Would the story have worked as well without fly fishing?

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psychopathycathy
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Re: Would the story have worked as well without fly fishing?

Post by psychopathycathy »

I definitely agree with the fact that there needed to be a concrete central theme, and I feel like fly fishing is one that is very unique! Book club or girls' nights have been done before, but this hasn't. Because of the topic though, which I have no experience with, I did have some trouble connecting, but I still appreciate the originality.
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Post by jenjayfromSA »

Any common interest would probably have been enough to form and hold friendships if they were passionate enough about it. Mountain climbing might have done it, bird watching, anything that took them out of their normal comfort zone and life and gave them a chance to get away and reassess.
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Post by Nena_Morena »

I really liked the book because of the great friendship that the girls shared, but I was pleasantly surprised by the teaching of fly fishing that I got from this book. Honestly I was very ignorant about this sport, so I believe that the book wouldn't have been the same without it because the fly fishing was very integral.
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Post by Butterflybookworm »

I think it would be very hard to write this book without the fly fishing. It's the uniqueness of the sport that drew these women together. If it had been something more common it wouldn't have had as big an impact.
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Post by ssmithy »

I think that the fly fishing was an important tie between all the women. If there was a replacement it would have to be something relaxing and in nature. I think that natural environment facilitated the women’s friendships.
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Post by Helen_Combe »

It would work with another hobby, but the fact that fly fishing got them outdoors and they were doing what was considered a man’s hobby added to the overall story.
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Post by MollyEnter »

The whole nature aspect of fly fishing really helped to convey some of the author's life lessons, I think, but I think this story could have been just as good using another sport or activity. The writer would have just needed to tweak the metaphors and found the beauty in this other activity. Beauty, life lessons, skills, and joy are hiding everywhere. A good author knows how to see it and then write it.
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Post by Sakilunamermaid »

The theme of fly fishing made me not want to read this book. But then I watched the movie Catch and Release and that had aspects of fly fishing.
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Post by ReyvrexQuestor Reyes »

I think fly fishing is a necessary ingredient of the story. For how else would the girls be positioned in the river at the right time if not for the sport of fly fishing? Where else would the naked girl float downstream with the current if not in the river where the sisters are fishing? Just a thought, maybe the novel would be named Jet Ski Sisters had they discovered the naked girl while jet-skiing or Kayak Sisters had they been kayaking in the current when they saved the girl.
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Post by Jfoust1988 »

I think the story would have worked fine with any hobby as long as ot was one with equal value. Collecting stamps might not have worked as well. Book clubs, hunting, or even painting would have been fine. As long as the characters both shared a deep passion for the hobby.
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Post by Zain A Blade »

I think the theme of fly fishing is what makes the story original. Of course, there are many other themes that the author could have used for characterisation, but this book has its own flavour. And the theme of fly fishing makes this book more powerful in that it eludes to female emancipation. It talks about a group of women joyously engaging in a sport that is typically associated with men, this alone opens up the perspective of readers to the reality of gender roles and their limitations in our society.
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Post by TashaCrispin »

There are many activities that could replace flyfishing but I think the author wanted the book to be really unique. And it was the perfect unusual activity to stick the story to a readers mind.

Do you remember that story where friendship started at the campsite/beach/party/you name the usual...?Normal is boring.
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Post by Amanda Nixon »

I think it could've worked just fine without the fly fishing as long as there was a really good suitable alternative (like a book club as mentioned above). I say that because it was still an important part of the characters journeys and without it there wouldn't be much to the book
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Post by folkshot »

I think fly fishing probably could have been replaced with another outdoor activity, but I also think that would have changed the book significantly. I like that the author chose fly fishing; it's a somewhat unusual sport and you don't usually hear about women participating in it.
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Post by KLafser »

Snowflake wrote: 07 Feb 2018, 08:52 I think that there was definitely a need for a common interest but I also agree that the nature of their interest helped shape the story. I think that the effect of the outdoors and the patience required in their sports helped shape their group and their personalities.
I agree - I think the hobby or unifying factor needed to be active and "distracting" from everyday behavior. That said, I do think the focus that comes from fly fishing could be found and replaced here by another activity.
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