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4.58 AVERAGE
4.58 AVERAGE
one of those books that has you thanking the person who recommended it to you after the first chapter, again midway through, and once more when you finish it.
thanks Alex
thanks Alex
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
I almost gave this 5 stars. Such an enjoyable read and it made me want more.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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:
No
This is one of those books that you hear is really good, but when you start reading it, you can't quite understand what all the fuss is about. For me it took a while to get used to a writing style that finds the inquisitive reader switching between character perspectives every few paragraphs within a chapter; it's a little hard to keep track of people at first. On top of that, not much really happens for the first 10-15% of the book ... which for an almost 1000 page book can be a bit long for some people.
But, the characters catch hold really quickly in your mind, and almost without realizing, you find yourself wondering where things are headed. The little bits of excitement (humor, suspense, despair ... ) are mixed well within typical western picturesque settings/themes. You never quite get used to the shocking and frustrating turns of events that sometimes occur, but they get a little easier to deal with ... it's almost as if the reader goes through the same learning curve as the newer cowboys in the group that have yet to truly experience the west.
As an experienced horse rider (but in no way informed about driving cattle ... I get my background from the movies and history class same as most of the rest of us) this book brings back many good feelings for the horse-lover side of me ... but in no way is this a book written FOR horse-lovers. I mean, hell, this ain't some book about the love between a man and his favorite life-long horse. (But there is an amazing main horse "character" ... the Hell Bitch ... and yes ladies, she's a tenacious female.) Speaking of, don't think that this book is solely written for men either, there are more than one extremely strong female characters in this book that are quite independent and just as fun to read as the male characters. More so than anything, this book makes me sad for how few people actually get to experience the challenges of being a "cowboy" these days, or even would be capable of handling such activities.
Gus and the Captain will be characters that stick with me for a while .... and have tempted me to read both the prequels and the sequel that were written after the success of this first book ... just to read their thoughts ... and see what crazy scrapes they get into next.
P.S. If for some ungodly reason you can't get through this Pullitzer Prize winning book, go watch the miniseries that won 7 Emmy's and was considered the revival of both the western genre and the "miniseries" back in 1989.
But, the characters catch hold really quickly in your mind, and almost without realizing, you find yourself wondering where things are headed. The little bits of excitement (humor, suspense, despair ... ) are mixed well within typical western picturesque settings/themes. You never quite get used to the shocking and frustrating turns of events that sometimes occur, but they get a little easier to deal with ... it's almost as if the reader goes through the same learning curve as the newer cowboys in the group that have yet to truly experience the west.
As an experienced horse rider (but in no way informed about driving cattle ... I get my background from the movies and history class same as most of the rest of us) this book brings back many good feelings for the horse-lover side of me ... but in no way is this a book written FOR horse-lovers. I mean, hell, this ain't some book about the love between a man and his favorite life-long horse. (But there is an amazing main horse "character" ... the Hell Bitch ... and yes ladies, she's a tenacious female.) Speaking of, don't think that this book is solely written for men either, there are more than one extremely strong female characters in this book that are quite independent and just as fun to read as the male characters. More so than anything, this book makes me sad for how few people actually get to experience the challenges of being a "cowboy" these days, or even would be capable of handling such activities.
Gus and the Captain will be characters that stick with me for a while .... and have tempted me to read both the prequels and the sequel that were written after the success of this first book ... just to read their thoughts ... and see what crazy scrapes they get into next.
P.S. If for some ungodly reason you can't get through this Pullitzer Prize winning book, go watch the miniseries that won 7 Emmy's and was considered the revival of both the western genre and the "miniseries" back in 1989.
This is the rare book that manages to be both problematic and readable. How to rate something like this--that builds off a white frontier fantasy of courageous, but troubled cowboys and literal damsels in distress. The depiction of Native Americans is one of either grotesque violence or that of an infantilized people on the verge of starvation. There is some questioning of past violence towards Native Americans, but it doesn't prevent further violence, nor the glorification of that violence. The depictions of Black people and women are only a little better. This is not historical--it's a delusion. And yet, very hard to put down. And from a writing perspective, this is not perfect either--with some laughable morality and plot points (looking at you, grizzly bear fight). If you want a binge-worthy and long "great American novel", this offers a version of that--but hold it at a distance and fact check along the way. Case in point: there is much talk amongst the white characters in this book about the possibility of being scalped by Native Americans, and several scenes in the book perpetuate that myth. But much of the scalping during the colonization of the US was done by white settlers against Native peoples at the behest of governments and private individuals--some with bounties of land and money in exchange for Native American scalps. It's a brutal history that is not widely known and books like Lonesome Dove further obscure the facts of genocidal violence in the American West. https://theconversation.com/indigenous-peoples-day-offers-a-reminder-of-native-american-history-including-the-scalping-they-endured-at-the-hands-of-colonists-214433
adventurous
reflective
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loved the narrator's interpterion of Gus.