Legends of the Fall

There are three novellas in this book. The first, Revenge, tells of a man having an illicit love affair with the wife of a Mexican drug dealer. They are caught. He is beaten almost to death and saved by strangers. She is disfigured, then first sent to a whorehouse and later to a nunnery to hide her away. The man searches for her in vain, finally locating her but too late, as she is almost dead from misery. In the end, both this man and the drug dealer lose her to death. She is buried under a tree at the nunnery. Despite the unexpected violence* this novella caught my interest and I enjoyed reading it. The second, The Man Who Gave Up His Name, follows a man of some means who has lived a successful but unsatisfactory life. One summer a few years after a divorce and move to Boston, he spends a month in a summer home with his daughter and through cooking and dance, heals from lost love and begins to look forward to the future. He becomes convinced to move forward he must give up everything and as he moves to do this, he is also pulled into a blackmail scheme which endangers him and his family. He gets out of this, though in doing a man dies at his hand. Giving up everything he is last seen in an out of the way place in Florida cooking for a restaurant and dancing in the evening, content at last with his life. This novella gave me much to think about and I can recommend reading it without reservation. The third and final novella, Legends of the Fall, follows a family in Montana over a generation. The three sons are sent off to war in Europe, the youngest soon returning dead, the oldest injured. The middle son, a wanderer, loses his mind for a while and eventually joins his grandfather who is a sea merchant, learning the trade. As in any saga, there is death and marriage and birth, and in the end, none seem to escape unscathed. There is much more to it than this of course, but I was not particularly thrilled with it and it did not draw me in as the other two did. This, however, is the one apparently made into a movie, which perhaps I will seek out and watch.*I had never read Jim Harrison before but picked this up at the recommendation of the Andrew Luck Book Club #ALBookClub.

“He looked around the clearing in recognition that he was lost but didn’t mind because he knew he had never been found.”― Jim Harrison, Legends of the FallThere are actually several stories included in here, not just Legends. I did read them all and though I liked Legends I still prefer Revenge which was also a film and which starred Kevin Costner and Madeline Stowe.To be honest it took me awhile to get into these stories. We are told many things, not shown and what I mean by that is there is much less actual dialogue then I am used to.The actual Legends of the fall story differs a bit from the movie but the movie still follows it for the most part. Somehow the stories are more grim in the book version and both of these movies are pretty dark so that is saying something.I think this is a book that can be enjoyed very much but it may take awhile to get used to. It did for me but ultimately I am glad I read this.

This book contains three novellas from Jim Harrison, the first and the last of which have been made into movies. Revenge tells a story about, well revenge, with a man from Indiana having an affair with the wife of a Mexican cartel boss and consequently being almost beaten to death. He survives, is nurtured back to health and goes after the cartel boss to kill him and recover the wife. Unusual and perhaps due to the age of the story, it does not end with a happy ending.In “The Man who gave up his Name”, the life story of a man, whom we see dancing by himself, is told. Meeting his wife in Wisconsin and getting married with twenty, they moved to California and had a daughter, but once the daughter went to college, his wife got divorced from him. He moves to Boston to be closer to his daughter who studies in New York. At the graduation party of his daughter, we arrive at the present time, and the happenings at and shortly after the party conclude the story.And the third novella is of course the title story, Legend of the Fall. The story of three brother going to war in Europe during the First World War and the repercussions of that. The other two novellas were good, but this story is better by far. It’s an absolute page turner, and I understand now why it is the last story and the title story. I can absolutely recommend this book, based only on this story. Now I can go and watch the movie.

When I chose this book, I was expecting the story I had seen in the movie. I was surprised when the book began with another character in another time. The second story was also seemingly unrelated to the story of the family in Montana which the movie was based on. But all the stories are of men who live life on their own terms with little regard for social convention, bound only by their personal sense of right and wrong. The author lets us see the emotional depth of these men and their choices based on their strong personal beliefs. These are men who love fiercely and who never shrink from placing themselves in personal danger to defend those they love. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to those who like stories of people who take action, who live life independently.

Never read anything by Harrison before, and this absolutely blew me away. The language is a little archaic but the power of the writing and the characters put him on a par with any of the American top dogs like Hemingway. Revenge is simply one of the best things I've ever read. Legends Of The Fall is miles better than the saccharine film version.

For some reason, ‘The Legends of the Fall’ touched me. I’m not sure whether it’s because, like me, Tristan is a displaced Cornishman, somehow restless and always on the move, but something about this story really touched me. Elegantly told and well worth reading.

Loved the filmLoved the book

There is more than one story in this book and the Legends of the Fall is nothing like the movie. Keep an open mind while reading it as i did and it's a little gem.

I, like many others purchased this book after seeing the film 'Legends of the Fall'. I fell in love with the film, and the book has lived up to my expectations. Though it is a short story, I felt the author wrote with such depth that it completely drew me in. His other stories as well in this volume are wonderful too, I'm so glad I made this purchase. Was delivered promptly, and is now a much loved part of my book collection.