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Gabrielle (Reading Rampage)'s Reviews > Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
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Gabrielle (Reading Rampage)'s review
bookshelves: american, movie-fodder, own-a-copy, short-stories, used-bookstore-finds, read-in-2019, reviewed, ouch-my-feels, lgbtq
Jan 19, 2019
bookshelves: american, movie-fodder, own-a-copy, short-stories, used-bookstore-finds, read-in-2019, reviewed, ouch-my-feels, lgbtq
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.
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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.
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.
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Reading Progress
October 9, 2016
– Shelved
October 9, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
January 19, 2019
–
Started Reading
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
american
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
movie-fodder
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
own-a-copy
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
short-stories
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
used-bookstore-finds
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
read-in-2019
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
reviewed
January 19, 2019
– Shelved as:
ouch-my-feels
January 19, 2019
–
Finished Reading
April 25, 2021
– Shelved as:
lgbtq
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Scott
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Jan 19, 2019 06:59PM
Nice review, Gabrielle. I would also say 'Brokeback' and 'Carol' (a.k.a. 'The Price of Salt' - on my GR favorites shelf) were the rare movie adaptations that were as good as their printed origins. And both stories certainly drum up emotional responses with certain readers / viewers.
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Scott wrote: "Nice review, Gabrielle. I would also say 'Brokeback' and 'Carol' (a.k.a. 'The Price of Salt' - on my GR favorites shelf) were the rare movie adaptations that were as good as their printed origins. ..."Thank you Scott, and I completely agree: the movies were extraordinary because they brought you at the exact same place as the writing, which is quite an accomplishment!
Very pertinent review of a story (and film) I loved. As you and Julie say, it's about being in love with someone you can’t have, and in that sense, I think it's universal. The fact that their gender is the issue shouldn't limit it as "gay fiction".
Cecily wrote: "Very pertinent review of a story (and film) I loved. As you and Julie say, it's about being in love with someone you can’t have, and in that sense, I think it's universal. The fact that their gende..."Thank you Cecily! I agree, this is about a lot more than gender and sexual orientation: the suffering they experience is part of being human on more levels than those.
Both your review and Julie's really got to the heart of what makes this story powerful, Gabrielle, and that's how a secret devours everything in your life from within. The publicity that Annie Proulx did, or was forced to do, in conjunction for the movie tickled me. She seemed like she would rather be at her ranch, on her typewriter, and not answering repetitive questions from Yankees! ("Yankee" being anyone not from Wyoming.) I hope I'm like her when I reach that age!
Joe wrote: "The publicity that Annie Proulx did, or was forced to do, in conjunction for the movie tickled me. She seemed like she would rather be at her ranch, on her typewriter, and not answering repetitive question..."Wouldn't we rather authors were home, writing, when they want to?
;)
Cecily wrote: "Joe wrote: "The publicity that Annie Proulx did, or was forced to do, in conjunction for the movie tickled me. She seemed like she would rather be at her ranch, on her typewriter, and not answering..."Yes indeed, please let them write ;-)
I have been emotionally compromised by this story. Gah. The book is almost (but not quite) as good as the movie. The four actors were all absolutely flawless. Heath is amazing in this movie as Ennis and Jake was equally amazing as Jack. Personally, my favorite performance of his is in Prisoners, but as a teenager I fell in love with his blue eyes in Brokeback Mountain. lol
Inkandfable wrote: "I have been emotionally compromised by this story. Gah. The book is almost (but not quite) as good as the movie. The four actors were all absolutely flawless. Heath is amazing in this movie as En..."
It is a truly devastating story, both on the page and on the screen. I was already a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal before this movie, but it's still one of his best performances.
