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The story is told from Ennis' perspective 90% of the time, but you never really know, except for their brief reunion the first time they saw each other after the summer at Brokeback, how he felt. Okay, so this is at best a novella, but really just a short story. Jack was obviously conflicted, but far more comfortable with his attraction to Ennis than Ennis was with his attraction to Jack.The ending felt incomplete. Overall, I liked it. It was a tragic love story, only instead of the lovers being from opposing families they were a socially unacceptable pairing.Sort of.I wish it had been longer, truthfully. I wanted to know how Ennis got on, how he lived with himself, whether he ended up dying alone.Th language is a bit crude in a couple of places, but it suited the characters-60's ranch hands and all. It was lyrical and sweet, in a way that let you know this would not end well far more often than it was crude.
Annie Proulx writing is easy and flows well. It's astounding how much story is packed into this 55-page epic of love found, squandered, salvaged and ultimately lost forever. The story of Ennis and Jack is the reality of so many couples in many scoeities, including Western societies that pride themselves with "tolerating" gay people and giving them "rights." The idea of two men falling in love is still largely considered taboo. From the vivid scenery of the West to the intimate relations between two lovers, this very quick read (took me an hour to read with interruptions) proves to be a force of nature and an exemplary lesson on succinct writing.I think my imagination to fill in the details has been polluted by having seen the movie first. With that, though, I still very much enjoyed reading the story. "Brokeback Mountain" is the "Romeo and Juliet" of my generation and the 21st century's. It breaks considerable boundaries and challenges deep-seeded perception of the nature of love.Great story.
One of the best pieces of gay fiction ever written, and one of the best American short stories ever written.
An interesting short story portraying the aspects of love (of any kind) most of us will never be given a chance to experience. The book allows readers to understand the complex relation of unexpected (gay) love, and the social misunderstanding of it based on their false beliefs and fear. A coarse language emphasizes the fact that it is the story about two real men who "wish they knew how to quit themselves", but struggle with a real feeling they have for each other.
As far as short stories go BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, at 64 pages, is one of the best. While it is a tragic story, it is expertly written and Annie Proulx's prose is meticulous in its intent. Not a traditional Western, but rather a more modern (1960s through 1980s) story of two young rodeo cowboys who fall in love one summer while working as sheepherders on the title mountain. The characterizations are deep and very true to the era and one can really feel the pain of yearning that young gay men of that era would truly feel, and understand the circumstances of how one of them at least, felt it was impossible to make a life together; so they would meet up at different periods in their lives to rekindle their romance. The characters are so concrete they will stay with you for a long time.Mark R. ProbstThe Filly
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