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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
Zane Grey was truly a superb storyteller. His descriptions of landscapes, settings, humanity, religion, people and character, are prolific. This goes beyond the classic western in many ways. It depicts prejudices, religious intolerance, hardship, courage, determination, and love.
I completely disagree with the reviewer that stated it was like a mass market romance novel. This definitely is of the western genre with much more. The author’s way with words is magnificent topping the list of western novelists.
I enjoyed this book and story. I did not realize it is part of a series, until I finished. I hope to read further.
I completely disagree with the reviewer that stated it was like a mass market romance novel. This definitely is of the western genre with much more. The author’s way with words is magnificent topping the list of western novelists.
I enjoyed this book and story. I did not realize it is part of a series, until I finished. I hope to read further.
Riders of the Purple Sage is an excellent read, an exciting Western told with gusto by author Zane Grey.
Thoughts:
1. I think it is important to get the "Restored Edition," which differs greatly from the robustly edited (neutered) versions published in the book's first 90 years.
2. This story is flawed---published in 1912, Grey dances around physical desires/romantic love between characters, and he also occasionally indulges antiquated characterizations of women.
3. That said, the lead female character is, for the most part, presented as a very strong woman possessing multiple and wise perspectives on her setting and situation.
4. The description of the southern Utah setting is exquisite.
5. The honest and enlightened manner in which religion---and its capacity for provoking both good and evil acts---is addressed was groundbreaking when published, and still strikes a chord today.
6. The action is terrifically captivating.
7. There is one turn toward the end that is simply stupid and unbelievable.
8. You may, when reading, think that parts of the story are cliched. It is important to realize that, like with the movie Casablanca, the events/actions/behaviors in Riders of the Purple Sage weren't cliched when it was written... they became cliches because it was written.
I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it for any fan of Westerns, anyone who likes stories in which the natural setting is a major character, and anyone who simply wants to be swept away by a good yarn.
Thoughts:
1. I think it is important to get the "Restored Edition," which differs greatly from the robustly edited (neutered) versions published in the book's first 90 years.
2. This story is flawed---published in 1912, Grey dances around physical desires/romantic love between characters, and he also occasionally indulges antiquated characterizations of women.
3. That said, the lead female character is, for the most part, presented as a very strong woman possessing multiple and wise perspectives on her setting and situation.
4. The description of the southern Utah setting is exquisite.
5. The honest and enlightened manner in which religion---and its capacity for provoking both good and evil acts---is addressed was groundbreaking when published, and still strikes a chord today.
6. The action is terrifically captivating.
7. There is one turn toward the end that is simply stupid and unbelievable.
8. You may, when reading, think that parts of the story are cliched. It is important to realize that, like with the movie Casablanca, the events/actions/behaviors in Riders of the Purple Sage weren't cliched when it was written... they became cliches because it was written.
I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it for any fan of Westerns, anyone who likes stories in which the natural setting is a major character, and anyone who simply wants to be swept away by a good yarn.
Read for book club. I think it should be an interesting discussion - there's a lot that's interesting here, but also a lot that I struggled with. I can see how this is an iconic Western, and I wasn't exactly displeased that it's really a romance. And is it really full of tropes if it helped create the tropes?
Either way not my favorite read. The purple sage and purple prose did me in. And so much of the mystery was obvious early on. Not the worst book I've read, but I think I'm happy to leave the Westerns be for a while.
Either way not my favorite read. The purple sage and purple prose did me in. And so much of the mystery was obvious early on. Not the worst book I've read, but I think I'm happy to leave the Westerns be for a while.
Zane Grey is outside my usual milieu and I enjoyed the tale nevertheless. Looking through other reviews it's obvious that there is more to the story than just a pulp novel - censorship, questioning religious authority, and even a certain feminism. What is clear is Grey's love for nature and the West in particular. As the occasion arises, I would read other work by this author.
Shame of Zane Grey for creating a well written engaged novel that makes me revaluate how I feel about western novels!
Riders of the Purple Sage tells the story of Jane Withersteen, a rich Morman woman who is at odds with Elder Tull due to her helping non Mormans aka Gentile Ben Venters. When the books begins, Venters is about to be severely whipped by Tull due to him befriending Jane. Just before Venters is taken by Tull and his men, a man rides up on his horse and saves the day by intervening. Tull's men don't know who this interloper is but they know they don't appreciate his butting in. The unknown man is about to come to blows with Tull and his men when Venters announces that the unknown man is the infamous Lassiter.
Lassister has arrived in Cottonwoods to see the grave of Millie Ern although the connection between the two of them isn't made clear. Over time, Lassiter and Jane establish a relationship based on mutual trust and respect.
Through this book, there are two intersecting story lines which is what's happening with Jane and Lassister and what is happening to Venters once he leaves Jane's home. While Venters is away, he shoots a rustler and during the course of the book, Venters finds out that the rustler he shot is not a man but actually a woman. Venters feels so bad for shooting her, he stays by her side and nurses her back to health.
Initially, Jane decides to shower affection on Lassister so he won't kill any Mormon men eventually, she grows to love Lassiter despite him not being Mormon.
I liked that this book had enough twists and turns to keep me engaged. From wanting to know how Lassiter is connected to Millie Ern to finding out the true identity of the rustler, this book is a great way to be introduced to the western reading genre.
Riders of the Purple Sage tells the story of Jane Withersteen, a rich Morman woman who is at odds with Elder Tull due to her helping non Mormans aka Gentile Ben Venters. When the books begins, Venters is about to be severely whipped by Tull due to him befriending Jane. Just before Venters is taken by Tull and his men, a man rides up on his horse and saves the day by intervening. Tull's men don't know who this interloper is but they know they don't appreciate his butting in. The unknown man is about to come to blows with Tull and his men when Venters announces that the unknown man is the infamous Lassiter.
Lassister has arrived in Cottonwoods to see the grave of Millie Ern although the connection between the two of them isn't made clear. Over time, Lassiter and Jane establish a relationship based on mutual trust and respect.
Through this book, there are two intersecting story lines which is what's happening with Jane and Lassister and what is happening to Venters once he leaves Jane's home. While Venters is away, he shoots a rustler and during the course of the book, Venters finds out that the rustler he shot is not a man but actually a woman. Venters feels so bad for shooting her, he stays by her side and nurses her back to health.
Initially, Jane decides to shower affection on Lassister so he won't kill any Mormon men eventually, she grows to love Lassiter despite him not being Mormon.
I liked that this book had enough twists and turns to keep me engaged. From wanting to know how Lassiter is connected to Millie Ern to finding out the true identity of the rustler, this book is a great way to be introduced to the western reading genre.
Three times I have attempted to read this over the last decade, and three times I have failed to get beyond the first quarter of the novel. Walking stereotypes, kitschy dialogue, and every genre cliché imaginable. And if the argument is that this is the novel that began those clichés, then all the more reason for me to groan and close the book. This is the very rare time when I will rate a novel I haven't finished and don't imagine I will ever try for a fourth time to finish.
There are so many writers who were publishing great frontier literature before this -- Bret Harte, Mary Hunter Austin, Owen Wister, and hell, even Twain. I almost resent that Grey transformed this regional writing into such a cheesy genre. At least the "local color" humorists of the late 19th century who mined the West for comic tales to entertain readers back East still sound fresh today, even as they portray frontier archetypes.
I may try reading another of Grey's novels at some point just to give him another shot; but based on this one, I’d describe him as the Dan Brown of his day. Dreadful.
There are so many writers who were publishing great frontier literature before this -- Bret Harte, Mary Hunter Austin, Owen Wister, and hell, even Twain. I almost resent that Grey transformed this regional writing into such a cheesy genre. At least the "local color" humorists of the late 19th century who mined the West for comic tales to entertain readers back East still sound fresh today, even as they portray frontier archetypes.
I may try reading another of Grey's novels at some point just to give him another shot; but based on this one, I’d describe him as the Dan Brown of his day. Dreadful.
There are some authors that transcend the genre fiction they are shelved in. Georgette Heyer, for example. And now I found Zane Grey. The descriptions of the landscape are poetry and metaphor, the pages seem to turn on their own. Definitely reading the sequel, and I’m sure Zane Grey will be one of my go-to, what should I read now authors.
Despite rather rough beginnings I ended up really loving this book.
My husband's uncle is a huge Western fan (in both books and movies) and so when I asked him what his favorite book was and he responded "Riders of the Purple Sage," I suggested it to my book group without further thought. Opps :(
Just a quick note to better the reading for some of you: any time Mormon is mentioned replace it with "random religious cult." And any time Utah is mentioned replace with "undisclosed part of the West." Problem solved! J/K
So in the book the Mormons are the bad guys. After talking it over with a friend of mine, I decided to embrace this. How many times are Catholics or Muslim the bad guys in a book (a lot more then Mormons). Grey obviously had little knowledge of the Mormon religion (referenced by the fact that Jane had both coffee and brandy on hand). He most likely knew a few weird stories and took off with it and ran.
In the end, I didn't mind the bad Mormons. I even stopped dismissing them as something besides Mormon and saw them as possible characters disillusioned by too much isolation and too much sun, which usually brings out the worst in people.
As it is in most stories, it is the people who profess themselves as the most religious, who end up being the worst/most evil. Witch of Blackbird Pond comes to mind among many other stories. Frederick Douglas provides a great "essay" on in this in his autobiography (highly recommended to all). It seems that these people become narrow minded on a few principles of religion and choose to "uphold" those at the cost of any other also true principle. They play only a few notes on the keyboard of the gospel. When all notes are played at the right time and in the right order you can create a beautiful melody. When only one or two notes are played with intensity, you get an ugly offending sound. It is important to remember always the two great commandments, the second applies here: Love Your Neighbor.
BEWARE OF SPOLIERS
Jane - I liked her, kind of, for the most part. One important element that was missing from this book was personal revelation, which Mormons hold most dear. I appreciated the author's attempt to discribe Jane's moral internal struggles between what she felt was right in her heart and blindly following her leaders. Lassiter described it as either being true to the woman in her (which does make sense because a woman naturally is nurturing) or being true to her religion. But I didn't think of it as that. I thought it was more of a struggle and shock to her that her beloved and trusted leader would do things that she didn't believe was right. I saw it more as a journey in her understanding what her "church" was (at least the branch in Cottonwood) versus what her "religion" or "gospel" was and how to reconcile them. Although it wasn't perfect, I appreciated Grey's attempt to take us on the journey with Jane.
Lassiter - Who wouldn't like Lassiter? He is the tall, dark, hero of the story. He falls in love with Jane and that love softens his hatred. I am a little disappointed with all the killing he does at the end (especially the Bishop, but taking Fay was extremely low, it was a perfect last straw to end the book and finally release Jane from whatever loyalty she felt she must have.)
Venters and Bess- I didn't really like or dislike Venters, he was kind of average to me. But I loved his story. It was the typical cowboy thing were the girls fall in love with their kidnappers. And who wouldn't fall in love with Venters if you were trapped in Surprise Valley. That was my favorite part of the story the whole idea of building a life trapped away in Surprise Valley together. For the most part I think that Venters treated Bess just fine. The main thing that bugged me was that he kept calling her "Child" and even though she was only 18 years old, it got tiring after a while and then irritating. So I could see how that is demining, but I think that Grey just wanted to reiterate that she was so innocent in her mind because Oldring took such great care to keep her such. I don’t think it was meant as any way to reflect on Venters love for Bess.
I didn't mind too much all the description, but I am a description gal. A few times I had to skim for a few paragraphs (even as amazing as Surprise Valley must be, even I tired of listening to its many virtues).
The thing about the description that confused me was the distances in the canyon. Sometimes I thought it only took Venters a day to get to Cottonwood and then another time three days? A thought that once it took him only an hour to get back to Wrangle from Surprise Valley to the meadow. Then another time he had to camp in the meadow because he had taken all day? Confused about all of that stuff.
My husband's uncle is a huge Western fan (in both books and movies) and so when I asked him what his favorite book was and he responded "Riders of the Purple Sage," I suggested it to my book group without further thought. Opps :(
Just a quick note to better the reading for some of you: any time Mormon is mentioned replace it with "random religious cult." And any time Utah is mentioned replace with "undisclosed part of the West." Problem solved! J/K
So in the book the Mormons are the bad guys. After talking it over with a friend of mine, I decided to embrace this. How many times are Catholics or Muslim the bad guys in a book (a lot more then Mormons). Grey obviously had little knowledge of the Mormon religion (referenced by the fact that Jane had both coffee and brandy on hand). He most likely knew a few weird stories and took off with it and ran.
In the end, I didn't mind the bad Mormons. I even stopped dismissing them as something besides Mormon and saw them as possible characters disillusioned by too much isolation and too much sun, which usually brings out the worst in people.
As it is in most stories, it is the people who profess themselves as the most religious, who end up being the worst/most evil. Witch of Blackbird Pond comes to mind among many other stories. Frederick Douglas provides a great "essay" on in this in his autobiography (highly recommended to all). It seems that these people become narrow minded on a few principles of religion and choose to "uphold" those at the cost of any other also true principle. They play only a few notes on the keyboard of the gospel. When all notes are played at the right time and in the right order you can create a beautiful melody. When only one or two notes are played with intensity, you get an ugly offending sound. It is important to remember always the two great commandments, the second applies here: Love Your Neighbor.
BEWARE OF SPOLIERS
Jane - I liked her, kind of, for the most part. One important element that was missing from this book was personal revelation, which Mormons hold most dear. I appreciated the author's attempt to discribe Jane's moral internal struggles between what she felt was right in her heart and blindly following her leaders. Lassiter described it as either being true to the woman in her (which does make sense because a woman naturally is nurturing) or being true to her religion. But I didn't think of it as that. I thought it was more of a struggle and shock to her that her beloved and trusted leader would do things that she didn't believe was right. I saw it more as a journey in her understanding what her "church" was (at least the branch in Cottonwood) versus what her "religion" or "gospel" was and how to reconcile them. Although it wasn't perfect, I appreciated Grey's attempt to take us on the journey with Jane.
Lassiter - Who wouldn't like Lassiter? He is the tall, dark, hero of the story. He falls in love with Jane and that love softens his hatred. I am a little disappointed with all the killing he does at the end (especially the Bishop, but taking Fay was extremely low, it was a perfect last straw to end the book and finally release Jane from whatever loyalty she felt she must have.)
Venters and Bess- I didn't really like or dislike Venters, he was kind of average to me. But I loved his story. It was the typical cowboy thing were the girls fall in love with their kidnappers. And who wouldn't fall in love with Venters if you were trapped in Surprise Valley. That was my favorite part of the story the whole idea of building a life trapped away in Surprise Valley together. For the most part I think that Venters treated Bess just fine. The main thing that bugged me was that he kept calling her "Child" and even though she was only 18 years old, it got tiring after a while and then irritating. So I could see how that is demining, but I think that Grey just wanted to reiterate that she was so innocent in her mind because Oldring took such great care to keep her such. I don’t think it was meant as any way to reflect on Venters love for Bess.
I didn't mind too much all the description, but I am a description gal. A few times I had to skim for a few paragraphs (even as amazing as Surprise Valley must be, even I tired of listening to its many virtues).
The thing about the description that confused me was the distances in the canyon. Sometimes I thought it only took Venters a day to get to Cottonwood and then another time three days? A thought that once it took him only an hour to get back to Wrangle from Surprise Valley to the meadow. Then another time he had to camp in the meadow because he had taken all day? Confused about all of that stuff.
The pacing is horribly erratic, the characterization is flat, and the amount of time spent describing the landscape is overwhelming and unnecessary. The action seemingly might be one of the better features, but that often happened off screen, and was only described by an observer after the fact, which certainly lessened the impact. There are really two storylines that happen, and I enjoyed the one with Venters and Bess much more than the primary protagonists of Jane and Lassiter!
Lassiter! is always spoken with an exclamation, even when spoken in the third person by Lassiter! So awkward! And the number of times things (beards, eyes, storms, sage, dusk, sky, moods) as purple went beyond comic.
Lassiter! is always spoken with an exclamation, even when spoken in the third person by Lassiter! So awkward! And the number of times things (beards, eyes, storms, sage, dusk, sky, moods) as purple went beyond comic.