Book Discussion: Brokeback Mountain

[Front-Ranger]

This is a discussion of the story, not the movie, but here is the scene I was referring to:



I could probably write 3,000 words about this picture...in addition to the ax handle, notice the sharpened end of the iron stake and where it is pointing. There is another thing pointing at Jack. In the foreground, out of focus, is an object, and I think it is the scabbard for the knife. There is a bucket near Jack and a coffeepot near Ennis. Jack is holding the whiskey bottle, and we know that whiskey means water of life. Behind Ennis is the elk, crucified on a rack, between them is the saddle, and behind Jack is a horse's rump LOL! All of these are powerful symbols!!

[Front-Ranger]

Jeez, I forgot the most important thing! In between Ennis and Jack. Do you see it??

"...the can of beans with the spoon handle jutting out and balanced on a log was there as well, in a cartoon shape and lurid colors that gave the dreams a flavor of comic obscenity. The spoon handle was the kind that could be used as a tire iron."

 

[Front-Ranger]

Back to a discussion of italicized words in the story. Here is the most famous one, probably.

They went at it in silence except for a few sharp intakes of breath and Jack’s choked “Gun’s goin off. . .”

What these three little words tell me is that Jack is not a virgin. You may disagree, but the fact that he tells Ennis when he is going to come shows some experience. Otherwise, how would Ennis know? It's almost like Jack is keeping Ennis's hand there in a virtual way.

AP manages to bring into this crucial turning point in the story a mention of the gun that is so powerful a symbol of their relationship and the transformative effect of love. Ironically, she manages to make the gun, normally a weapon and a negative symbol, into a symbol of the life force and spirit. The fact that Jack says "Gun's goin off" is a self-forecast of his tragic end, as well.

The sentence also manages to portend Jack's death again with the words "sharp" and "choked." Sometimes sex is called "a little death" and it is portrayed that way in the story. It is the death of Ennis and Jack's autonomy as individuals and the birth of their union together.

[Front-Ranger]

I'm going to be talking about The New Yorker version of the story, because all caps hurt my eyes.

There is one word in The New Yorker version of the story that is all caps. I can't say it here, not now, not today. Perhaps tomorrow.

But it makes me think of the book that EDelMar bought me from the TenSleep Library. It was Telegraph Days by Larry McMurtry. It's a good book and an easy read. Across the spine (ouch!) is a sticker with a word stamped on it all caps in red. It says DISCARDED. 

[Front-Ranger]

Just hit the reply button and type in any old thing you want! Please!

[Front-Ranger]

Don't mind if I do, Front-Ranger, and thank yew for the invite!

I like to just open the story to any random place and start reading. Here is where I opened it last nite:

"In May of 1983 they spent a few cold days at a series of little icebound, no-name lakes, then worked across into the Hail Strew River drainage. Going up, the day was fine, but the trail deep-drifted and slopping wet at the margins. They left it to wind through a slashy cut, leading the horses through brittle branch wood., Jack lifting his head in the heated noon to take the air scented with resinous lodgepole, the dry needle duff and hot rock, bitter juniper crushed beneath the horses' hooves."

Once again, just like the prologue, we see laid out before us, a microcosm of their story, retold in metaphor. May of 1983--isn't that exactly 20 years from the date they met? No-name lakes--their namers just stopped at Ennis??  The hailstorm that mixed up the sheep and made life all confused. The trail of their life, or of their relationship, that was squishy around the edges, always, and disappeared completely sometimes in deep drifts. Through all the difficulty, Jack kept a calm center, centered through his breathing, living in the moment, while Ennis:

"Ennis, weather-eyed, looked west for the heated cumulus that might come up on such a day, but the boneless blue was so deep, said Jack, that he might drown looking up."

Ennis is always anticipating trouble but Jack exists in the present while, Christ-like, predicting his own demise.

[loneleeb3]

Well, I came to discuss but apparently I need to read the story a bit more.
Y'all are finding a lot of deep meaning that I have over looked.
I devoured the story in about 1/2 an hour so I should probably read it again and savor it more.
It's so different than the movie. I think in the book Ennis is a bit more tender.
Still though, it's just as sad if not more so. Seeing Ennis as we do at the begining is painful.
You just want to grab him and say "Come on cowboy, just come stay at my house and quit bein lonely. You deserve more".
One thing I noticed in the book that I didn't in the movie, it seems as if they were on the run in the book. The way Annie talks of them riding the different ranges and never going back to Brokeback. In the movie I thought that was were they always went.
In the book it was like they were running away from the one place thatthey were truly happy. Maybe thats the obvious point but thats how I sees it.

[Front-Ranger]

I agree with you, Lee. That's one reason the lake scene is so powerful. It's the trailhead scene in the story.

"Tell you what, we could a had a good life together, a fuckin real good life. You wouldn't do it, Ennis, so what we got now is Brokeback Mountain. Everything built on that. It's all we got, boy, fuckin all, so I hope you know that if you don't never know the rest."

Also here is an example of the Wyoming double negative that adds up to a negative. I think it musta started in Wyoming, or somewhere in the bowels of America, though I'm not a linguist by any means. It is a corollary to the double positive (Alma's "sure enough") that adds up to a negative.

[moremojo]

You may disagree, but the fact that he tells Ennis when he is going to come shows some experience.

FRiend, I've usually read that line also as indicative of Jack's moment of orgasm, but I do think it is possible that he might be referring to sensing Ennis coming inside of him. It is much less plausible that both boys are coming at the same time.

At any rate, I too also have the sense that Jack has had some experience of sex before meeting Ennis, and this line is one of the factors for feeling this way. (Incidentally, I also have always had the feeling that Jack is slightly younger than Ennis, despite his greater experience, though I'm not sure I can point to any specific clues to support this view.)

[Front-Ranger]

It is much less plausible that both boys are coming at the same time.

What? Don't burst my bubble like that!!

At any rate, I too also have the sense that Jack has had some experience of sex before meeting Ennis, and this line is one of the factors for feeling this way. (Incidentally, I also have always had the feeling that Jack is slightly younger than Ennis, despite his greater experience, though I'm not sure I can point to any specific clues to support this view.)

I agree with you. Figuratively, if not literally, Ennis was always old, while Jack is forever young.