Reviews - Dead Man's Walk | The StoryGraph

351 reviews for:

Dead Man's Walk

Larry McMurtry

3.89 AVERAGE

elleyureled's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

brian_alexander's review

4.25

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

therealsean's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

vbroes's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-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: Complicated

stuartjash's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous tense 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

dmgentry79's review

4.25

adventurous emotional 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

luana420's review against another edition

4.0

Dead Man's Walk feels more like "just an adventure story" as opposed to the Big Epic that is Lonesome Dove, even if by the end you kinda start feeling those vibes a little. I can't quite quantify it, as both this and LD are essentially descriptions of long journeys across the wilderness. Maybe it's because in this prequel, Gus and Call are just young'uns trying to make a buck by hitching their fortunes to a slew of projects as opposed to their careful consideration of the cattle drive in the original book, which thematically linked the main plot to the whole concept of Makin' Yer Own Way on the frontier. Of course, not every story needs to be about Big Societal Themes, but I did kinda get that feeling again with the episode where a completely random draw of black or white beans decided Gus & Call's fate (considering this is a prequel, can you guess what it is?) -- survival on the frontier is just pure luck of the draw, no destiny manifestin' nowhere.

I liked the constant assertion that Texas Rangers were essentially just state-sanctioned bandits, with colonel Cobb's history as an actual pirate used as a pretty direct commentary on it.

If you're a big LOTR nut, I think the Lonesome Dove books (so far) are a pretty good entry point if you wanna try out some westerns. There's a lot of journeying and the landscape is an important character as a reflection of the changing of the world. Not unlike LOTR, the antagonists can be a bit uncomfortably one-note, but I think the only truly vile characters here are some white slavers/scalpers; for all their fearsome qualities, even Buffalo Hump and Kicking Wolf get glimpses of interiority with their thoughts on the relentless tide of the white man. They're ruthless but hell, it's all they can do.

It's a testament to McMurtry's skill that, for all the backwards attitudes, there's actually not all that many loathsome characters in here. There's a pretty good delineation between "dumbshit" (most) and "hateful" (a few).