Roderick Haig-Brown’s “A River Never Sleeps” Reissued in Hardback (or, We Cheer)

Roderick Haig-Brown’s “A River Never Sleeps” is rightly considered a fly fishing classic, which is why the release of a new hardback edition – complete with passages from Nick Lyons and Thomas McGuane – is worth a minute of your time.

A classic - and with good reason.

It’s tempting to add to the volumes of praise already heaped on Haig-Brown’s work, though the whole idea becomes less intriguing once you realize that praise is wholly deserved, and that there’s been a lot of it.

Haig-Brown’s approach to the sport is entirely genuine; he lacks guile, and avoids the unfortunate tendency of outdoor writers to complicate and exaggerate.

Nor does Haig-Brown burden his readers with a lot of “fly fishing is the meaning of life” hooey that seems almost obligatory today.

Instead, Haig-Brown’s approach to fly fishing is one of unabashed enthusiasm, coupled with a refreshing innocence – as if each day on the water was his first:

“I still don’t know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel. But i do know that if it were not for the strong, quick life of rivers, for their sparkle in the sunshine, for the cold grayness of them under rain and the feel of them about my legs as I set my feet hard down on rocks or sand or gravel, I should fish less often.”

There are always bit and pieces of the literature that stick to the ribs of those fortunate enough to read them at a receptive moment in their lives.

It’s likely a trick of timing – the right words coming to the right reader at the right time – but I never tire of reading Gierach’s Trout Bum, his “Even Brook Trout Get The Blues” essay and McGuane’s introduction to the Longest Silence.

Every literate fly fisherman I know keeps such a list in his head – the little jewels that offer us a mirror view of some internal dialogue.

They’re intensely personal, though describing why is akin to explaining an odd dream to a stranger.

In short, it’s better to simply acknowledge the effect than it is to dissect it.

For whatever reason, included on my list is the “April” chapter from A River Never Sleeps, though in keeping with the above, I can’t pinpoint why.

Regardless, Haig-Brown’s month-by-month exploration of his fly fishing life is a worthy read, and if you don’t own it yet, then consider the latest edition, which includes the worthy perspective of Nick Lyons and Thomas McGuane.

See you at the bookshelves, Tom Chandler.

(Disclosure: Skyhorse press sent me an unsolicited review copy of the book)

Technorati Tags: a river never sleeps, Fly Fishing, roderick haig-brown

Tagged as: a river never sleeps, Fly Fishing, roderick haig-brown