Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I struggled with the rating to this book, waffling between 2 and 3 stars. I finally went with two because:
* The book seemed to be relentless in being gruesome and overly graphic without any real reason for it.
* Character motivations seemed obscure to me. It felt like Dexter was trying to fit his ideas in with how things happened historically, and I never felt like it wove together very well. Motivations seemed either implausible or unlikely.
* The book seemed to be a series of set-pieces that were only linked by the town of Deadwood and Charley Utter. Much like the character motivations, I never really felt like everything hung together very well.
* Finally, I couldn't really recommend this book to much more than a narrow slice of people.
* The book seemed to be relentless in being gruesome and overly graphic without any real reason for it.
* Character motivations seemed obscure to me. It felt like Dexter was trying to fit his ideas in with how things happened historically, and I never felt like it wove together very well. Motivations seemed either implausible or unlikely.
* The book seemed to be a series of set-pieces that were only linked by the town of Deadwood and Charley Utter. Much like the character motivations, I never really felt like everything hung together very well.
* Finally, I couldn't really recommend this book to much more than a narrow slice of people.
Wild Bill Hickok and Charlie Utter find themselves in Deadwood. Bill, getting on in years and with failing health, just wants to be left alone to play cards and get drunk. The world, however, isn‘t going to let him rest. On the descriptive level, this was so good. I got a real feel of the time and place. Beyond that however, I felt it lacked an intensity. Everything, whether of great or little importance, seemed to be given the same treatment and I needed a change of pace. Worth reading , yes, but the best western novel ever written, no.
Wild Bill Hicock is an old man of 39 when he and his good friend Charley Utter arrive in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, where they drink heavily, play cards, and meet a variety of characters, including Calamity Jane. There are gruesome murders, heartbreaking love affairs, and a vivid picture of a small town at the end of the wide-open west, just before civilization begins to break in. Dexter's story is thoughtful, tragic, melancholy, painful, occasionally hilarious, and written with pure beauty. I'll be catching up to the Backlisted episode now and may even try the HBO series at some point.
Wow, loved this! I had no idea that most of the characters were real-life historical figures. Definitely thinking of watching the HBO show now. A solid 4 star.
Unsettling and beautiful. I loved the way the characters were drawn, not a single one of them wasted.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"She was as strong as most men, but it was unnoticeable except in her legs, where she was stronger than any man. Bill had liked the muscles of her calves and told her not to be ashamed. HE would find her like that out of nowhere, and touch her heart. No one else had ever seen that she was ashamed.
And he could say that one moment, and the next he would be staring at the sky, expounding on the nature of the problems it caused to be famous, like there was some secret to it that only the two of them knew. And that was as far from her interests as the moon."
"With the door closed, the noise from downstairs was like something past, that you heard in your head remembering it. Little specks of dust floated in the air around her shoulders. The room was full of motion, and nothing moved at all."
"He listened without a word, facing the morning sun and the ocean. It was from a woman named Agnes Lake, and much of it concerned her trip to Deadwood to find what had become of him. It said she loved him, it said they had mending hearts."
And he could say that one moment, and the next he would be staring at the sky, expounding on the nature of the problems it caused to be famous, like there was some secret to it that only the two of them knew. And that was as far from her interests as the moon."
"With the door closed, the noise from downstairs was like something past, that you heard in your head remembering it. Little specks of dust floated in the air around her shoulders. The room was full of motion, and nothing moved at all."
"He listened without a word, facing the morning sun and the ocean. It was from a woman named Agnes Lake, and much of it concerned her trip to Deadwood to find what had become of him. It said she loved him, it said they had mending hearts."
Excellent at evoking the atmosphere of the Wild West, but suffers from being a little too episodic - the assassination of Wild Bill in the first part kind of takes the steam out of the novel...