Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

24 reviews

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Colonisation, Blood, Death, Animal death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Rape

vampireph4ze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-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

5.0

i think i'm actually going to have to sit down at my computer one day and write an essay or at least a blurb about this whole book and it's insane effect on me. it is a wonderful story and one that made me cry countless times not only because of its sadness from the expected deaths on a long journey in the wild west but also because of its humanity. i have never been so moved by a story simply from its existence. there were times i found myself crying when i least expected it and times i sat stone faced when i thought i would cry (and i say these both as positives — it makes me question "why?" and evokes a deeper search into answering that). the characters of Lonesome Dove are all three-dimensional and incredibly interesting to pick apart. there are things you can like or appreciate and dislike about all of them. their mistakes are real, their wants are familiar, their stubbornness and pride and curiosity and love is utterly human and so so beautiful. Larry McMurtry did a brilliant job at creating a world that is equally as moving as it is funny. the members of the Hat Creek Outfit became my friends and i laughed and i mourned and i adventured with them and i am so so grateful i made the decision to pick up this long book that has become a hidden gem in these recent years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny and Rape

tgaddie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, Murder, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Self harm, and Animal death

noonjinx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

This is certainly an epic. McMurtry spends 300 pages introducing his characters and then another 600 weaving their stories in and out of a 3000 mile cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

McMurtry obviously loves his subject: the book is full of western tropes but he manages to undermine the myths by showing how harsh and unforgiving frontier life was, and how survival depended on luck as much as judgement and skill.

The action is nicely paced. The characters are all deep, beautifully drawn and uniquely flawed, so you end up loving and admiring them but wanting to slap some sense into them too. The book is funny as well as exciting and sad. It’s worth reading for Gus’ hilarious monologues alone.

Some of the plot lines depend heavily on coincidence. Characters run into each other all the time and at one point McMurtry tries to explain this away by telling us there was only one road. The last few chapters are tragic and pretty bleak, but worse than that, the introspection goes on too long and gets a little boring.

I also wish the author had been a little braver in his myth busting. There’s a lot of frontier justice in this book and McMurtry can’t help justifying every lynching. I think it would have been more interesting and Captan Call had occasionally got the wrong guy.

Still a great book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

missjazzage's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Colonisation, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death

Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, and Animal cruelty

krysley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

 All right, a warning for anyone who reads the 2010 Simon & Schuster edition: do not read the preface unless you want spoilers for the rest of the books!

Now that that's out of the way: I loved this book so much.

Honestly, it was more than I ever expected it to be and brought out all the emotions, from anger and despair to heartbroken. These characters live in my head rent free and I'm glad to share the space with them. This book simply captivated me. Actually, it was more than that - I wanted to nerd out over this book, write a paper about the female characters and how McMurtry handled each one, and discuss every little nuance. It has been a long time since a book has effected me in such a way and I can't wait to read this again.

For a book written in 1985 about the 1870s, I was expecting heaps of misogyny, racism, and all the other hateful things that often spawn from those time periods combining. But . . . that wasn't what I got. Yes, there was misogyny and racism, but it was in the context of the time period (that didn't stop me from angrily crossing out the n-word in my personal copy every time I read it - some things I don't need to read over and over). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Rape

deadeye's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, War, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Moderate: Pedophilia, Abortion, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

katjoyphil's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

derschnauzbart's review

adventurous emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Murder, Racism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Grief, and Animal death

Minor: Slavery, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy

literaturesciencealliance's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I can see why people love this book and think of it as one of their favorites. For me it really overstayed its welcome. Its such a character driven story and I didn't really like or care about most of the characters. I think it began to lose me when we got to part 2 and started adding more point of views. I was never convinced that those needed to be there, they were my least favorite parts and added to the length of the book. I also didn't really love the ending but totally recognize that as a personal taste thing. Its a really solid historical fiction and shows the darker and less glorified side of being a cowboy and ranger in the 1800s. Would recommend if you like exploring that setting and want to read one of the most beloved books in that genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal death, Death, Child death, Kidnapping, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief