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adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very good book whose beginning was a bit rough (until you got a few chapters in) and ending was a bit lacking in my opinion. It seemed a bit rushed in comparison to the rest of the book and I didn’t hugely appreciate how it ended. Unresolved on a certain level and all coming back to Loraina with the destruction of the saloon and the barkeep who fancied himself in love with her. Poor Call must have been so fed up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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:
No
This book is literally the Great American Novel and a masterpiece. I find myself wanting to teach a college literature course on this novel as there are so many themes to explore. This is a beautiful story of friendship, leadership, and complicated relationships all wrapped up into one big adventure. The character development is unmatched. There are times when the violence is hard but the characters make up for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Murder
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
I knew this was a legendary book before reading it & I was fairly overwhelmed by it's heft but, I dove in headfirst & plowed through it & I wanted more when it was over. What a story! If this isn't the greatest American novel ever written, it will make do until I figure out which one is. Mcmurtry's prose is phenomenal & his cast of characters are diverse and each unique in their own way. I definitely plan on reading the rest of this series at some point. This is classic Americana & Western Adventure at it's finest!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was not at all what I expected, and it was so much better.
I truly think this is some of the best character writing I have ever read. Every character felt so real, and I felt like I knew them to the point where I was disappointed when they made poor choices, but never surprised. So much of what happens in this book is tragic, but the characters are what kept me going. I'm taking off half a star because the Native American characters are the only ones who don't get the same in-depth treatment as the rest of the cast, with the exception of Blue Duck. It feels like too much of an omission for a book whose characters are so developed otherwise.
But this book was incredible, and I can see myself re-reading it at another point in my life when it's not spread out over four months. Warning to prospective readers, though: I was sobbing on the bus with snot running down my face at one point.
Also, shout-out to that random scene with a crazy entomologist for one page. That was delightful and I'm considering including a quote from it in future presentations I give.
I truly think this is some of the best character writing I have ever read. Every character felt so real, and I felt like I knew them to the point where I was disappointed when they made poor choices, but never surprised. So much of what happens in this book is tragic, but the characters are what kept me going. I'm taking off half a star because the Native American characters are the only ones who don't get the same in-depth treatment as the rest of the cast, with the exception of Blue Duck. It feels like too much of an omission for a book whose characters are so developed otherwise.
But this book was incredible, and I can see myself re-reading it at another point in my life when it's not spread out over four months. Warning to prospective readers, though: I was sobbing on the bus with snot running down my face at one point.
Also, shout-out to that random scene with a crazy entomologist for one page. That was delightful and I'm considering including a quote from it in future presentations I give.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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
I truly took to heart, the quote about reading only one western, and how it should be Lonesome Dove. Truly a classic and a pinnacle read of character work and description. You feel yourself grow with the characters and enjoy their presence among the pages.
I look forward to following the other novels of the series and more of McMurtry's work
I look forward to following the other novels of the series and more of McMurtry's work
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping
adventurous
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
4.5 dern stars.
"Why would you want to keep in practice being wrong?" Call asked. "I'd think it would be something you'd try to avoid."
"You can't avoid it, you've got to learn to handle it," Augustus said. "If you only come face-to-face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it's bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day—that way they ain't usually much worse than a dry shave."
As well as being good life advice, this quote sums up pretty well the difference between Gus and Call, our two cowboys who are bromance BFFs and our protagonists of this story. Augustus McCrae is the freewheeling, womanising philosopher who won't shut up, and Captain Call is the taciturn, hardworking one who finds it extra painful to come face-to-face with his own mistakes. These ex-Texas Rangers turned horse traders and cowboys secretly love each other even though they annoy the dern piss out of each other. (Apparently they are modelled on two real life cowboys who were called Goodnight and Loving! There's a "Goodnight-Loving Trail" in Texas which is truly an amazing name.)
This is a rollicking good yarn! Put that quote on the back. I don't think I need to read much about cowboys to have had my fill for one lifetime, so I agree that this is indeed the definitive cowboy story to read. Fundamentally the story of a journey, as I was nearing the end I was struck by how it's not dissimilar to <i>A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet</i> in which a bunch of friends in a space ship travel, create and resolve relationship conflicts, and make it to their destination having learned something about themselves and each other. Except this one can do heartbreaking equally as well as it conveys cosy camaraderie. Don't let it trick yer. The author has accurately, as far as I can tell, conveyed the whole gamut of the human experience for a bunch of cowboys in Texas at this point in time, and things can go from chuckle-worthy to horrifying in the space of a page. Life is cheap.
Things are largely character based and the author has done a fine job. The omniscient third-person perspective allows us to spend time with the thoughts of many different characters, and while they're not all as fully realised as Gus and Captain Call, they're all believable. The relationships feel genuine and the dialogue is a delight. I was a bit worried that the book was going to be sexist though, given the main (only?) female character of the first half is a "working girl", but the ladies get rendered in as much depth as the men. Clara in particular is a high point.
Oh, plot-wise it waxes and wanes, but in general plenty of things happen to keep everything moving. A few of the more frenetic scenes are written a little awkwardly, I thought, but one can't be good at everything.
I also wish it were about a third shorter, as I had to take a break in the middle, but it's hard to find much else to fault with it.
(Gus is my favourite by the way.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Racial slurs
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.
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
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual harassment