Reviews

In this brief narrative, Jack Twist recalls how, in the 1960s, he fell in love with Ennis del Mar while working as sheepherders on a secluded mountain in Wyoming. The narrative explores the complicated and emotional relationship between the two men, who must conceal their emotions from their loved ones and the community and deal with the fallout from their forbidden passion. The narrative has received a lot of attention for its accurate depiction of the joys and challenges of gay love in a bigoted and conservative society. While I sympathize with the story it was attempting to tell, I thought it idealized a volatile and potentially abusive relationship. Although I haven't seen the movie, I've heard nothing but amazing things about it and this short story, so deep down, I wanted to support and adore it. I was unable to overcome the volatility in Ennis and Jack's relationship.

laurenjpegler's review against another edition

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2.0

First off, let me say: my 2 star rating does not necessarily mean this is a bad story. I actually quite enjoyed it, despite not reading every sentence properly. As I will go on to explain, it was the format of the story I couldn't get on with. I'm disappointed because this could have been a highly rated novel if written in a different style.

I'm quite conflicted about this one.

On the one hand, it was a really lovely story. The premise, the setting, the characters and the writing style were all so interesting and unique. In particular, I loved the characters. Both Jack and Ennis have their own personality, completely different from one another, and yet it was endearing to read about their relationship (despite the problematic "hidden" aspect).

I also enjoyed the south American setting. When one thinks about this type of place, you immediately think of a conservative and prejudiced view on things like homosexuality. However, Proulx cast this off to the side and focused solely on Ennis and Jack. I liked how the narrative focused entirely on these two characters and the way their relationship operated.

However, despite this, the short story format once again ruined it for me. Due to the nature of this style, Proulx only really focused on the actions of Ennis and Jack. She didn't detail the internal feelings of each character; I didn't get to see what Jack personally thought of Ennis, and vice versa. Although the relationship was convincing without this, I think if Proulx added this, the story would have worked a lot better and would have had a lot more depth to it. I think this would have worked a lot better as a novella (at least), if not an actual novel.

Still a lovely read. It showed the challenges of being homosexual in the late twentieth century, as well as detailing an endearing and sweet relationship one cannot help but love. The difficulties each character encountered made them worthy of rooting for. Perhaps I should watch the film adaptation!