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catmilkremedies 's review for:
Hondo
by Louis L'Amour
?/5
Really hard to rate a book that is so far removed from me.
in terms of personal taste, it's 1/5. A blatantly racist premise and a ton of sexual dynamics that only come off as weird to a contemporary reader, i think. In the 1950's, there may have been a sweetness and a gentleness to the "I'm a good man, and you, a woman, need a good man" sort of romance—even if it wasn't true. People in the 50's probably just believed the myth a bit more. I'm definitely projecting. Point is, this is a world where the white man is master of all: the desert, lonely ranch wives, Apaches (who are juuuuuust human enough to make them a worthy enemy, but are otherwise simply the most dangerous animal in the West), horses, and the United States Cavalry.
I did enjoy a scene when Hondo is teaching a young boy about different desert plants, animals, and tracking techniques.
In terms of what the book is /trying/ to do, HONDO is a 4/5. There's plenty of action, and the ideology, however fraught, is fully indulged. I definitely see why this was the book that launched L'amour's career as a novelist. In many ways it is the /perfect/ western. It makes for a very valuable text in a sort of historical way. All the problems with westerns are present here, and so are all the fantasies. Plus the prose is fine and the action is pretty well described. There are legitimately tense moments here, but that ran thin because i didn't really care for any of the characters as people—they worked as archetypes, though.
Don't read this if you are looking for a fun western, the racism runs too deep. if you are writing about westerns, then this is probably going to be a valuable book for you.
Really hard to rate a book that is so far removed from me.
in terms of personal taste, it's 1/5. A blatantly racist premise and a ton of sexual dynamics that only come off as weird to a contemporary reader, i think. In the 1950's, there may have been a sweetness and a gentleness to the "I'm a good man, and you, a woman, need a good man" sort of romance—even if it wasn't true. People in the 50's probably just believed the myth a bit more. I'm definitely projecting. Point is, this is a world where the white man is master of all: the desert, lonely ranch wives, Apaches (who are juuuuuust human enough to make them a worthy enemy, but are otherwise simply the most dangerous animal in the West), horses, and the United States Cavalry.
I did enjoy a scene when Hondo is teaching a young boy about different desert plants, animals, and tracking techniques.
In terms of what the book is /trying/ to do, HONDO is a 4/5. There's plenty of action, and the ideology, however fraught, is fully indulged. I definitely see why this was the book that launched L'amour's career as a novelist. In many ways it is the /perfect/ western. It makes for a very valuable text in a sort of historical way. All the problems with westerns are present here, and so are all the fantasies. Plus the prose is fine and the action is pretty well described. There are legitimately tense moments here, but that ran thin because i didn't really care for any of the characters as people—they worked as archetypes, though.
Don't read this if you are looking for a fun western, the racism runs too deep. if you are writing about westerns, then this is probably going to be a valuable book for you.