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Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
Amazing characters and moments but in the end a very sad story. Not sure the book had to have so much tragedy to reach the same impact. I don't think a happy ending with Gus and Lorena would have taken anything away. Call would still meet his comeuppance imo.
There’s a lot to learn in this book. Namely, there are a lot of ways to be a coward. Kind of sucks the story ended with Call, the biggest coward of them all. His vanity killed many good men and hurt others. This type of person who is very industrious but avoids thinking about his relationships with other people is fairly common today. Gus had his flaws but I believe that he worked on himself and grew into a better man everyday. Whereas Call spend all his energy trying to achieve an emotional stasis. Wish Gus stayed in Nebraska, he really underrated a life with Lorena and Clara. Lorena would be good to him and Clara would keep his life interesting. He should have had the courage to abandon Call earlier. Seemed like it might have happened immediately if he didn't meet his unfortunate end. I believe Newt learned to not be like his father but he will have a tough time figuring it out on his own.
Some quotes:
"Why would you want to keep in practice being wrong?" Call asked. "I'd think it would be something you'd try to avoid." "You can't avoid it, you've got to learn to handle it," Augustus said. "If you only come face-to-face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it's bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day that way they ain't usually much worse than a dry shave."
"All you two done was ruin one another, not to mention those close to you. Another reason I didn't marry him was because I didn't want to fight you for him every day of my life. You men and your promises: they're just excuses to do what you plan to do anyway, which is leave. You think you've always done right - that's your ugly pride, Mr. Call But you never did right and it would be a sad woman that needed anything from you. You're a vain coward, for all your fighting. I despised you then, for what you were, and I despise you now, for what you're doing."
There’s a lot to learn in this book. Namely, there are a lot of ways to be a coward. Kind of sucks the story ended with Call, the biggest coward of them all. His vanity killed many good men and hurt others. This type of person who is very industrious but avoids thinking about his relationships with other people is fairly common today. Gus had his flaws but I believe that he worked on himself and grew into a better man everyday. Whereas Call spend all his energy trying to achieve an emotional stasis. Wish Gus stayed in Nebraska, he really underrated a life with Lorena and Clara. Lorena would be good to him and Clara would keep his life interesting. He should have had the courage to abandon Call earlier. Seemed like it might have happened immediately if he didn't meet his unfortunate end. I believe Newt learned to not be like his father but he will have a tough time figuring it out on his own.
Some quotes:
"Why would you want to keep in practice being wrong?" Call asked. "I'd think it would be something you'd try to avoid." "You can't avoid it, you've got to learn to handle it," Augustus said. "If you only come face-to-face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it's bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day that way they ain't usually much worse than a dry shave."
"All you two done was ruin one another, not to mention those close to you. Another reason I didn't marry him was because I didn't want to fight you for him every day of my life. You men and your promises: they're just excuses to do what you plan to do anyway, which is leave. You think you've always done right - that's your ugly pride, Mr. Call But you never did right and it would be a sad woman that needed anything from you. You're a vain coward, for all your fighting. I despised you then, for what you were, and I despise you now, for what you're doing."