Reviews with content warning for Racism - Lonesome Dove

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

71 reviews

theoriginaledi's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny sad tense

Content Warnings

sarahjbs's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

swfountaine's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

limeteasprout's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

ladymair's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 19%

This book has made me never want to speak to a man again

Dnf page 164

Slow to start which is fine. But the racism and sexism I couldn’t stand. I ended up googling the plot summary and this is a hard pass from me

It is possible to write a western without the racism and sexism but this author decided not to.

Content Warnings

w_h4rris's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

queenfury's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

greatestheights's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I don't even know how to rate or review this properly. I've never read a true Western, and I'm glad this was my first. So many feelings, thoughts, conflicting opinions...all I know is this could have gone on 1,000 more pages, and I'd have been along for the ride.

Content Warnings

dilan11's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Characters are so well drawn. Not really my type of story but McMurty is a great writer.

I like it best when we are inside one of the heads of the characters - Call out alone under the stars or Newt thinking about his mother. Otherwise the constant bantering back and forth among the men is boring. Once in a while it is funny but really just too much. The book could have been 300 pages shorter if McMurty cut down on the adolescent joking.

I like the way that McMurty switches points of view. For example, on the first horse stealing adventure we are in the young Newt's pov which is the most uncomfortable because Newt is the most vulnerable. It is not omniscient in any of the moments (no all knowing narrator) but omniscient as a whole because we switch from POV to POV.

Clara is a wonderful character - by far my favorite. I wish she had been introduced sooner.

In the first few hundred pages of Lonesome Dove, I just want something to happen already. Everything bad has happened in the past and now I can't wait to see how they all react to the inevitable tragedy to come. SPOILER And tragedy does come in spades. By the end of the book every character is either dead or miserable. I do respect McMurty for not romanticizing life but I would have liked someone to have some resolution - Newt and Call as father and son would have been the best. SPOILER

I am glad that the settling of the West is not romanticized but there are some very graphic scenes of brutal violence which may well be accurate but my imagination did not need so many details. I am thinking of the scenes with the Suggs brothers.

When I examined McMurty's writing carefully, I am astonished at his skill. He finds just the right word, the right pace, the right amount of detail. It is not flowery literary language but it is not popular bestseller slop by any means. His language alone would have made this book close to 5 stars.

However I must point out his portrayal of Native Americans is quite disgusting. He did so well at portraying women's povs that I am sure McMurty could have portrayed Native Americans with more understanding. I understand that McMurty is a man of his time and place, but really the tiny bit of recognition that his characters are stealing land would have been the minimum required. This racism really requires me to strip a couple of stars from this book but his writing and his anti-romantic stance add a couple so I will rate it a 4. But I have to say I would not recommend this book to anyone who is not ready to go in and accept that besides being a beautiful account of the West it is also a brutally racist account.

Content Warnings

mqabbadbest's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is amazingly written. The characters and the world they live in and how it affects them are the main point of this book. Do not expect a action-packed cowboy story. Its how a group of men go from Texas to Montana. Lorena Wood, July Johnson, and Augustus McCrae will forever stay in my mind as their arcs had me hooked from start to finish. The reason why I docked .5 from my rating is the pacing. The pacing SLOOW, especially in the first 60%.

Content Warnings

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