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book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Digital audiobook read by John Bolen.
From the book jacket: Cottonwoods, Utah, 1871. A woman stands accused. A man, sentenced to whipping. In … rides … Lassiter, a notorious gunman who’s come to avenge his sister’s death. It doesn't take Lassiter long to see that this once-peaceful Mormon community is controlled by the corrupt Deacon Tull – a powerful elder who’s trying to take the woman’s land by forcing her to marry him, branding her foreman a dangerous “outsider.” Lassiter vows to help them. But when the ranch is attacked by horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and a mysterious Masked Rider, he realizes they’re up against something bigger, and more brutal, than the land itself…
My reactions
I hardly know what to write about this classic of the Western genre. It’s full of adventure, violence, strong men and women, tenderness, brutality and an abiding sense of justice. And, of course, there is the landscape, which Grey paints so vividly it is practically a character.
Yes, the story line and dialogue are a bit melodramatic. But Grey’s story still captured this reader’s imagination with its sense of drama, almost non-stop action, and bold characters. I was reminded of the many western movies I watched with my Daddy in the ‘50s and ‘60s. They were exciting and the good guys always won. Clearly those movies (and other books of the genre) had Grey’s strong foundation on which to build. I’m glad I finally read it.
The digital audio available through my library’s Overdrive system was read by John Bolen. I was not a great fan of his delivery, which seemed overly dramatic to me. I might have enjoyed this better had I read the text.
UPDATE on second reading, January 17, 2020: I chose to read the text in preparation for my F2F book club discussion. If anything the chase scenes were even more thrilling. And the descriptions of the landscape! The melodramatic - "bodice-heaving" - dialogue was also more evident and I found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of some of the "love" scenes. Still, now that I know there is a sequel ... well I may just have to read it.
From the book jacket: Cottonwoods, Utah, 1871. A woman stands accused. A man, sentenced to whipping. In … rides … Lassiter, a notorious gunman who’s come to avenge his sister’s death. It doesn't take Lassiter long to see that this once-peaceful Mormon community is controlled by the corrupt Deacon Tull – a powerful elder who’s trying to take the woman’s land by forcing her to marry him, branding her foreman a dangerous “outsider.” Lassiter vows to help them. But when the ranch is attacked by horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and a mysterious Masked Rider, he realizes they’re up against something bigger, and more brutal, than the land itself…
My reactions
I hardly know what to write about this classic of the Western genre. It’s full of adventure, violence, strong men and women, tenderness, brutality and an abiding sense of justice. And, of course, there is the landscape, which Grey paints so vividly it is practically a character.
Yes, the story line and dialogue are a bit melodramatic. But Grey’s story still captured this reader’s imagination with its sense of drama, almost non-stop action, and bold characters. I was reminded of the many western movies I watched with my Daddy in the ‘50s and ‘60s. They were exciting and the good guys always won. Clearly those movies (and other books of the genre) had Grey’s strong foundation on which to build. I’m glad I finally read it.
The digital audio available through my library’s Overdrive system was read by John Bolen. I was not a great fan of his delivery, which seemed overly dramatic to me. I might have enjoyed this better had I read the text.
UPDATE on second reading, January 17, 2020: I chose to read the text in preparation for my F2F book club discussion. If anything the chase scenes were even more thrilling. And the descriptions of the landscape! The melodramatic - "bodice-heaving" - dialogue was also more evident and I found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of some of the "love" scenes. Still, now that I know there is a sequel ... well I may just have to read it.
hodges_wt's review against another edition
1.0
Well, this is a classic of the Western genre. Without it, we wouldn't have Lonesome Dove, or the Searchers, or any other western book dear to my heart.
We wouldn't have 3:10 to Yuma, and we wouldn't have The Magnificent Seven. (On that last one, I guess I'd have to settle for Seven Samurai).
Without this book, I would have been a much happier camper.
I DNFd this book somewhere around 15 or 20%, I don't even remember.
I feel like I could have written better dialogue and prose when I was twelve. There's just too much sage, and too much dialogue that sounds like something out of a kid's TV show.
For a classic western, I expected more. Sorry, Zane Grey, maybe you should have stayed a dentist. Or maybe I just shouldn't have read your book.
We wouldn't have 3:10 to Yuma, and we wouldn't have The Magnificent Seven. (On that last one, I guess I'd have to settle for Seven Samurai).
Without this book, I would have been a much happier camper.
I DNFd this book somewhere around 15 or 20%, I don't even remember.
I feel like I could have written better dialogue and prose when I was twelve. There's just too much sage, and too much dialogue that sounds like something out of a kid's TV show.
For a classic western, I expected more. Sorry, Zane Grey, maybe you should have stayed a dentist. Or maybe I just shouldn't have read your book.
popslamdunk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
loki728's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
_viscosity_'s review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
gatun's review against another edition
4.0
Review first posted on Audiobook Reviewer.
Riders of the Purple Sage
Written by: Zane Grey
Narrated by: Ann M. Richardson
Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
Series: Riders of the Purple Sage, Book 1
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:04-18-16
Publisher: Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Riders of the Purple Sage is a classic western from author Zane Grey. It was published in 1912 and has remained in print and popular to this day. The story is set in 1871 in the Utah territory. There is no separation of church and state. The Mormon church and it’s patriarchal society hold all power.
The main character Jane is very non-traditional for the time period and for Mormon women. She is unmarried in her late twenties. She is also wealthy because of inheriting her father’s estate. She further defies convention by refusing to marry one of the Mormon elders in the area who demand she get in line with church teachings. Worst of all, in the eyes of her Mormon neighbors, is her belief in treating all men, whether Mormon or Gentile (non-Mormon) with equal dignity.
Her property is very valuable since it has a reliable water source. Her horses are also well known and sought after. Elder Tull wants to marry her, her wealth equal in his eyes to her beauty. The local Bishop, Dyer, supports Tull in his attempt to make Jane into a respectable Mormon wife. When Jane does not jump at the chance to become another of Tull’s wives, Tull and Dyer set about forcing her by attacking her Gentile ranch hands. Without her trusted hands, Jane cannot keep the ranch functioning.
As Jane continues to fight for what she feels is right and not what the Mormon men tell her is right, help comes from an unexpected and very dangerous source. Lassiter, a gunman known for his antipathy towards Mormons and accused of killing several Mormon men, arrives at Jane’s ranch. His reputation proceeds him and causes the to resort to even more violence in an attempt to force Jane into marriage.
Lassiter is an anti-hero. He is a man who has willingly killed other men. He has a very open hatred of all things Mormon. Yet he demonstrates more honor than the religious men trying to rob Jane of her independence and wealth. The pairing of a gunslinger and a Mormon woman drive the plot to an unexpected and thrilling conclusion.
I enjoyed the book, the first Zane Grey I have read or listened to. My only disappointment was it took Jane so long to realize that the Elder and Bishop were not motivated by religion but by greed. She was naive. Other than that, all the characters were well rounded.
I had previously listened to the version narrated by Mark Bramhall. I was interested to hear the book narrated by a woman, Ann M. Richardson. Different narrators can bring different tones or emphasis to the same book. I was very interested whether the gender of the narrator would affect the story itself. I found the gender of the narrator in this particular instance did not make a difference. Ms. Richardson did a very fine job of narrating the book. After listening to the same passages read by the two different narrators, I found I enjoyed them both. If this is an edge at all, it goes to Ms. Richardson. Her voice is very pleasant and she handles the range of voices, male/female, very well.
Rating: Story (Plot) 4
Rating: Performance 5
Rating: Production Quality 5
Rating: Attention Holding 4
Rating 4.5
ABR received this audiobook for free from the Publisher, Submitted in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the audiobook or the content of our review.
Riders of the Purple Sage
Written by: Zane Grey
Narrated by: Ann M. Richardson
Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
Series: Riders of the Purple Sage, Book 1
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:04-18-16
Publisher: Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Riders of the Purple Sage is a classic western from author Zane Grey. It was published in 1912 and has remained in print and popular to this day. The story is set in 1871 in the Utah territory. There is no separation of church and state. The Mormon church and it’s patriarchal society hold all power.
The main character Jane is very non-traditional for the time period and for Mormon women. She is unmarried in her late twenties. She is also wealthy because of inheriting her father’s estate. She further defies convention by refusing to marry one of the Mormon elders in the area who demand she get in line with church teachings. Worst of all, in the eyes of her Mormon neighbors, is her belief in treating all men, whether Mormon or Gentile (non-Mormon) with equal dignity.
Her property is very valuable since it has a reliable water source. Her horses are also well known and sought after. Elder Tull wants to marry her, her wealth equal in his eyes to her beauty. The local Bishop, Dyer, supports Tull in his attempt to make Jane into a respectable Mormon wife. When Jane does not jump at the chance to become another of Tull’s wives, Tull and Dyer set about forcing her by attacking her Gentile ranch hands. Without her trusted hands, Jane cannot keep the ranch functioning.
As Jane continues to fight for what she feels is right and not what the Mormon men tell her is right, help comes from an unexpected and very dangerous source. Lassiter, a gunman known for his antipathy towards Mormons and accused of killing several Mormon men, arrives at Jane’s ranch. His reputation proceeds him and causes the to resort to even more violence in an attempt to force Jane into marriage.
Lassiter is an anti-hero. He is a man who has willingly killed other men. He has a very open hatred of all things Mormon. Yet he demonstrates more honor than the religious men trying to rob Jane of her independence and wealth. The pairing of a gunslinger and a Mormon woman drive the plot to an unexpected and thrilling conclusion.
I enjoyed the book, the first Zane Grey I have read or listened to. My only disappointment was it took Jane so long to realize that the Elder and Bishop were not motivated by religion but by greed. She was naive. Other than that, all the characters were well rounded.
I had previously listened to the version narrated by Mark Bramhall. I was interested to hear the book narrated by a woman, Ann M. Richardson. Different narrators can bring different tones or emphasis to the same book. I was very interested whether the gender of the narrator would affect the story itself. I found the gender of the narrator in this particular instance did not make a difference. Ms. Richardson did a very fine job of narrating the book. After listening to the same passages read by the two different narrators, I found I enjoyed them both. If this is an edge at all, it goes to Ms. Richardson. Her voice is very pleasant and she handles the range of voices, male/female, very well.
Rating: Story (Plot) 4
Rating: Performance 5
Rating: Production Quality 5
Rating: Attention Holding 4
Rating 4.5
ABR received this audiobook for free from the Publisher, Submitted in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the audiobook or the content of our review.
ryanwhitley's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
What started off on a promising note took a turn real quick into soap opera schlock. It took me forever to read this book because it made me groan thinking about it. That said, mixed in with the melodrama, meaningful glances, and lines that over-act themselves was some of the most beautiful nature writing I’ve read in a piece of fiction. I’m glad I read this because of its significance to the canon of Westerns, but man, am I glad to be done with it, too.
sarahanne8382's review against another edition
3.0
Not my cup of tea, but still very good. Jane Withersteen is the heiress to her father's ranch on the southern Utah frontier in 1871. Because she prefers to befriend all, not just fellow Mormons, her churchmen are determined to convince her of the error of her ways and employ ever harsher methods to do so. Luckily good men of the sage, such as her former rider, Byrne Vinters, and infamous Mormon-hunter Lassiter, come to her aide and allow her to withstand the persecution a bit longer. Vinters ends up nursing a friend's long-lost daughter back to health and Jane finds herself relying more and more on the gunslinger Lassiter, while simultaneously urging him to change his Mormon-killing ways.
Wonderful melodrama abounds, but there's also way too much description of the scenery and, showing that westerns are romance for men, an obsession with purity which means the romantic action centers around reluctant admissions of feeling and men doing daring deeds for the women they love. Not what I would normally choose for myself, but I'm glad I read it to get a feel for the genre and because it was pretty entertaining when Grey wasn't busy waxing poetic about the purple sage, yet again. Also, it's maybe a tad dated in it's unabashed Mormon-hating.
Wonderful melodrama abounds, but there's also way too much description of the scenery and, showing that westerns are romance for men, an obsession with purity which means the romantic action centers around reluctant admissions of feeling and men doing daring deeds for the women they love. Not what I would normally choose for myself, but I'm glad I read it to get a feel for the genre and because it was pretty entertaining when Grey wasn't busy waxing poetic about the purple sage, yet again. Also, it's maybe a tad dated in it's unabashed Mormon-hating.
youarenotthewalrus's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry