Annotated Bibliography
The Many Themes and Styles of Richard Brautigan
Kathleen D. Hensley
Bales, Kent. “Fishing the Ambivalence, or, a Reading of Trout Fishing in America.” Western Humanities Review 29:1 (1975): 29-41. [Literature Online/LION]
Through in-depth analyses, Bales compares his own life experiences to those revealed in
Trout Fishing in America. He relates with the physical act of fishing, and its spiritual effect. Bales claims that “going trout fishing keeps alive the myth of a pastoral world and is in turn given reality by the realities of ‘nature’ it touches the fisherman with” (Bales 32). Identifying Brautigan as an escapist, Bales contends that Trout Fishing is a myth, designed to energize creativity. Furthermore, Bales discusses Brautigan’s stylistic ambivalence. He says that Brautigan holds onto reality while delving deep into myth, creating an unresolved state of mind. (102 words)
Crouch, Jeff. “Discontinuity in Richard Brautigan’s The Tokyo-Montana Express.” The Midwest Quarterly 33:4 (1992): 393-401. [Literature Online/LION]
In “In Discontinuity,” Crouch discusses Richard Brautigan’s The Tokyo-Montana Express as a metaphysical look at the world, a world seen without patterns or continuity. According to Crouch, Brautigan relies heavily upon short chapters of disconnected narrations, emphasizing his idea that life lacks symmetry and patterns. The disjointed structure in The Tokyo-Montana Express displays the minute details of life, which vary from chapter to chapter. Putting together Brautigan’s puzzle pieces, Crouch determines that the theme and structure of The Tokyo-Montana Express are both broken in uneven pieces. Finally, Crouch concludes that through structure, Brautigan expresses that life is discontinuous, and thus nonsensical. (101 words)
Hearron, Thomas. “Escape through Imagination in Trout Fishing in America.” Critique: Studies in Modern Fiction 16:1 (1974): 25-31. [Literature Online/LION]
In “Escape through Imagination,” Hearron describes the theme of Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America as stripping complexities of life bare, and returning to the organic things in life. As the title of the article indicates, Hearron is alluding to creativity. He introduces several metaphors where Brautigan alters natural surroundings into synthetic environs. Hearron defines these examples as “Brautigan metaphors,” where Brautigan uniquely connects reality and imagination (Hearron 27). Once combined, the imagination can create the reality, which, Hearron states, is a powerful ability (30). Brautigan metaphors elevate the characters as well as any involved reader to a congenial state of mind. As discussed in “Escape through Imagination,” Brautigan is concerned about a polluted tributary of society, and wants to keep the streams fresh and clean. Hearron hypothesizes that Brautigan’s message is Americans should be creative in order to survive happily. (140 words)
Hernlund, Patricia. “Author’s Intent: In Watermelon Sugar.” Critique: Studies in Modern Fiction 16:1 (1974): 5-17. [First Search/MLA]
Hernlund mentions several literary devices Brautigan uses in In Watermelon Sugar. He lays out a unique structure, which involves three separate time fragments, distinguished as Books 1, 2, and 3, that each end with death. The year is unknown; however, everything else within the story is orderly and consistent. For instance, Hernlund notes that “everyone uses the same building materials” and “the community is arranged around a well-defined set of principles and procedures” (Hernlund 9). Throughout In Watermelon Sugar, Brautigan has developed a dismal, unbelievable voice, spoken through the narrator. Blending the structure and the voice, Brautigan has created a rhetorical world that lacks emotion. Furthermore, Hernlund mentions that, through the recurrent symbol of watermelon sugar, the people in the story are cut off from their senses and reality. She also mentions that Brautigan juxtaposes emotions, consequently neutralizing them. Hernlund demands that through symbolism, structure, voice, and juxtaposition, Brautigan depicts a world without pity or joy, and poses a question: is not a life with violence and death better? (169 words)
Hume, Kathryn. “Brautigan’s Psychomachia.” Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 34:1 (2001): 75-92. [Literature Online/LION]
Relating fiction and religion, Hume considers Zen practice as part of Richard Brautigan’s style. She relates the common unemotional, detached narrator or antagonist present in his works to the Buddhist teaching of not letting emotions take control. Through examples from several of his works, Hume discovers that Brautigan focuses on the minute details of life, each action aimless. Buddhism teaches its followers to lack goals in order to relish each moment. Additionally, Hume notes that Brautigan has three different plots: the happy plot, the unhappy plot, and the action plot. By connecting the unhappy and the action, Brautigan poses the question, “Can we ever find happiness?” Buddhist texts explain that bliss is reaching Zen, which few practitioners have ever achieved. According to Hume, Brautigan invites his reader to take a look inside his- or herself, and find the simplicity within. (140 words)
Leavitt, Harvey. “The Regained Paradise of Brautigan’s In Watermelon Sugar.” Critique: Studies in Modern Fiction 16:1 (1974): 18-24. [First Search/MLA]
As specifically shown in “The Regained Paradise,” Richard Brautigan’s In Watermelon Sugar alludes in detail to the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Leavitt discusses in detail that Brautigan intended to reconstruct “man’s second great attempt” at the Garden of Eden. He calls the nameless narrator “Adam II,” and regards one of his lovers as Eve because she betrayed him with evildoings. Later in In Watermelon Sugar, the “Eve II” character hangs herself from an apple tree, thus intensifying the allusion to the Old Testament. Another allusion is the tree of knowledge. In the Bible, the tree of knowledge is where Eve betrayed Adam. Whereas, in Brautigan’s novel, the forgotten works resides primarily to teach humanity good from bad. Further, this is precisely where “Eve II” betrays “Adam II.” Finally, through symbolism, the commune iDEATH represents interdependency in a utopia such as the one Brautigan has created. Leavitt argues in “The Regained Paradise” that Brautigan portrays a utopia much like the Garden of Eden, however In Watermelon Sugar emphasizes nature and “living collectively rather than individually” (Leavitt 24). (178 words)
McGuane, Thomas. “An Optimist Vis-à-vis the Present.” New York Times 15 February 1970: 282.
Throughout this article, McGuane expresses that a few of Brautigan’s works are individual pieces that do not duplicate, nor can they be duplicated. He compares other literature with Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America, The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, and In Watermelon Sugar, and complains that much of the outside literature has overused themes. McGuane describes Brautigan’s style as comical and apprehensive, as well as “crazy with optimism.” He feels that the style is sincere because it is unlike anything else. He also explains that Brautigan frequently depicts death with weightiness, a sobering reality coming to light. McGuane concludes his article by stating that perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Brautigan’s style is the swift speed at which he travels. (121 words)
Stull, William L. “Richard Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America: Notes of a Native Son.” American Literature 56:1 (1984): 68-80. [New York Times Online]
As pointed out repetitiously by Stull, Brautigan’s primary literary tool in Trout Fishing in America is the allusion. He specifically supports his hypothesis, linking Brautigan’s work to such literary geniuses as Benjamin Franklin, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, Henry Miller, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain. Astonishingly, the list does not end there. Alluding almost as frequently as Brautigan, Stull discovers that the outside references underline the theme of the novel: the river of American society is drying up. However, these allusions remain comical, illustrating a glimmer of hope. Stull stresses that Trout Fishing in America is about the American culture, specifically the American dream, evolving and creating history. This hypothesized theme is swarming with strong literary sources, all of which are coincidentally Americans. (123 words)