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magicfrank 's review for:
Riders of the Purple Sage
by Zane Grey
I read this because it is in The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction, and I have a project to read one book by every author on the list. It is the first western I have ever read.
Grey writes lovingly of the landscape. Although it is essentially an action story, Zane does explore various issues (I hadn't realized the complexities of the relationships between Mormons and 'gentiles' in Utah) and creates some moral dilemmas for his characters. To that extent he reminded me of John Le Carre who has taken the spy genre (a la James Bond)and infused it with a psychological and moral dimension. Grey doesn't mange it nearly so successfully as Le Carre.
So, I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would but the limitations of Grey's writing means I won't be reading any more.
Grey writes lovingly of the landscape. Although it is essentially an action story, Zane does explore various issues (I hadn't realized the complexities of the relationships between Mormons and 'gentiles' in Utah) and creates some moral dilemmas for his characters. To that extent he reminded me of John Le Carre who has taken the spy genre (a la James Bond)and infused it with a psychological and moral dimension. Grey doesn't mange it nearly so successfully as Le Carre.
So, I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would but the limitations of Grey's writing means I won't be reading any more.