Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It" is a great American novel, which is particularly shocking since it was Maclean’s first book and written in his 70s. In essence a memoir, “A River Runs Through It” follows the relationship between two brothers in 1930s Montana. Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz dissect the book’s strengths, its powerful imagery and controlling metaphor(s), and unique structural decisions.
To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon: patreon.com/automachination
B Side topics: videos depicting A River Runs Through It encourage trite imagery; spinning cliched images into something fresh; Norman Maclean uses the cosmic scale; Biblical imagery in Herman Melville; the use of elision; escalations in the Gaza conflict; a conclusion without conclusions; martyrdom in Scottish-American culture; God and country, or Country and God in nationalist-religious movements; art and ego; motivated reasoning; literary neglect; Alex’s New Year Resolutions; can Alex limit himself to reading the news once a week; academia’s abuse of “liminal spaces”; steady multinational escalations in the Gaza genocide; is Israel trying to pull America into a wider war; Joe Biden’s 2024 trap; is China / Taiwan a Boomer fixation; the smearing of John Mearsheimer, Ivan Katchanovski; a strange economy; Harvard & the disciplining of Claudine Gay; the golden mean in the 1990s
Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: spoti.fi/3xw2M4D
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3wLpqEV
Google Podcasts: bit.ly/3dSQXxJ
Amazon Music: amzn.to/2SVJIxB
Podbean: bit.ly/3yzLuUo
iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L
Read more from the automachination universe: automachination.com
Read Alex’s (archived) essays: alexsheremet.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/automachination
Timestamps:
0:36 – introducing Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It”; why Keith is skeptical of Robert Redford’s film; memoir vs. The Great American Novel; Norman Maclean leaves out his narrator’s name; it’s important that Maclean wrote his first great novel in his 70s; how Maclean’s character/experiences shaped this book; lack of experience in today’s writers
13:01 – Norman Maclean’s individualistic lines; assessing the opening paragraph; how the novella uses text for physical distance; the lack of melodrama in A River Runs Through It; Neal’s function as character; bait-fishing vs. fly-fishing; Neal pretends he has sunburn, then actually gets sunburned; Keith’s “hell itch” and Alex’s sunburn in Puerto Rico
27:34 – the use of foreshadowing; Paul gets into a fight & jailed; themes of Scottish emotional repression; seeking, rejecting, offering help; Paul as artist and storyteller; some beautiful lines
41:41 – understanding the police sergeant/jail scene; how Maclean mirrors dream states; 1930s Montana; Alex and Keith stumped by Prohibition; love of language vs. MFA repetitiousness; Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom” sucks; Norman Maclean as academic; A River Runs Through It is respectful of your time
58:04 – what might a modern iteration of this novel look like; A River Runs Through It vs. Moby-Dick; the bias for length vs. depth and substance; Keith: Moby Dick’s whaling scenes are hilarious
Tags: #booktube #books #review
Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It" is a great American novel, which is particularly shocking since it was Maclean’s first book and written in his 70s. In essence a memoir, “A River Runs Through It” follows the relationship between two brothers in 1930s Montana. Alex Sheremet and Keith Jackewicz dissect the book’s strengths, its powerful imagery and controlling metaphor(s), and unique structural decisions.
To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon: patreon.com/automachination
B Side topics: videos depicting A River Runs Through It encourage trite imagery; spinning cliched images into something fresh; Norman Maclean uses the cosmic scale; Biblical imagery in Herman Melville; the use of elision; escalations in the Gaza conflict; a conclusion without conclusions; martyrdom in Scottish-American culture; God and country, or Country and God in nationalist-religious movements; art and ego; motivated reasoning; literary neglect; Alex’s New Year Resolutions; can Alex limit himself to reading the news once a week; academia’s abuse of “liminal spaces”; steady multinational escalations in the Gaza genocide; is Israel trying to pull America into a wider war; Joe Biden’s 2024 trap; is China / Taiwan a Boomer fixation; the smearing of John Mearsheimer, Ivan Katchanovski; a strange economy; Harvard & the disciplining of Claudine Gay; the golden mean in the 1990s
Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: spoti.fi/3xw2M4D
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3wLpqEV
Google Podcasts: bit.ly/3dSQXxJ
Amazon Music: amzn.to/2SVJIxB
Podbean: bit.ly/3yzLuUo
iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L
Read more from the automachination universe: automachination.com
Read Alex’s (archived) essays: alexsheremet.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/automachination
Timestamps:
0:36 – introducing Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It”; why Keith is skeptical of Robert Redford’s film; memoir vs. The Great American Novel; Norman Maclean leaves out his narrator’s name; it’s important that Maclean wrote his first great novel in his 70s; how Maclean’s character/experiences shaped this book; lack of experience in today’s writers
13:01 – Norman Maclean’s individualistic lines; assessing the opening paragraph; how the novella uses text for physical distance; the lack of melodrama in A River Runs Through It; Neal’s function as character; bait-fishing vs. fly-fishing; Neal pretends he has sunburn, then actually gets sunburned; Keith’s “hell itch” and Alex’s sunburn in Puerto Rico
27:34 – the use of foreshadowing; Paul gets into a fight & jailed; themes of Scottish emotional repression; seeking, rejecting, offering help; Paul as artist and storyteller; some beautiful lines
41:41 – understanding the police sergeant/jail scene; how Maclean mirrors dream states; 1930s Montana; Alex and Keith stumped by Prohibition; love of language vs. MFA repetitiousness; Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom” sucks; Norman Maclean as academic; A River Runs Through It is respectful of your time
58:04 – what might a modern iteration of this novel look like; A River Runs Through It vs. Moby-Dick; the bias for length vs. depth and substance; Keith: Moby Dick’s whaling scenes are hilarious
Tags: #booktube #books #review
