Travel World guide

After seeing The Everlasting Stream featured on PBS, I read the book to find out about a number of issues I had with hunting and the associated killing of animals. Although I had fished in years past, before reading this book hunting seemed “barbaric” to me. After reading the book I have a better understanding of the sport, and am a little more open-minded about those who hunt and those who own guns, rifles and shotguns and hunt for the sport and food. (Mind you, I still don’t consider an AK-47 a hunting implement.) The other stories in the book, of friendship and family were heart-warming, honest and a breath of fresh air, and remind the reader that indeed we strive to be the best in a brother, a son, a father, that family comes first, and that broken lines of communication should be mended before we leave this earth. In addition, as one-half of an interracial marriage these past 35 years, I identified with the author’s relationships with his spouse, his father-in-law Alex and Alex’s friends. Of Alex, Bobby, Lewis and Carl, I’m reminded of the saying, “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” I loved Harrington’s style, and substance, of writing so much that I am now reading another of his books, Crossings: A White Man’s Journey into Black America, and so far it is outstanding as well. And finally, the book’s other storyline—leaving the yuppie fast lane of traffic—resonated with this reviewer as well.

Having married an African-American woman, journalist Walt Harrington found himself expected to maintain the family traditions by going rabbit hunting with his father-in-law, and his friends, every Thanksgiving. At first, Walt looked down on these course, back-country men as throwbacks to an earlier, more primitive way of life. With time, though, he came to realize that these men shared a different, stronger bond than he had ever known. Unconsciously, they showed him what being a man could be all about, and he learned many lessons as he (and later him and his son) hunted rabbits in the hills of Kentucky.

This book came as quite a surprise to me. I tripped across it by accident, and am quite glad that I did. It’s written in a stream-of-consciousness style, which allows the author to skip forward and backward through time, showing his development throughout. Indeed, if you are interested in men’s books (such as those by Robert Bly), then I highly recommend that you get this one. It is a fascinating look at life and being a man.

The Everlasting Stream, by Walt Harrington, is a hunting book that isn’t a book about hunting. I had read a brief review about this book being a good addition to the pro-hunting literature. Well, it was, in a sense. Harrington is a fine writer, and most pro-hunting books tend to focus on the charismatic megafauna like deer and elk. Harrington’s focus is on the common and ordinary, the prolific cottontail. No trophy hunting here; this is all about hunting for meat.

What does Harrington say in defense of hunting?

“Animals bleed. Live with it” (p. 146).

“It doesn’t matter to a rabbit what kills him – fever, flukes, worms, weather, hawks, or me. The rabbit is dead” (p. 184).

“Killing an animal doesn’t deaden the human conscience; it enlivens it” (p. 184).

“Hunting isn’t golf or tennis, which demand only technical mastery. Hunting isn’t merely an exercise in male bonding, as so many believe. Hunting has moral gravitas” (p. 185).

“It is people who enjoy the fruits of the kill without feeling the ominous responsibility of the killing who are morally delinquent” (p. 186).

“I’m not supposed to hunt without guilt. I’m supposed to hunt despite the guilt” (p. 187).

“Long ago, a woman at my table said to me, ‘I can’t believe you killed those little bunnies.’ I now know what I should have said in response. ‘I can’t believe you ate those little bunnies without killing one’” (p. 189).

Harrington isn’t perfect. He confesses a time when “I fire, and the rabbit tumbles, heels over head. When I reach down, the rabbit suddenly kicks his hind legs violently and drubs my hand twice before I can pull away… I use the butt of my gun like a deadfall and club the rabbit’s head. After I do, his left eye dangles from its socket. I take out my knife that I will give to Matt at Christmas, slice the eye free, and put the rabbit in my bag” (p. 214).

I certainly hope he removed the shells from his shotgun before using it as a club. And although Harrington did not appear to be apologetic for his act, there is a line between killing an animal and torturing it. It is this line that society scrutinizes. He hints at its existence with his “It doesn’t matter to a rabbit what kills him…” comment; however, it does matter to society, and I would say it should matter to the hunter as well.

With this said, this book is much, much more than a book about hunting. Harrington explores issues of manhood (and boyhood), parenting, memories, and livelihoods. He discusses race relations (Harrington’s hunting buddies are black while he is white), politics, friends, and folklore. He reflects on his passions, and eventually makes some drastic, life-altering decisions.

All in 217 pages. The subtitle says it all: The Everlasting Stream: A True Story of Rabbits, Guns, Friendship, and Family.

Harrington’s father repeatedly said to him, “Everything’s beautiful if you look at it right.” I’d say this IS the theme of the book.

If you are not a hunter, keep reading through the hunting scenes. Harrington keeps springing new topics and ideas upon the reader.

There is something here for everyone.

I bought this book online because it is the only place that I could find it. I read it in two days and loved every second to it. The short storys in this book for the most part entwine into one another. The storys focus on two weeks of the year spent in the Big Woods hunting bear and deer. The shorts in this are very good. Hope this helps you.

Any outdoorsman, especially one that rabbit hunts, will truly enjoy this book. It shows the feeling of true friends and the value of sharing time together. The interaction of the group reminds me of my buddies I have been hunting with for nearly 40 years. It also talks about the importance of friendship and family all intertwined into a very outstanding book. I plan on buying a copy for each of my hunting buddies and family.

A thoughtful, beautifully written, almost poetic meditation on hunting, tradition, friendship, nature and human nature. It is ostensibly about rabbit hunting, but that is not where this book’s meaning lies nor where the heart of its story is. Its story and meaning lie with the people, and Harrington writes in a voice so personal that you feel you know him and his family and friends. This is not a book for the PETA crowd, or for those who call rabbits “bunnies.” If you’ve ever hunted, or if you understand the true nature of Nature, you’ll enjoy The Everlasting Stream. (Note: This review has been written by a woman who, although she does not hunt, has shot the occasional rabbit when its depredations in her garden have become intolerable and the Hav-a-Hart trap proved ineffectual.)

This is a good book for hunters or adventures people. This book by William Faulkner Big Woods hunting stories is an interesting book.
This fiction book is about a bunch of people who go out in a big river bottom and there is a big bear that they call old Ben and they can’t ever kill him but this time when they go out they have a special feeling that they might get the old two toed bear. Do they get the bear? You will have to read this book to figure it out. Then there best hound lion who was the only hound good enough to come close to Old Ben dies after a chase. Then the next time they go out they find a big buck that looks like there is a wooden rocking chair on his head. You probably wonder if they get it but you are going to have to read it yourself to find out.
I would give this book three stars because it jumped around a lot and was hard to make sense for me. I would recommend this book to people who like to read adventure books because it is adventures. This book also had parts in between that could of been left out and the book would have been just as good.

brand new book for a great price

a most excellent book
my husband is enjoying

The essence of political conservatism is the yearning for the best of the culture and moral clime of the past–the sense that something of value to our souls has been lost in the headlong rush of human social progress. Political liberalism, on the other hand, assumes that bureaucrats and technocrats can improve upon centuries old social structures, cultural inheritances and moral codes. But there is one area where the roles of the two are reversed and that is when it comes to the environment. The American Left has a long standing love affair with nature; from Jefferson to Thoureau, Teddy Roosevelt to Al Gore, there is a pastoral strain to liberal politics, a kind of religious belief in an Edenic past and a nearly Biblical sense that man’s attempts to control nature have a corrupting influence.

This sentiment has perhaps never been treated more beautifully in our Literature than in Faulkner’s great short novel, The Bear. The story of a succession of hunting seasons is basically a warning from Faulkner that as we destroy the wilderness we threaten the traditions and values of our society. Nature is symbolized by the cagey ancient ursine, Old Ben. Most of the tale is told by Ike McCaslin, who is 10 years old as it begins. Initially he flounders through the woods, but as he surrenders himself to the primordial forces of Nature, he is able to sense the bear’s presence. Another year, when he sets aside his gun and compass and other accouterments of civilization, he is finally able to see the bear. Gradually he earns his way into the aristocracy of the wild, until, together with Sam Fathers (part black, part Indian, he represents a kind of noble savage) and Boon Hogganbeck (a sort of elemental force of nature) and a suicidally fearless dog named Lion, he hunts down Old Ben after the bear violates the unwritten code of the woods by attacking a horse. But even as Old Ben succumbs, he will take some of them with him and his parting signals the end of a way of life.

Despite some too obscure interior monologue passages, this is Faulkner’s most accessible work. It is the only Faulkner I’ve ever actually reread and it is so rife with symbolism and ulterior meanings, that you can always find something new in it. And, for whatever reason, it is further evidence that sports writing brings out the best in almost every author (see also “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu” by John Updike), in fact, it is often anthologized in Greatest Sports Story collections. Regardless of where you find it, or which version you read, it is well worth a shot.

GRADE: B+

An outstanding book about male relationships. It was this book by an “Easterner” that showed me, who grew up in Wyoming hunting, what hunting is about for males. A great read for anyone who has been in a hunting camp or spent time hunting with friends.

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR MY HUSBAND WHO IS A RABBIT HUNTER HE LOVED THE BOOK ALLL THE STORIES OF THE MEN & THEIR HUNTS.. I ALSO GOT ONE FOR HIS BROTHER HE & HIS WIFE BOTH LOVED THE BOOK A GREAT BOOK I HAVENT READ IT YET BUT LOOKING FOWARD TO READING IT. I RECOMEND IT TO ALL HUNTERS OR ANYONE WHO LIKES A GOOD GOOD TRUE STORY OF JUST PLAN PEOPLE HAVING A GOOD TIME ENJOYING FAMILY & FRIENDS
WE ALSO SAW THE SPECIAL ON PBS WHICH WAS GOOD.
JUANITA

I’ve occasionally used this collection as required reading for troubled and directionless young adult males. “The Race at Dawn” provides an excellent starting place for a discussion for the need to complete their education. The review from 1999 by “A READER” comments about “The Bear” being incomplete; all five sections are printed in the version collected in “Go Down Moses.”

More than just about hunting, family, and friends. A life’s trip to one’s past with refelections.

I’m re-reading this book and really enjoying the stories (read it as tales in a novel). The book really puts different views to various people’s ways of looking at the same stories and family histories. Read this and know why Faulkner is considered one of the best American novelists of all time. His people ring true, and two stories, “The Old People” and “The Bear”, are just fantastic.

Of course the short stories here are excellent, but it is terrible that the origional Part Four of The Bear has been removed. Anyone who enjoys The Bear owes it to themselves to find a complete copy (it will have five parts) because Part Four is arguably the most important and meaningful portion of the entire story!

“The Everlasting Stream” is a tale about male relationships, about self discovery and about hunting that does justice to all three subjects. While many books use one story as a vessel to carry another, this develops all three stories simultaneously and completely.

Author Walt Harrington portrays himself as a snobby Washington Post reporter who finds himself tramping around Kentucky fields, shooting rabbits with his father-in-law’s hunting buddies to prove he is not above them.

Through the Thanksgiving hunts, Harrington comes to respect the men. He comes to understand himself and to wonder how he so misplaced himself. He grows up with his son and reconsiders his relationship with his late father. Through it all, he thinks deeply about the experience of hunting, turning inside out his initial revulsion to it. In the end, the hunts lead him to make a profound change in his life.

Harrington finds answers, real-life answers, and not the clear-cut, no-regrets answers of cardboard stories.

As Harrington re-evaluates his life, male friendships and hunting, you will, too. It’s a journey worth taking, and Harrington is an engaging guide.