Sound of Mountain Water

Book Description

The essays, memoirs, letters, and speeches in this volume were written over a period of twenty-five years, a time in which the West witnessed rapid changes to its cultural and natural heritage, and Wallace Stegner emerged as an important conservationist and novelist. This collection is divided into two sections: the first features eloquent sketches of the West's history and environment, directing our imagination to the sublime beauty of such places as San Juan and Glen Canyon; the concluding section examines the state of Western literature, of the mythical past versus the diminished present, and analyzes the difficulties facing any contemporary Western writer. The Sound of Mountain Water is both a hymn to the Western landscape, an affirmation of the hope embodied therein, and a careful investigation of the West's cultural and natural legacy.

Customer Reviews:

"It's all right, I'm okay! I'm not great, but I'm okay!" --The Sound of Mountain Water, after a bad fall.......2005-10-06

Oh, what do we have here?
Oh, it's a cute, little, cute book.
Why, it's a collection of essays by noted writer Wallace Stegner!
Oh, how adorable!
Hmmm. I don't know, what can I say about another bunch of essays by Wallace Stegner? The thought of writing about them just kind of depresses me. I mean, the book is fine, for what it is, but it's not that exciting. It's another nature writer writing about the West, another collection of essays, and another book that just kind of IS. It's not great, it's not bad, it just is.
You might like its essay on southern Utah's Glen Canyon filling with water (Lake Powell) after the construction of Glen Canyon Dam. That's nice, and good enough that it's been reprinted many times in many books because of its statement that Lake Powell's Escalante Arm--where the Escalante River used to be--should be banned to powerboats.
Or, you might like its account of the trading posts and Navajo Rodeo near Lees Ferry in northern Arizona, or the account of hiking and rafting the San Juan River, but the essay on the billboards of New Mexico is just kind of dumb, and several others just didn't do much for me.
Read it if you want to. You'll find some good things in it, especially if you're a Western historian or obsessed with Glen Canyon, but don't expect anything too wonderful.
Expect papercuts.

The first part is great.......2000-10-25

I had this book recommended to me by someone who I really respect intellectually and since I was very moved by "Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Stegner I looked forward with great anticipation to "The Sound of Mountain Water". The Introduction was great. The first narrative, "The Rediscovery of America: 1946", was about an area very familiar to me from my travels and so I enjoyed that story. The rest of the first part of the book talked about the West, Utah and Arizona (Havasu Falls, where I have also been.)

The second part of the book (except for the first story which is about Stegner growing up in Salt Lake City) is concerned with literary criticism about Western Writers and Writing. And after the second selection of the second part, "Born A Square", I stopped reading the book and am going to try and return it.

There are so many good books waiting to be read I didn't feel the last 100 pages was worth reading--and I rarely do this, I almost always finish a book.

Book Description

Judy Baer, Jan Duffy, Peggy Stoks, and Jeri Odell

Four complete novellas, each set in a different region of contemporary America. As couples are reunited, we learn how they've grown in their understanding of God and themselves.

Customer Reviews:

great stories.......2001-11-17

I really enjoyed "Reunited". My favorite story is "mountain memories" by Jan Duffy. Is was about childhood friends who are mow grown and who find romance in the smoky mountains. I really liked the characters, Daniel and Mikaela seem like the perfect couple. Daniel reminds me of the kind of man ever woman dreams of finding! The other three stories are also very appealing.

Christian angle seems superimposed onto the novellas........1999-01-13

I purchased 'Reunited' because I wanted to read something romantic without the seemingly mandatory mindless sex that other romance genres, even Regencies, now espouse. 'Reunited' disappointed on a number of levels, most importantly in plot development of all but one of the novellas, "The Sound of the Water", by Peggy Stoks.

The remaining stories are contrived, a Christian angle superimposed and not at all realistic. In Judy Baer's "Tell Me No Lies", about a small North Dakota town whose principal employer has not committed to rebuild after the fire that destroyed their plant, the protagonist spends most of the story trying to decide whether she'll go along with a plan that means saving the town because it involves working with an old love. This character, who spouts Biblical sayings at the drop of a hat, seriously considers turning down the opportunity afforded her because the man in question offended her 'moral values' ten years previously when both were high school seniors, seemingly annoyed at those townspeople whose businesses are about to close down or whose houses will be lost to foreclosure.

The remaining novellas, "Scarlett Dreamer" and "Mountain Memories", also suffer from terminally self-centered heroines and implausible plotlines. I was tremendously disappointed in this collection.

Average customer rating:
Sound of Mountain Water
Wallace Stegner
Manufacturer: DOUBLEDAY & CO INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UE0OJS

Average customer rating:
Sound of Mountain Water
Wallace Stegner
Manufacturer: DOUBLEDAY & CO INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SO2HU4

Average customer rating:
Sound of Mountain Water 1ST Edition
Wallace Stegner
Manufacturer: DOUBLEDAY & CO INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PVD12S

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The Sound of Mountain Water : Part I
Wallace Earle Stegner
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0345026519

Average customer rating:
The sound of mountain water ;: Part I (A Comstock edition)
Wallace Earle Stegner
Manufacturer: Ballintine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Stegner, Wallace | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007EQ9ZY

Average customer rating:
The SOUND Of MOUNTAIN WATER.
Wallace. Stegner
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Co.,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NYCMYU

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The Sound of Mountain Water: The Changing American West
Wallace Stenger
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K1N08I

Average customer rating:
The Sound of Mountain Water : The Changing American West
Wallace Earle Stegner
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIXF50