Nature Literature discussion

This thread is for Ray, Cara, and others to discuss The Watch Nov 1- 30, 2022

All are welcome to join-- nature based-- short stories.

As much as I liked this book, as I reread it, I must admit that the first story left me flat. A tale about pointless characters leading meaningless lives doesn't thrill me, but there may be a more profound meaning I have yet to uncover.
The third story, which is the title story, reminded me of the three novellas in The Sky, The Stars, The Wilderness, which was the first book of his that I read. I discovered his work in an anthology titled Elemental South: An Anthology of Southern Nature Writing. I think they counted him as a Texan.

Hi Ray-- it will be interesting to see Cara's take on the first story. I wonder what her response will be.

p.s. Have you heard of a Georgia poet named David Bottoms? I was just introduced to his poetry. A realist---nature related... What I've read, I like.

Sher wrote: "Hi Ray-- it will be interesting to see Cara's take on the first story. I wonder what her response will be.

p.s. Have you heard of a Georgia poet named David Bottoms? I was just introduced to his p..."

Yes - he teaches at Georgia State in Atlanta.

After a busy start to the month, I've finally picked up The Watch. My only exposure to Rick Bass has been his nature writing, so his fiction is new to me. The first story Mexico was a bit of a surprise and probably won't be one of my favorites, either. But I do enjoy his writing so far and look forward to the rest of the stories.

Cara wrote: "After a busy start to the month, I've finally picked up The Watch. My only exposure to Rick Bass has been his nature writing, so his fiction is new to me. The first story Mexico was a bit of a surp..."

Yes. They are all well written.

I realize that I never wrapped up my thoughts about this book. Overall I would say that while I really appreciate Rick Bass's writing, I don't know that I necessarily enjoyed the experience of reading these stories. I don't generally mind unsettling or open-ended short stories, but I didn't find that there was much to connect with for me in this collection.

A couple stories that stood out to me were Wild Horses and The Government Bears, along with The Watch for being particularly memorable and disturbing.

I jotted down a few themes I noticed recurring in several of the stories: men writing about other men in their lives, large age gaps between characters, the tension between living vicariously through others and feelings of loneliness/jealousy, and a tendency toward details that were just at the edge of absurdity (7-ft tall men, parents who were 14 years old, owning a lion for a pet, etc.). I'm not sure what to make of all these but it was interesting to get a sense of Bass's fiction writing style.

Thanks Cara for taking the time to share these interesting observations about the Bass book. My husband just caught a six foot long trout in Kicking Mule Creek. :)

Happy Holiday season...