Aleck Maury, sportsman Book

"You're young and you don't realize it yet, but there isn't time enough . . . There isn't time enough." That's Colonel Wyndham's carpe diem-ish message to a younger Aleck Maury as the older Englishman passes along his fly fishing knowledge. Maury heeds the message - sort of. He pursues his passion for the sporting life off and on throughout seven-plus decades; but toward the end, Maury doesn't seem to remember Wyndham's passionate remarks, even when he later sees a 90-plus year old Wyndham going beyond his strength to catch fish like crazy. Admittedly, Maury's not the most reflective person. But I believe Caroline Gordon truly loves her everyman narrator Aleck Maury. I agree with Gordon. Maury's seeming ambivalence toward seizing every day makes him likable, and in my opinion preferable to Dylan Thomas wannabes who rage against the dying of the light.

Maury loves to catch boatloads of fish. But it's never solely about the quantity - it's the experience. While nonagenarian Wyndham uses multiple rods at a time and baits his fishing holes, Maury's surprised at living to 70 years of age, and goes where the fish reside. In other words, toward the ends of their lives, Maury's a sportsman; Wyndham's a fish catcher. Wyndham's a colonel; Maury's a part-time professor who refuses to teach classes after noon and cares little for rank. Wyndham's passions remain unchanged; Maury's passions change with the season. No wonder Maury has no interest in reconnecting with his fly fishing pseudo mentor Wyndham.

I'm not saying Aleck Maury, Sportsman can be reduced to a simple comparison between Maury and Wyndham. I will say, however, that the contrast between how the two men go about living and dying reveals much about our hero Maury. In the end, Caroline Gordon's provided us with a simple self-portrait of a lifelong sportsman interested in the surface rather than the deeper things of life.