Lonesome Dove

I'm having trouble with the book. Perhaps I should not read the two prequels first, but I'm about halfway through, and I'm finding it unbelievably tedious. I stopped, left it a week, and then read some more, but it's not working for me.

I'm going to park it here and try again later in the year. I don't like leaving books unfinished.

Very weird one for this. Joe Abercrombie reddit mentioned this one a number of times to read. I am not drawn to Westerns and I was balking after a few hours and realizing the time constraint I was up against with the library due coming up. But after pushing through the initial expo of characters I came to relish the writing (yes, it is a bit dated in parts) and, most of all i appreciated the matter of fact of many character's end. Although centered around the love of a woman, the book is more bromance between the two protagonists. I'm still not sold on Western genre but this was a might fine read.

I loved this book, but fuck me it was dark.

Pathos (/ˈpeɪθɒs/, US: /ˈpeɪθoʊs/; pl. pathea or pathê; Ancient Greek: πάθος, romanized: páthos, lit. 'suffering or experience') appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them.[1] Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is considered one of the three modes of persuasion, alongside ethos and logos), as well as in literature, film and other narrative art.

This is already one of my favorite reads for 2023.
It is a slow paced book but chapter by chapter it sucks you in.
At the heart of the book is the character development and the relationships between the characters. It is about loyalty, love and making choices in life and live with the consequenses.
This book is easy to recommend to anyone, whether you are a Western fan or not. Lonesome Dove goes beyond the boundaries of genres.

This is a real 5* book. Makes me feel like I have to go back through all of my Goodreads reviews and knock everything else down a star just to make things fair! It's an epic tale told in incredible style and I highly recommend it. My only complaints would be about certain annoying characters, but that's just another facet of the genius of this book: because the characters are so well drawn they leap off the page and they can't help but be who they are and do what they do. July's moping - while utterly aggravating - is just a reflection of who he is, his inability to communicate, his fear of women. I was also pretty distraught at the death of little Janey who I'd hoped would be around for a long time. She was a shining light for the 30 pages she got. McMurtry - like the wild west itself - does not play favourites. Good people die horrible deaths, while evil ones get to live. That's just the way it is. Gus understands that, I wish I had even a small amount of this guy's tolerance and stoicism. What a legend. This book is going to stay with me for a long time.

I LOVED this book! The characters were brilliant, engaging, complex, likeable (for the most part, you know I'm talking about you) and fleshed out. The interactions between characters and the dialogue was probably my favourite aspect of the book!

The plot was simple but masterfully done with twists and turns that kept me wanting more. Thrilling, funny and a dern good time

This has slotted in as my second favourite book of all time and considering its only the second Western I've read, I will certainly be coming back for more!

Perfection is a near impossible term that is often used in our imperfect world filled with wonderment and excellent pizza. The best thing about imperfection is the rugged edges and irregularity that show character and genuineness. Nothing is perfect, and that's amazing. Almost as amazing as Lonesome Dove, because that shit is absolute perfection.

This book hits all the right notes and the right times in the right manner. It's impossible to give more light to a book that is already foolproof. Augustus and Call are an unbreakable duo that would do anything to laze around or commit to a unforgivable task; an absolute dream team, especially when Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones play these two on screen amazingly. Although the story mainly focuses on these two, the viewpoint is in 3rd person omniscient and switches from character to character at any point in a chapter, which can make or break any book's character development. In this case, Lonesome Dove highlights each passing person as if they're just as important as everyone else. Stubborn, ugly, kind, courageous or evil, each character is displayed in the best possible way. The book's technique on ‘show don't tell' is beyond masterful because of this viewpoint.

Lonesome Dove is a book that isn't distinguished as a western, or historical fiction, but an excellent story. This book is easily recommendable even to people who haven't read a western before, because it has elements that anyone could enjoy, hell there are even characters that you can find in your usual fantasy novel. The book reminded me a lot of The Stand in its own unique way that it builds character's ups and downfalls.

I've thought it over for a while now, and I can't quite decide if Lonesome Dove is my all time favorite novel. I have a lot of favorites that I love in different ways, but there isn't a doubt that this is by far one of the greatest stories ever told. Top three if anything.

I really enjoyed the first part, with a good range of characters, atmosphere and setting adeptly established. Even a three-page story of creating a sign on the grounds outside the Hat Creek Cattle Company was entertaining. It's just a shame that the second part foregoes any continuation of character development and opts to introduce yet more characters, whose purpose - it turns out - is to simply run into the characters from the first part.

It works as a counterpoint to the over-romanticization of the wild wild West in examing the brutality and unforgiveness of the landscape that Gus, Call and many others encounter. Underneath it all, there isn't much of a plot, though. Much of the book seemed to consist of an expositional backstory where McMurty elected to describe a character's origins and thoughts in great detail at the expense of the story.

Also, that dern ending. I expected a much stronger conclusion than whatever that was!

Look at the title. Take a look at that cover. Read the synopsis of the plot. Nothing about Lonesome Dove appeals to me. Yet I've read its 858 pages three times. It may be my favorite book.

What is it about this book?

Here, then, are ten reasons I love Lonesome Dove:

1. My second-best-friend Karen and I don't agree on much (“You say tuh-may-tuh, I say tuh-maw-toe”), yet we are both crazy about Lonesome Dove.

2. I personally know three teens who were converted into readers by reading this book. Non-readers into avid readers. That's some book.

3. The movie is as good as the book. That never happens.

4. I'm sorry, but if Gus showed up at my door, I'd have to leave my husband and run off with him. He's a lazy, good-for-nothing, philosophizing scoundrel but I just adore him.

5. It takes place in Texas. (Well, mostly.) Enough said.

6. The characters live their lives right now. They have to. They may not be here tomorrow. There's real danger in the world. Lots of it.

7. Funny. And sad. The secret to a good book is that it's funny. And sad. Like real life, I think.

8. Love the names of the characters. Lippy. Dish. Newt. Boot. Pea Eye.

9. These folks can talk. Here's a bit between our two main characters, Gus and Call, partners in the Hat Creek Cattle Company:

“It's a good thing I ain't scairt to be lazy,” Augustus told him once.
“You may think so. I don't,” Call said.
“Hell, Call, if I worked as hard as you, there'd be no thinking done at all around this outfit. You stay in a lather fifteen hours a day. A man that's always in a lather can't think nothin' out.”
“I'd like to see you think the roof back on that barn,” Call said.

10. I guess the craziest thing is that there are a hundred reasons why I should hate this book. I don't like Westerns, for one. I don't particularly like stories written by men, for another. The women do whatever they have to do to stay alive and a lot of that isn't pretty. At least a hundred reasons I should hate this book, but, nevertheless, I don't. I love it. Crazy.




What in the world made me pick up this western? A western, really?

But it is a book that hooked me after reading the first page. I fell in love with Gus and all the other odd characters in this story, set in Texas back in the days where the West was beginning to close its doors for business. Never read another Larry McMurtry or another western that hit me in the gut like this book.

About a bunch of cowboys who live on the border between Texas and Mexico, and then decide to leave their small town to make an epic journey up towards Yellowstone. For a book you'd assume to be totally about men, I was surprised (in a good way) with how well the women were written - both strong and weak characters alike. However I felt a bit let down with how the author builds up these female characters, and then tears them down by making them prostitutes and have to endure rape, etc. Maybe realistic, but not really a fan of how that's used as a plot device.

From the first chapter, I was sure I wouldn't want this book to end. Some 800+ pages later, I would still happily have read a few hundred pages more. McMurtry's omniscient narration is a wonder; the warmth and skill with which he explores his huge ensemble's flaws and foibles are a joy to behold. I loved this book.

I've laughed so much and then I cried so much as never before, reading this book. I mean it. An epic tale of two aged cowboys, one stoic and emotionless, the other loud and living life to the fullest. The lure of adventure, the melancholy and peacefulness of the wide open country, the cruelness of the wild west and at the core this deep bond between these two stubborn, battered, faulty yet loyal and uncompromising men. Augustus McCrae and Captain Call forever.

Ho giocato a Red Redemption 2 e ultimamente mi sono fatto una scorpacciata dei film di Sergio Leone con il mitico Clint Eastwood e così non avendo mai letto nulla di western ho cominciato a cercare un libro che ne rappresentasse la parte migliore, un potpourri di tutto quello che questo genere ne potesse rappresentare: Lonesome Dove. Quasi all'unanimità questo testo viene definito un classico del western e ha vinto anche il premio pulitzer.

L'inizio è stato lento ed è stato difficile entrare nell'ambientazione e famigliarizzare con i personaggi, forse perchè non avendo letto niente di simile prima non ero abituato al genere, sebbene lo stile di scrittura dell'autore è sembrato subito immediato e semplice, dunque un problema mio non della storia.

Mano a mano che m'inoltravo nelle vaste pianure del West e prendevo confidenza con il mio cavallo nella mente, dall'incespicare sono passato al passo, poi al piccolo galoppo e in men che non si dica mi sono ritrovato a cavalcare a perdifiato e a sparare circondato dagli indiani! I personaggi si sono rilevati molto più complessi nelle storie rispetto ad una prima impressione e anche la storia ha preso sviluppi di trama complessi e interfacciati fra di loro.

La storia narra di un gruppo di personaggi che decide di spostarsi dal Texas al Montana con una mandria di bovini, un viaggio enorme per quei tempi e irto di pericoli. Il viaggio sarà lo spunto per tracciare un conto della vita di ognuno e ci saranno momenti di perdita, di redenzione, rimorsi, amori, gioia e disincanto, tutto scritto benissimo.

E' stata davvero una piacevole lettura che consiglio a tutti, anche ai non appassionati. Dagli amatori dei film di Sergio Leone a quelli della Casa della Prateria.

I've had a trepidation to reading any novels from the Western genre, mainly because of the clichés and the typical tropes that come with them from literature, movies, television, comic books, and more. But my wife purchased a used copy of this novel and told me she had always wanted to read Lonesome Dove. I had a curiosity about Larry McMurtry as well and decided to overlook any preconceptions about this adventure set in the Old West. And, boy, am I glad I did.

I'm not going to go into too much summation because there are too many storylines and too many characters. But I will say this: two former Texas Rangers, Woodrow McCall and “Gus” McCrae, are inspired to gather a herd of cattle and drive them north to begin the first cattle ranch north of the Yellowstone River because of an old friend's description of a beautiful and “uninhabited” Montana (by white folks, of course). The first thing I noticed, almost immediately and enjoyed for the entirety of the novel, was just how funny it was, the way the characters razzed each other, some of the situations they got themselves in. I found myself laughing out loud quite often and enjoyed the banter between the men in the Hat Creek outfit. Gus was the instigator of a lot of this banter, mainly because he just loved to talk, something that loveably irritated most of the outfit; they hated it when Gus was around but missed it when Gus was gone.

Although the novel takes place in the Old West, the narrative isn't bogged down with minutiae of setting or the things used in this time period like apparel or whatever. With the exception of naming a particular brand of gun or weapon, the story mostly focuses on the relationships between the characters rather than the details of the setting, something that a lot of genre fiction does i.e. to nerd-out on the details. The comradery of the friends, the women in their lives, and the men in the Hat Creek outfit is the nucleus of the novel. Their hopes and dreams propel them north for a better life although death shrouds them like a specter. The Hat Creek outfit as well as the other people that orbit them are constantly dealing with death.

Clara, the old flame that Gus pines for throughout the novel and is introduced to us later in the story, is in my opinion the conscience of the book. She meditates on death, having lost many children and a husband too soon, at one point concluding, ‘It's too much death, she thought. Why does it keep coming to me?' And as she recounts the things, places, and people that have traversed with her through her life, the narrator concludes, ‘It struck her that endings were never as you would expect them to be.' And I meditated on these two points often throughout the book. Although the dream of settling Montana with cattle propels Gus and Woodrow to move the Hat Creek outfit with the herd north, it isn't the culmination of the story or the ending we think will be. In fact, that dream dims and fades as friends are lost to unimaginable horrors brought on by bad weather, animal attacks, Indian ambushes, criminal interventions, and the like.

It's a brutal story, one that can't help but make you wonder, ‘What's the point of it all?' Not just with this story, but in all our lives, with death on the horizon. And late in the story (I'll do my best not to spoil the story) when Clara asks McCall why he's doing what he's doing for Gus, he simply states, “I can't forget no promise to a friend,” Call said. “Though I do agree it's foolish and told him so myself.” This is a touching summation to a great novel, that friendship is what gets us through it all.