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436th out of 1,167 books
—
878 voters
The Hermit's Story: Stories
by
Rick Bass
The Hermit's Story is Rick Bass's best and most varied fiction yet, "the work of a seasoned author in full possession of his art and craft" (Denver Post). In this story collection, Bass explores the mysterious and near-mythical connections between man and nature. In the title story, a man and a woman travel beneath the frozen surface of a dry lake; in "The Cave," a couple...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
September 18th 2003
by Mariner Books
(first published July 23rd 2002)
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The story “Eating” is going to hold a special, special place in my heart. Set right here outside my door in North Carolina, he gets the place and the people just right.
“I’m hungry,” Russell said. They stood there in the blue smoke, letting it bathe them for a while, and looked out at the forest dropping away below them: sweetgum, hickory, oak, loblolly, mountain laurel. They could see more ridges, more knolls and valleys, gold lit, through the framework of green leaves and branches. Tobacco coun...more
“I’m hungry,” Russell said. They stood there in the blue smoke, letting it bathe them for a while, and looked out at the forest dropping away below them: sweetgum, hickory, oak, loblolly, mountain laurel. They could see more ridges, more knolls and valleys, gold lit, through the framework of green leaves and branches. Tobacco coun...more
Given that I'm not a big fan of short stories as a rule, I enjoyed this book, mostly for the quality of the writing. I find, a month after finishing it, that not much sticks with me, though. Short stories tend to baffle me - I'm never quite sure that what I get is what the author meant.
Finally, I was left wishing that I'd read this book in a class, under the guidance of a professor who could trace the story arc.
Several of our book club members said that modern short stories don't have a story a...more
Finally, I was left wishing that I'd read this book in a class, under the guidance of a professor who could trace the story arc.
Several of our book club members said that modern short stories don't have a story a...more
I have read this collection of short stories twice, and two of the stories several times. I'm not sure why the alchemy happens between an author's words and a reader, but Rick Bass is one writer who I seem to connect with more often that not. These stories are quiet, even when they are adventurous. The title story, The Hermit's Story, still evokes strong images for me, magical, mysterious images of a place I've never experienced, and just the mystery of walking beneath a frozen, dry lake seems i...more
Feb 18, 2013
Lisa Aldridge
added it
Rick Bass is a master of imagery. His ability to tell a story while creating vivid images is remarkable. The title story of this anthology tells the story of one woman's trek in the Canadian wilderness during a blizzard. She becomes lost with a pack of hunting dogs and their owner, Gray Owl, but they all survive when Gray Owl accidentally falls through the ice of a frozen lake that is actually a natural phenomenon: an ice-covered lake that was empty under the ice. It's an interesting story with...more
Though this collection only entails ten 'short' stories, its sheer number of pages (all 179 of them) make it seem like more. This coupled with the fact that most of the stories here are filled to the gills with long—oftentimes painstakingly descriptive—depictions of nature leaves me exhausted and hungry for some semblance of civilization.
It's not that I do not enjoy nature, or that I particularly like being in these massive sanatoriums we call cities, but I find the sort of isolation that Bass h...more
It's not that I do not enjoy nature, or that I particularly like being in these massive sanatoriums we call cities, but I find the sort of isolation that Bass h...more
I am beginning to think of Rick Bass as a new favorite author. The stories are mostly excellent. Language and imagery is crisp and clean, characters well developed, and stories land with a lot of punch. I love how he uses the natural world within the lives of the characters. Do I really like every story? No. Do I love most? Yes
I can't believe that this is my first foray into Rick Bass' work. He has such a poetic and perfect way of describing things that often while reading this book I had to stop and re-read sentences out loud just to hear their perfect cadence. I will definitely be reading more of his works, especially his short stories.
Most of the stories are beautiful, but _The Cave_ reads like a bad taste of dime store romance. Rick Bass seems to have problems with sexuality, as most of his characters have broken relationships and the act of sex is given short, pathetic, shrift. The most interesting thing about Bass to me is that he tries to reduce the supernatural to the natural -- the physical world becomes a place of wonder and mystery unequaled in its ontological possibility. What creates magic and wonder is the relation...more
I love short stories, even when seemingly nothing much happens. This collection contains 'Eating' which is 6 pages about a young couple, on their first date, taking a ride to the mountains. Its funny and peculiar and heart-warming and highly recommended.
On the plus side, I did not find the narrative of this collection overly wordy or overly "lyrical" for the sake of being lyrical. But on the negative side, the stories just seemed lacking. What they seemed to be missing, at least for me, was a point. None of the stories stayed with me after reading them, with the possible exception of the story of the woodsman who is slowly losing his mind (Alzheimer's?). I would much rather have read that storyline in more detail as a full length novel or even...more
Great easy read book. Some stories were better than others (so what's new) but all were very interesting.
Being a guy that loves the outdoors I find Rick Bass' work to be impossible to let go.
Every story in this book stays with you. Rick Bass is simply wonderful.
Some of the stories of odd folks who live in Western Montana
You never quite escape the icey blue environment of the title story--it's like a skeleton key for whole collection. Whether in the woods or in an SUV passing a bus full of inmates, Bass knows what "environment" means--engagement. "Swans" is absolutely devastating in the best possible way. "Cave" blends eroticism, exploitation, and death--my favorite three things. "The Distance" is a great story centered around TJ and Monticello. Where is the line between conservation and manipulation? Between ad...more
"In the beginning, they all want to be heroes. Even before they enter their first fire, they will have secretly placed their helmets in the ovens at home to soften them up a bit — to dull and char and melt them slightly, so anxious are they for combat and its validations; its contract with their spirit."
phenomenal short story writer.
Great book of short stories. Loved the scenery and the fact the stories were about nothing but, everything. Will re read some of these and that means a lot.
This collection is ok. As someone not in a struggling marriage, the constant return to that issue bored me a bit. That said, I think "The Fireman" and "The Distance" are the two best stories here. This is definitely a book that can be checked out of a library instead of bought and perused through quickly. Reading The Book of Yaak before this collection affected my reading of the stories; reading them the other way around would have been better.
Liked Eating, Real Town, and The Cave a lot and the writing was beautiful. Would love to know what the author's personal life is all about because every story has some horribly depressing, tortured relationship element in it. I think I'm just not a short story person? Always want more but get frustrated when they are too long, approaching novella length.
Rick Bass is like that game you played; if so and so married so and so, what would the baby be like? He reminds me of Jim Harrison crossed with Alice Hoffman. There's beautiful scenery and poignant insight mixed with near fantasy.
I'm not a fan of all of his stories, but work like the title story "Hermits Story" is fantastic. It has that tone of someone telling you a great story, all at once, on a long car ride.
I'm not a fan of all of his stories, but work like the title story "Hermits Story" is fantastic. It has that tone of someone telling you a great story, all at once, on a long car ride.
The first two short stories seemed like poetry!After the first two stories they went down hill from there!
The smell of pine permeates this collection of essays. Each one tightly wrought. Like iron. Like running water.
Maybe a little bit of realism that boarders often times on the magical.
Maybe a little bit of realism that boarders often times on the magical.
Between nature and humanity, how strange and solent links ! great discovery, Rick Bass is an accomplished poet.
Every story in this collection is amazing, particularily the title story, and "Swans." And all the rest.
The first two shorts in this book are perhaps the two most captivating I've ever read. I have only read four so far.
these stories are poetry, fiction, and essay all at once. i want to live in some of them.
great style for a geologist writer!
recommended by le Nouvel Obs
recommended by le Nouvel Obs
Coming to Portland soon, one of my favorite authors.
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Rick Bass was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in Houston, the son of a geologist. He studied petroleum geology at Utah State University and while working as a petroleum geologist in Jackson, Mississippi, began writing short stories on his lunch breaks. In 1987, he moved with his wife, the artist Elizabeth Hughes Bass, to Montana’s remote Yaak Valley and became an active environmentalist, wo...more
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“His errors and failures have not traveled the same distance as his successes.”
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Have you settled on a favourite Bass collection? I'm still so far behind.
Sep 20, 2012 07:35pm
Sep 21, 2012 12:02pm
Sep 24, 2012 03:54am