Reviews - Lonesome Dove | The StoryGraph

4.27k reviews for:

Lonesome Dove

Larry McMurtry

4.58 AVERAGE

marylangas's review against another edition

5.0

Little house on the prairie but for boys

lagden02's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

drlark's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

I can see why this is a lot of guys' favorite novel. Fantastic characters, tons of action, humor, and tragedy. And a general obsession with and bafflement around women. This is the story of a handful of former Texas Rangers who steal(!) a bunch of cattle and horses from Mexico and drive them north to Montana, the last frontier of the US.

It is also the story of the tragedy of masculinity and the emotionally stunted lives men lead -- handed the literal and figurative reins and utterly unable to communicate effectively or build meaningful relationships. The whole way through the book, and through the eyes of the stellar female characters, I could only think, "Wow, these men are all idiots. They deserve every unhappiness their emotional ineptitude brings them."

Except Gus McCrae. Gus is my new favorite character, maybe of all time. Self aware, funny, thoughtful -- he's the only one in the book who can actually conceive of anyone not a white man as a full human being. Gus had me laughing and crying for real, which I do not generally do with books. He and Clara kept me reading when my eyes were going to roll back in my head at some of the goings on. And the audiobook narrator brings him to life in a way that he just doesn't for the other characters. Gus has my heart. I might reread this someday entirely for Gus McCrae.

I don't think this book was written with me, a woman, in mind, nor any person of color. It's a very conventional western in this regard. The women are whores or saints. The Indians are savages and/or tragic. The Mexicans are a little goofy and mysterious but basically helpful. The lone Black character is nothing but helpful to his former captains. There are no women of color at all. So, while I found this frustrating and alienating, I also think that McMurtry is taking the solipsism of the men head-on. This feels like a critique of the idealized rugged masculinity of the West. I want lots more of the genre, but written by folks other than white guys.

rumbledungus's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

kimham_bookstagram's review against another edition

5.0

For the “A book set in Texas” prompt on the SBC Summer Bingo Reading Challenge, I chose the quintessential Texas novel, Lonesome Dove. Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic follows four former, aging Texas Rangers who undergo a cattle drive from southern Texas to unsettled Montana in the latter half of the 1800s.
The novel captures the essence of frontier life through the experiences of the two leads, Call and McCrae. Their characters are brilliantly defined, as are all the secondary characters.
The masterful storytelling nails the themes of complicated relationships, love and friendship, while providing exquisite details of the landscape, towns and life on the frontier.
The smooth writing style and distinct dialogue equally conveys the ups and downs, the humor and the terror, the hope and the fear.
Lonesome Dove is simply an excellent read. A literary masterpiece that stays with you for quite a while. I highly recommended.