Sounder

The transformation that occurs in Gus is intoxicating and you feel as though you are right there with him , on the vision quest , on the journey through becoming the person , the man that he wants to become . Through his transformation and journey , the reader is taken along on a spiritual journey with Gus as well - a journey whose parallels with fishing are very interesting . One of my favorite pasages in the book and there are many is when Titus and Gus are philosophizing

Gus "What 's to love ? Where is the Whopper ? Or

the soul that jumps in the living river - where is it ? And where are these sages and Buddhas holing up , now that we really need them

Titus "Would you know one if you met one ? Have you even looked ? How hard did you look ? How easy should they be to find . Look , Gus : why can 't a duffer like me catch fish ? Isn 't the answer obvious ? Isn 't it because at my present level of skill the fish would have to be so damned dumb and easily duped and utterly inclusive that they wouldn 't be worth catching ? How much more elusive should a thing so wondrous as the soul be ? It 's not a hatchery trout ! And are you sure it 's never flashed inside you ? What was it in you that loved to watch Thomas Bigeater fish What healed you and made you happy the night you remembered Bill Bob 's pine knot and our elusive twins ? What nearly jumped out of your rib cage and ravaged your brain the day you met the elusive Eddy "Fisherman should be the easiest of men to convince to commence the search for the soul , because fishing is nothing but the pursuit of the elusive . Fish invisible...