Legends of the Fall

Having been so impressed with the writing of Jim Harrison in the recently reviewed The Great Leader, I decided to try a second novel, and I went for the one for which Harrison is most famous, Legends of the Fall. I was not disappointed, although I did not get what I expected. Written in 1979, this is actually a book of three novellas, Revenge, The Man Who Gave Up His Name, and Legends of the Fall, which at least in the most obvious themes, are not related to one another.

Revenge is a story of betrayal in Mexico. Tibey, or Tiburon, which is translated as “shark” had a best friend, Cochran, who had an affair with Tibey’s wife, Miryea. Revenge is the theme, and there is much brutality, but what sets the story apart is the quality of the writing. Although it is not apart of the main theme, in addressing the emotions that are being felt, Harrison writes about what it is like to be 19 years old: “Nineteen is the age of the perfect foot soldier who will die without a murmur, his heart aflame with patriotism. Nineteen is the age at which the brain of a nascent poet in his rented room soars the highest, suffering gladly the assault of what he thinks is the god in him. Nineteen is the last year that a young woman will marry purely for love.” Beautiful prose.

The second novella, The Man Who Gave Up His Name, was about a successful businessman, Nordstrom, who found his life unsatisfying, and after divorcing his wife Laura, decided to give away all of his money. Harrison captured the melancholy of Nordstrom and his feeble attempts to break free of his emotional doldrums, but the story was less compelling to me that the other two stories. As I read other review of this book by Harrison, it is clear that many other are moved by this particular story.

The final novella, “Legends of the Fall” is a remarkable work. While I previously favorably compared Harrison’s writing to other thriller/mystery writers of note, in this one, his style reminded me of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, which is one of my all-time favorite books. This is a three-generation tale of the old west, starting in Montana at the start of World War I, but the backstory begins in the 1870’s with William Ludlow, a very successful rancher who has advised presidents about the U.S. Indian policies (and his humanistic ideas were generally ignored as the Indians were massively mistreated). His three sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel all travel to Canada to enlist in the war before the U.S. was willing to get involved. It is Tristan whose character is most developed by Harrison, and it was Tristan who was played in the 1994 movie by Brad Pitt. The book ends with a current day epilogue. It is a story of family, of adventure, of love, of loss. I was spellbound by it.