Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

29 reviews

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense 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 inspiring 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: Yes

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adventurous emotional funny sad tense

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adventurous emotional 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

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adventurous dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Lawd have mercy, this was nearly a DNF so many times! I listened to this audiobook at X1.25 and it was still a slog! Yes, it’s an epic western. Yes, there are great moments and vast complex character development but YES these moments are between MANY OTHER meandering moments of riding the plains and whoring. So many prostitutes. Also got put off by its classic western racism, no matter how realistic it was for the times. I was determined to finish it because I thought I would eventually run into the thing that makes this book so lovable and the GOAT for folks. I never found it. 

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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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adventurous funny tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous inspiring sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I understand why this book is so loved and lauded. It's an enormous read that encourages you to dedicate a lot of patience and heart to its slow-moving narrative. My inner voice currently has a Texas accent -- that's how much it embeds itself in your imagination.

The book follows Texas rangers Call and Augustus as they decide to make money driving cattle to Montana, across risky terrain full of bandits, wild animals, rivers and dry plains. Larry McMurtry takes great care in fleshing out the contrasting personalities of the two main characters, as well as their moments of heroism and loss. The fight scenes, especially, were so well imagined, and make your heart race. 

What held me back was how one-dimensional the secondary characters were, particularly how Native Americans and women were portrayed. Violent or starved, a whore or a mother. And I don't think this was done in any kind of pursuasive way, it was just convenient to stereotype, and serve as ornamental means to manhood.

Nevertheless, you'll enjoy this if you're in the mood for adventurous plots, a large cast of characters, and rooting for heroes. Please consider the content warnings, too.

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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.

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