Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

8 reviews

adventurous emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Decent book, right up until the end. A little slow and predictable at points, but a decent read. Outside of the ending (which maybe it’s because of this book being part of a series) the MAJOR issue I take with it is that the author seems eager to doll out the use of the N-Word, while simultaneously bashful using the words penis or vagina to actually describe human body parts. Gives me weird vibes.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Incredible exploration of what it means to be a white person in the United States. One of the most profound pieces of literature that I have ever read.

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adventurous funny reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous emotional funny sad tense

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adventurous emotional informative sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I don't really understand the hype of this book. Well, I do and I don't. The story itself is pretty awful, and none of the characters are people I'd want to befriend. Everyone is out for themselves, and the spirit of the Wild West is in every nook of every person. Some of the story was also quite ridiculous - are Lorena and Clara the only women of value? Even then, they are treated pretty abysmally. 

Of course I couldn't help but think of Taylor Sheridan's 1883, especially given both journeys are to end in Yellowstone. It's also just as littered with tragedy and sorrow.

I can see why people would gravitate toward this book. A lot to ponder and lots to discuss to consider regardless of where you land on the political spectrum. I can see people claiming the book represents all sorts of ideas and ideals. I suppose that's what makes this book brilliant.

I shall probably not read the other three. This book was exhausting!

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

It left me empty like the planes filled with Buffalo bones. 

This book was brutal. It plots along and ends in such a hollow place you can't even cry. I feel angry at it because I don't understand the point but that's just it.  Sometimes you don't and I'm choked up now for all the tragedy and horror and pointlessness of it all. There was beauty in spots and the journey felt so alive at the end but each death was blunt and brutal and shocking. You couldn't love them for they were so flawed but how could you hate them? It felt like a journey of life with patches that felt stable and understandable torn into pieces in moments. 

If I had more of an inkling I'd talk about the brutalist poetic prose or the moral complexity or the hostorical lens but I feel so emptied out by the story that I don't want to anymore. I was so hooked that I couldn't be bothered to stop and write and now here I am without the desire. 
If that doesn't say something about Lonesome Doce I don't know what will. 

P. S. The pigs were my favorite part

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adventurous emotional funny sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.99 stars, because I HATED that last line. (And NO, you are not allowed to skip to the last page. You have to read the whole thing to understand because if you read it out of context, it will seem funny.)

This book, and its characters, will live rent free in my head for the rest of my life. When I finished reading it a week ago I told my book club friends that I was going to need bereavement leave from work so that I could properly mourn both the end of this book, and the loss of so many characters in the story. When you first look at this 850 page book, it can seem overwhelming, let alone listening to 36 hours of an audiobook. And yet, every.single.day, when I got in my car to drive to work, I could not wait to find out what adventures (or misadventures) would my Lonesome Dove friends get into next. I laughed, I gasped, I got ANGRY, I cried. Larry McMurtry is a master storyteller. I'm now off to watch the mini-series so I can spend more time with my friends because I miss them so much.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark 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

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