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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Picked this up in an airport on the way to a Florida weekend and polished it off by the end. It's my fantasy world, the 1850s American West. And no one describes it better than...Zane Grey....and Louis L'Amour. Adventure, risk, nature, the unknown, courage, good and evil, heroism, it's all there. Listen to this:
"Long since, I had learned that one needs moments of quiet, moments of stillness, for both the inner and outer man, a moment of contemplation or even simple emptiness when the stress could ease away and a calmness enter the tissues. Such moments of quiet gave one strength, gave one coolness of mind with which to approach the world and its problems. Sometimes but a few minutes were needed."
Or this: "It is all very well to say that man is only a casual whim in a mindless universe, that he, too, will pass. We understand that, but disregard it, as we must. Man to himself is the All, the sum and the total However much he may seem a fragment, chance object, a bit of flotsam on the waves of time, he is to himself the beginning and the end. And this is just. This is how it must be for him to survive."
"Long since, I had learned that one needs moments of quiet, moments of stillness, for both the inner and outer man, a moment of contemplation or even simple emptiness when the stress could ease away and a calmness enter the tissues. Such moments of quiet gave one strength, gave one coolness of mind with which to approach the world and its problems. Sometimes but a few minutes were needed."
Or this: "It is all very well to say that man is only a casual whim in a mindless universe, that he, too, will pass. We understand that, but disregard it, as we must. Man to himself is the All, the sum and the total However much he may seem a fragment, chance object, a bit of flotsam on the waves of time, he is to himself the beginning and the end. And this is just. This is how it must be for him to survive."
3 stars
Not the worst book I've ever read for school but it was rather boring at parts. They did a lot of walking and a lot of talking about money and stuff for my liking. I felt like the same few ideas kept getting repeated over and over again. The parts about the native Americans and the whole mystery around the desert were cool though. I feel like a lot of this could have been cut out and it would have been really good but it just drug on for way too long.
Also, Johannes really should have been much older in the beginning I refuse to believe a seven-year-old understands philosophy like that.
To give credit where credit is due the last like 80ish pages were great.
Not the worst book I've ever read for school but it was rather boring at parts. They did a lot of walking and a lot of talking about money and stuff for my liking. I felt like the same few ideas kept getting repeated over and over again. The parts about the native Americans and the whole mystery around the desert were cool though. I feel like a lot of this could have been cut out and it would have been really good but it just drug on for way too long.
Also, Johannes really should have been much older in the beginning I refuse to believe a seven-year-old understands philosophy like that.
To give credit where credit is due the last like 80ish pages were great.
If you read only one book by Louis L'Amour make it this one.
adventurous
medium-paced
slow-paced
The Lonesome Gods is another gripping historical novel written by Louis L'Amour, adventure set in the early days of California. Johannes Verne is a young man left to die and then rescued by outlaws and raised (partly) by the indigenous people of the California desert.
The novel follows Verne as he exercises his desert-born skills and growing knowledge and intellect to live within the constraints of the desert and claim a piece of the burgeoning economic opportunity of early Los Angeles. It's an engaging read.
The novel follows Verne as he exercises his desert-born skills and growing knowledge and intellect to live within the constraints of the desert and claim a piece of the burgeoning economic opportunity of early Los Angeles. It's an engaging read.
Loved it! The ending was a bit weak though maybe because I didn't want it to end and it wrapped up a bit sparsely. Will read more Louis L'Amour. He's a great storyteller!
I’d never read a ‘western’ but have seen plenty. Reading it is much better. I would give this 3.75 stars. There were lines repeated by different characters that were cliche so that would interrupt my enjoyment of the story. Most characters were not well developed, but then again most were not needed to be. I had hoped, but knew it was a misguided hope, that the father would survive and the grandfather would take in his grandson but the book description already tells us that it doesn’t happen that way. I really liked the feel of the desert; it felt more alive than the city. Perhaps it is that way because the main character feels drawn to it and so the writing pulls us towards it as well. I did not care for the love interest (and there’s really not much of that in the story itself; you just know it is there). She was spoiled and annoying.
There were so many references to mythology! I wasn’t expecting that. I was glad I’d recently read Mythos by Stephen Frye to help me out in this area.
Overall, enjoyable. I’d read another L’Amour
There were so many references to mythology! I wasn’t expecting that. I was glad I’d recently read Mythos by Stephen Frye to help me out in this area.
Overall, enjoyable. I’d read another L’Amour
This is a great book that is always moving. My only complaint is that it ended rather abruptly. Other than that it's a solid read. Great story.
I enjoyed this book overall. It wasn't any easy read by any means. The writing took a little bit to get used to because it was first published in the 80s and from what I understand from the postscript the author wasn't entirely happy with the finished book. After I got into the story though, I was invested. There were times when it dragged a bit but I'm going to forgive that because, like I said, it's not contemporary writing. L'Amour has a very poetic way of writing and you can tell that he really respects and admires nature. His descriptions are beautiful. I was constantly hilighting lines and phrases because they hit super hard. For Example:
"I remembered what my father had said, that the buzzard has only to wait. In the end, we all come to him or his like."
And his description of a character's death gave me chills:
"He tried again to rise, but this time there was no response whatever. He relaxed slowly, sitting very still, his big hands resting on his massive knees.
'Now?' he whispered. 'Is it now?' And then, more softly still, 'Why not now?'"
The characters were all really interesting as well and featured some really cool female characters!!
"I remembered what my father had said, that the buzzard has only to wait. In the end, we all come to him or his like."
And his description of a character's death gave me chills:
"He tried again to rise, but this time there was no response whatever. He relaxed slowly, sitting very still, his big hands resting on his massive knees.
'Now?' he whispered. 'Is it now?' And then, more softly still, 'Why not now?'"
The characters were all really interesting as well and featured some really cool female characters!!