Scan barcode
A review by tits_mcgee
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
adventurous
funny
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Lonesome Dove, a small Texas no-where town set on winning your heart with its dusty charms and naively optimistic residents. I enjoyed the settings very much, through the barren cold of Montana in wintertime and sweet summertime prairies we get to follow a cast of characters so well written that McMurtry might be giving Dickens a run for his money; characters which McMurtry has clearly injected the tropes of the Old West into while also fleshing them out as loveable, believable people.
Among this diverse cast are Gus, a lazy drunkard with a natural but unwanted knack for leadership; Captain Call, a strong silent type who is as loyal as he is deadly; a whore with a dream and insecurities; a troublesome but charming gambler; a vengeful native, and more than one plain useless lawman; McMurtry though is only creating this loveable cast in order to tear them all down one by one as The West destroys their optimism, which in turn destroys what we think a Western must be. Despite how the story unfolds for a while, there are no brave warriors conquering new lands in search of wealth, there are only mislead and heartbroken misfits suffering the consequence of a dangerous and very real land. The plot is almost inconsequential next to the tone and overarching themes.
“The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters”
I love a depressing Western, the empty feeling you get when everything turns out badly is music to my literary ears, my love for this genre started with John Williams’ Butchers Crossing, a cold, bleak, beautiful and bloody book, and though Lonesome Dove is not that bloody or as cold, it does contain those same ingredients, only in this case it is the character writing that takes centre stage for me. It’s funny too, at unpredictable moments I found myself laughing aloud and taking notes of the page numbers, something I rarely do.
“If I had a mind to rent pigs, I'd be mighty upset. A man that likes to rent pigs won't be stopped.”
Among this diverse cast are Gus, a lazy drunkard with a natural but unwanted knack for leadership; Captain Call, a strong silent type who is as loyal as he is deadly; a whore with a dream and insecurities; a troublesome but charming gambler; a vengeful native, and more than one plain useless lawman; McMurtry though is only creating this loveable cast in order to tear them all down one by one as The West destroys their optimism, which in turn destroys what we think a Western must be. Despite how the story unfolds for a while, there are no brave warriors conquering new lands in search of wealth, there are only mislead and heartbroken misfits suffering the consequence of a dangerous and very real land. The plot is almost inconsequential next to the tone and overarching themes.
“The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters”
I love a depressing Western, the empty feeling you get when everything turns out badly is music to my literary ears, my love for this genre started with John Williams’ Butchers Crossing, a cold, bleak, beautiful and bloody book, and though Lonesome Dove is not that bloody or as cold, it does contain those same ingredients, only in this case it is the character writing that takes centre stage for me. It’s funny too, at unpredictable moments I found myself laughing aloud and taking notes of the page numbers, something I rarely do.
“If I had a mind to rent pigs, I'd be mighty upset. A man that likes to rent pigs won't be stopped.”