The Writings of Norman Maclean: Seeking Truth amid Tragedy

by Timothy P. Schilling

Overview

With a foreword by John N. Maclean, son of Norman Maclean

The Writings of Norman Maclean: Seeking Truth amid Tragedy provides the first critical reassessment of this celebrated author’s work in more than a decade. In his study, Timothy P. Schilling focuses on Maclean’s attempt, in A River Runs through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire, to come to grips with the tragic side of human existence. From the 1938 death of his brother Paul to the 1949 deaths of thirteen firefighters in Montana’s Mann Gulch wildfire, Maclean is driven by a desire to discover ultimate meaning—the truth—in the face of haunting tragedy. Through careful analysis of all of Maclean’s published works, Schilling highlights the audaciousness of Maclean’s quest to wrest free an answer from “the universe.” 

Ever open to scientific, literary, philosophical, and theological ways of viewing reality, Maclean found ambiguity, paradoxically, to be an essential tool for probing the truth. Beyond exploring Maclean’s use of this tool, Schilling breaks new ground by considering Maclean’s invocation of the Transcendentals in “A River Runs through It,” noting the sly homage Maclean pays to Izaak Walton, examining Maclean’s often-neglected “Other Stories,” assessing Robert Redford’s film adaptation of “A River Runs through It,” and providing the most thorough exploration of Young Men and Fire yet available.

With this book, Schilling offers a current and complete analysis of Maclean—one of the most iconic figures in Western American literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647791674
Publisher:	University of Nevada Press
Publication date:	08/20/2024
Series:	Western Literature and Fiction Series
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	859,023
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	15 - 18 Years

About the Author

Timothy P. Schilling earned a degree in English at Princeton University and then studied theology at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Since 2003, he has worked as a theologian on the staff of the Center for Parish Spirituality in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Schilling's writings have appeared in Commonweal, America, First Things, Image, The Tablet, Communio, and other journals. He is the author of Lonesome Road: A Memoir.
 

Editorial Reviews

Tim Schilling’s fine collection of essays about Norman Maclean’s small but extraordinary oeuvre, along with the new biography by Rebecca McCarthy, initiates a robust new season of Maclean studies. Schilling’s readings, close and sympathetic, will lead new readers to this remarkable figure in recent American literary history. As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, Schilling’s book reminds us why Maclean, author of two books, holds an honorable place in late 20th-century American literature.”
—O. Alan Weltzien, editor, The Norman Maclean Reader

“You will want to be sure to grab this book and dive into all it offers.  You will ford its current and find yourself refreshed, again and again and again.  You will ache with the ancient awareness that crafting life is a sacred task and you will be given to know that everything belongs; the damned mess and the artistry as well.  You will see the shadow of Norman Maclean all along the canyon walls in the half light of a life.  A life trying to honor those loved ones who are and had been; a life determined to find meaning despite tragedy.  A life that left its echo on the earth, but across the page as well.”
—N. Thomas Johnson-Medland, author, poet, and word hive president of the board

“The Writings of Norman Maclean offers a current and complete critical coverage of Maclean. Schilling’s research is impeccable, his insights dazzling, and with this book, he enriches our understanding of all of Maclean’s work. This is a first-rate literary study.”
—Henry Hughes, professor of English, Western Oregon University, author of Bunch of Animals: Poems

“Timothy Schilling does justice to Norman Maclean as a complex figure, providing impressively sustained readings of Maclean as a writer and as a human searching for meaning and truth. Schilling takes readers on a journey of discovery through Maclean's literary and philosophical contributions.”
—Christopher Schaberg, author of Fly-Fishing, and director of public scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis
 

From the Publisher