of how many times I’ve seen the film adaptation, reading about Ennis and Jack’s tragic love still knocked the wind out of me, much like it did the very first time I experienced their story on screen. The good news is the film is practically a scene for scene depiction of what is written here, which is such a rare occurrence where adaptations are concerned.
There is just something so sad about this one; it always makes me ache for what Ennis and Jack could have had. Although tragic in nature, I still adored this story and I definitely understand the praise and accolades this award-winning tale has received over the years. I’m just so glad I finally sat down and read it for myself.
Brokeback Mountain is a beautifully heartbreaking short story about two lonely cowboys falling in love.
Author Annie Proulx is one of the few impressively skilled and deftly capable writers who are able to convey an entire lifetime of joy and sorrow in so few pages. Her prose is lyrical, poignant, and so very precise, with each scarce word used to full effect. Her words moved me, plain and simple.
Regardless of how many times I’ve seen the film adaptation, reading about Ennis and Jack’s tragic love still knocked the wind out of me, much like it did the very first time I experienced their story on screen. The good news is the film is practically a scene for scene depiction of what is written here, which is such a rare occurrence where adaptations are concerned.
There is just something so sad about this one; it always makes me ache for what Ennis and Jack could have had. Although tragic in nature, I still adored this story and I definitely understand the praise and accolades this award-winning tale has received over the years. I’m just so glad I finally sat down and read it for myself.
March 26, 2022
"I wish I knew how to quit you."
The movie Brokeback Mountain is one of my favorite movies of all timeI literally own three different versions of the DVD and I've been wanting to get my hands on the book for years now. My local library finally had the audiobook available and I listened to it immediately. It took me less than an hour to listen to the whole thing, and damn this story is just incredible. I think I loved reading the book even more after seeing the movie because I already know and love these characters. The only reason I took off a star is because I feel like this book is too short (55 pages) and it could've been so much more powerful and emotional if we had more time to get to know the characters, and if the author had given them more time to develop.
Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are one of my favorite fictional couples of all time and I adored reading this book so much. The ending made me cry and I couldn't believe how spot on it is with the movie. The dialogue is word-for-word accurate to the movie so as a lover of book to movie adaptations I really appreciate how accurate and true it is to the book. However, I do think this is one of those rare scenarios where the movie is better than the book. I don't know if I would have loved this book as much as I did if it wasn't for seeing Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal bring these characters to life and making me fall in love with their love beforehand.
Either way, I loved this book so much and it makes me want to watch the movie again. I just love Ennis and Jack's tragic love story. BRB, crying forever.
The movie Brokeback Mountain is one of my favorite movies of all time
Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are one of my favorite fictional couples of all time and I adored reading this book so much. The ending made me cry and I couldn't believe how spot on it is with the movie. The dialogue is word-for-word accurate to the movie so as a lover of book to movie adaptations I really appreciate how accurate and true it is to the book. However, I do think this is one of those rare scenarios where the movie is better than the book. I don't know if I would have loved this book as much as I did if it wasn't for seeing Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal bring these characters to life and making me fall in love with their love beforehand.
Either way, I loved this book so much and it makes me want to watch the movie again. I just love Ennis and Jack's tragic love story. BRB, crying forever.
June 1, 2017
I read this in the collection Close Range: Brokeback Mountain and Other stories, which I reviewed HERE.
I knew this exquisite story well from the film, and the two are very similar.
It is a story of unexpected and irresistible passion, longing and loss - understated and never graphic.
Jack and Ennis meet, lust and love one summer, and meet up over the years, despite starting more conventional families. "The brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough." But the '60s (and even '70s) weren't as swingin' as we're led to believe, certainly in their communities, so "nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved". In the interim, "What J remembered and craved in a way he could neither help nor understand was... the silent embrace satisfying some shared and sexless hunger."
It happens to concern homosexual love between cowboys, starting in the 1960s, but it could just as easily be any taboo relationship.
The harsh beauty of the mountains, coupled with love and longing, reminded me a little of Cold Mountain, which I reviewed HERE.
I knew this exquisite story well from the film, and the two are very similar.
It is a story of unexpected and irresistible passion, longing and loss - understated and never graphic.
Jack and Ennis meet, lust and love one summer, and meet up over the years, despite starting more conventional families. "The brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough." But the '60s (and even '70s) weren't as swingin' as we're led to believe, certainly in their communities, so "nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved". In the interim, "What J remembered and craved in a way he could neither help nor understand was... the silent embrace satisfying some shared and sexless hunger."
It happens to concern homosexual love between cowboys, starting in the 1960s, but it could just as easily be any taboo relationship.
The harsh beauty of the mountains, coupled with love and longing, reminded me a little of Cold Mountain, which I reviewed HERE.
January 12, 2023
I think it’s taken me this long to read Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain because the movie left such an indelible imprint on my mind that I didn’t want to have the story told again until its memory had faded a little - otherwise the two tend to blur together and I’m also a reader who craves novelty so I don’t like to read the same story over and over.
And the movie has made its mark on popular culture, for good reason - it really is an amazing work of art. But for anyone who isn’t familiar with the story, it’s about two Wyoming ranchers - Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist - who fall in love and have a tumultuous and doomed affair that lasts several years until society’s prejudices put an abrupt end to it.
One of the many remarkable things Proulx accomplishes is how much she’s able to put into a short story. There’s not a bit of fat to it and yet you get as much as you would from a full-length novel. There’s so much passion and intensity in the scenes, from when Ennis and Jack first tumble together, to the scene where Ennis’ ex-wife Alma confronts Ennis, to Jack’s increased frustrations at not being able to be with Ennis completely - the story starts with the two men meeting as young men not yet twenty years old in 1963 and ends in the early ‘80s; suffice it to say, attitudes towards homosexuality were not the same as they are today.
The dialogue is exceptional, not least because it conveys the characters perfectly, as well as sounding real. As good as Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performances are in the Ang Lee movie, it doesn’t feel like they had to imagine much - the characters are there on the page. Ennis’ laconic speech, often giving way to physical expression, and Jack’s fiery words. “This ain’t no little thing that’s happenin here” is a standout line, but there’s a reason the line that’s entered popular culture, now and forever, is “I wish I knew how to quit you.” In the context of the story, it’s devastating, but also beautifully captures what love is and what it does to us. It’s pure poetry.
I always suspected this story would be good but I wasn’t prepared for how powerful it is. That ending… This really has to be one of the best romance stories ever written. One thing I didn’t remember from the movie - and the movie is such a faithful adaptation of the source material that it all came flooding back as I was reading - is the explanation for why Ennis only hugs Jack from behind, and it’s such a tragic indictment of the time and world they lived in.
I couldn’t have been more impressed with every single aspect of the story - I loved reading this emotional freight train and wish I’d read it sooner. It’s up there with John Steinbeck’s shorter works like Of Mice and Men. I can’t recommend it higher - it’s the pinnacle of literary art. I try not to use this word often because it should mean something but this story completely deserves it: Brokeback Mountain is a masterpiece.
And the movie has made its mark on popular culture, for good reason - it really is an amazing work of art. But for anyone who isn’t familiar with the story, it’s about two Wyoming ranchers - Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist - who fall in love and have a tumultuous and doomed affair that lasts several years until society’s prejudices put an abrupt end to it.
One of the many remarkable things Proulx accomplishes is how much she’s able to put into a short story. There’s not a bit of fat to it and yet you get as much as you would from a full-length novel. There’s so much passion and intensity in the scenes, from when Ennis and Jack first tumble together, to the scene where Ennis’ ex-wife Alma confronts Ennis, to Jack’s increased frustrations at not being able to be with Ennis completely - the story starts with the two men meeting as young men not yet twenty years old in 1963 and ends in the early ‘80s; suffice it to say, attitudes towards homosexuality were not the same as they are today.
The dialogue is exceptional, not least because it conveys the characters perfectly, as well as sounding real. As good as Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performances are in the Ang Lee movie, it doesn’t feel like they had to imagine much - the characters are there on the page. Ennis’ laconic speech, often giving way to physical expression, and Jack’s fiery words. “This ain’t no little thing that’s happenin here” is a standout line, but there’s a reason the line that’s entered popular culture, now and forever, is “I wish I knew how to quit you.” In the context of the story, it’s devastating, but also beautifully captures what love is and what it does to us. It’s pure poetry.
I always suspected this story would be good but I wasn’t prepared for how powerful it is. That ending… This really has to be one of the best romance stories ever written. One thing I didn’t remember from the movie - and the movie is such a faithful adaptation of the source material that it all came flooding back as I was reading - is the explanation for why Ennis only hugs Jack from behind, and it’s such a tragic indictment of the time and world they lived in.
I couldn’t have been more impressed with every single aspect of the story - I loved reading this emotional freight train and wish I’d read it sooner. It’s up there with John Steinbeck’s shorter works like Of Mice and Men. I can’t recommend it higher - it’s the pinnacle of literary art. I try not to use this word often because it should mean something but this story completely deserves it: Brokeback Mountain is a masterpiece.
May 26, 2019
"I goddamn hate it that you're goin a drive away in the mornin and I'm goin back to work. But if you can't fix it you gotta stand it...."
The story of Jack & Ennis who met and loved on Brokeback Mountain is unutterably raw. Though a quick read coming in at around 55 pages, it certainly packs a punch.
It's a sparse tale. Minimalist. Kind of like their time together. Over in a rush, never enough. Sometimes only seeing each other every few years, each having their own family. But always on each other's minds.
"One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by a sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough."
"I wish I knew how to quit you."
My heart ached for Jack & Ennis. Who has the right to question anyone's love?
The end of this book... I felt sadness for a life half lived. The cruelty of having to live a lie. But the reality being that at that time, men in the area even suspected of being gay met their untimely end with the help of a tyre iron.
This is definitely a story that will stay in my find for some time. It's just one of those that resonate long after the book has been closed.
JV's review caught my eye. Reading it made me wonder why I'd never read the book before (though I'd seen the movie long ago). I figured it would be a good change of pace to the usual bookclub pick. Please have a look at JV's words, they're beautiful, as they come from the heart 💝
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
January 20, 2019
Sometimes you read a short story that falls a bit short of expectations. Because it would have been a better, or more complete story if it had been longer. This is not how this short story made me feel. In fact, more than sixty pages of this might have been too much. I only wished I had read it before I watched the amazing movie adaptation.
This story, as Julie so cleverly phrased it, is about being in love with someone you can’t have, and few feelings are as violent as that. And I’m willing to bet that few places made you feel the burn of that feeling more than Wyoming in the 1960s. Ideas about masculinity, sex and love die hard in places where a living is earned the rough way.
It’s also about the impossible weight of such a secret, how it taints other good things. Obviously, this is Jack and Ennis’ story, but my heart also broke for Alma, who simply couldn’t understand and yet kept her husband’s secret; and for Lureen, who probably understood too late.
In some ways, it reminded me a lot of “Carol” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), which tackles a similar subject matter, albeit with less tragic consequences.
Be careful reading this: it might rip your heart out.
-
About the movie: it’s sublime. It would have been sublime even if it hadn’t been Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, but they were so freaking perfect. I’ve watched it at least twelve times and cried at every single viewing.
This story, as Julie so cleverly phrased it, is about being in love with someone you can’t have, and few feelings are as violent as that. And I’m willing to bet that few places made you feel the burn of that feeling more than Wyoming in the 1960s. Ideas about masculinity, sex and love die hard in places where a living is earned the rough way.
It’s also about the impossible weight of such a secret, how it taints other good things. Obviously, this is Jack and Ennis’ story, but my heart also broke for Alma, who simply couldn’t understand and yet kept her husband’s secret; and for Lureen, who probably understood too late.
In some ways, it reminded me a lot of “Carol” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), which tackles a similar subject matter, albeit with less tragic consequences.
Be careful reading this: it might rip your heart out.
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About the movie: it’s sublime. It would have been sublime even if it hadn’t been Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, but they were so freaking perfect. I’ve watched it at least twelve times and cried at every single viewing.
January 31, 2019
4 Stars
If you can't fix it you’ve got to stand it...
Heartbreaking and no less powerful for its 50 sparse pages.
If you can't fix it you’ve got to stand it...
Heartbreaking and no less powerful for its 50 sparse pages.
August 8, 2024
4,5 *
#nestórias
Mas antes que conseguisse sair da carrinha, a tentar perceber se era um ataque cardíaco ou uma raiva incendiária a transbordar, já Ennis se pusera de pé e, como um cabide que se estica para se arrombar um carro e depois se retorce para voltar à sua forma inicial, eles retomaram as coisas praticamente onde as tinham deixado, porque o que tinham dito não era novidade. Nada acabava, nada começava, nada se resolvia.
Philippe Besson e André Aciman teriam imenso a aprender com Annie Proulx. Sem clichés, sem floreados, sem pretensiosismo nem lamechices. Uma história de amor entre dois homens com economia de palavras mas não de emoções.
#nestórias
Mas antes que conseguisse sair da carrinha, a tentar perceber se era um ataque cardíaco ou uma raiva incendiária a transbordar, já Ennis se pusera de pé e, como um cabide que se estica para se arrombar um carro e depois se retorce para voltar à sua forma inicial, eles retomaram as coisas praticamente onde as tinham deixado, porque o que tinham dito não era novidade. Nada acabava, nada começava, nada se resolvia.
Philippe Besson e André Aciman teriam imenso a aprender com Annie Proulx. Sem clichés, sem floreados, sem pretensiosismo nem lamechices. Uma história de amor entre dois homens com economia de palavras mas não de emoções.
Read
May 4, 2015This novel is surprisingly short . . . which makes it difficult to rate the book unbiasedly :-/ I found myself replaying the (exceptional) movie in my mind the entire time.
. . .
. . .
. . . . Now please excuse my while I imagine this scene over and over again ..
#neednewovaries
. . .
. . .
. . . . Now please excuse my while I imagine this scene over and over again ..
#neednewovaries
July 11, 2017
More of a novella than a short story. Can be read here:
https://www.google.co.in/amp/www.newy...
https://www.google.co.in/amp/www.newy...
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