Reviewed January 1, 2004
I've been reading alot of westerns lately. It is a fascinating and currently much neglected genre. I find it interesting because so much of the definition of the American character is depicted in western novels and while the genre may seem passe, those independent, freedom-loving, violent and straight-talking characters are still very much with us. Despite this significance, it is worth noting that "The Travels Of Jaimie McPheeters" is the only other member of the genre to win the Pulitzer Prize in the last 85 years. Perhaps this neglect may be a case of not being able to see something because it is too close. It may also be because most western novels lack the depth and complexity we expect of literature and seldom rise above the level of hack-work.
One of the best (if not THE best) of modern western writers is Larry McMurtry and I have just finished what is probably his most widely known novel, "Lonesome Dove." In the context of Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, Max Brand, Ernest Haycox and a host of other western authors and their books, McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" raises the genre to a whole new level both in depth of characterization and complexity of plot. That he does this while remaining true to the classic western style is a magnificent achievement. It's also a very interesting and engaging book.
What happens in this book? Two aging ex-Texas Rangers, Woodrow Call and Augustus MacRae, at the suggestion of a third member of the triumvirate, Jake Spoon, gather a bunch of cattle at their livery stable in the town of Lonesome Dove near the Mexican border and set out to drive them to Montana. Their crew consists of some of the residents of the town including the whore and the piano player and they accidentally recruit other colorful characters as they make their way north. There's lots of cowboys and Indians stuff, horse thieves, rustlers, gunmen and con men along the way and a goodly number of the characters (most, in fact) manage to get themselves shot, knifed, trampled, hung, raped or speared before the end.
That's a gross oversimplification of this splendid big book (924 pages in the paperback version I've just read). There is enough interesting story in it to fill twenty normal westerns and enough interesting characters and character development to fill forty. Read it. You won't be disappointed. I can hardly wait to get a copy of the sequel, "Streets of Laredo."
(Review by Brian Horne - all rights reserved.)