Lonesome Dove: A Novel

RTC... What an epic read! My feelings are all over the place to do an adequate review right now.

If I could give it more than five stars, I would.

Awesome book!

Phew, I made it to the end. This sweeping saga of a 19th century cattle drive was not really my jam, but I can appreciate many of its fine features. McMurtry does an excellent job of immersing his readers in a setting. I could feel all the different places the Hat Creek Cattle Company traveled. He also brings us into the perspective of different characters with just subtle shifts in the writing. Through the book, we saw the world through the eyes of several of the main characters, which added to the deeper understanding of these characters. Some of the tenderest moments come after great stress. Gus calmly nurturing Lorrie back after her ordeal, Call struggling to acknowledge Newt, Clara mourning her sons. However, I didn't like the extreme machismo that was occasionally celebrated and the treatment of indigenous people was reprehensible. I'm glad I finished it but I can't imagine anyone I would recommend it to.

As A kid, I remember watching Lonesome Dove the mini series on TV with my grandma and grandpa. I don't really remember much of it except my grandpa thought it was ridiculous. I remember them both laughing at several different scenes and because of that, I never had an interest in anything Lonesome Dove, in spite of loving almost anything "western". I can't speak for the mini series but I can't believe it took me this long to read this epic novel. And oh what a novel it is. So the first 150 pages or so seemed to fit right in with my idea of Lonesome Dove. Nothing much seemed to be happening and it seemed pretty run-of-the-mill. I don't know when exactly it happened but at some point my anticipation grew and grew with talk of the upcoming cattle drive, and by the time we started north, I was so geeked with anticipation I couldn't stand it. It was as if I were going to be riding along. This American West adventure doesn't disappoint. Action, relationships, characters, landscape, geography, history...it has everything. And the characters, wow! So we'll written and developed. For a book of nearly 900 pages, it's one of the only times I can remember never having looked at a page number. I was completely engaged and simply didn't care. The writing is so perfect that it felt as of I were a bird flying over this group throughout their whole trip north. I've spent my whole life in this part of the world and there was dialogue and description that just flat out are true. They aren't something you just say in your writing, they are truth. They aren't an image you are trying to create, they are the exact location or the setting. Somewhere, someone has had this exact feeling and observation or visited that precise spot. It just is. I never questioned one second of it. ~ "the neighbor's wife killed herself with a shotgun one morning, leaving a note which merely said, can't stand listening to the wind no more" ~. To that I say, if you know, you know. And it is so. There are so many vivid characters that I loved. No, that's not saying enough. There were so many characters that I loved and will always remember; to be more precise. My grandparents never read the novel but I'm sure they would admit that it sure isn't as silly as they thought the mini series to be. Gritty, deep, funny, touching, epic, authentic, simple and true. I don't know if it's my favorite novel I've ever read, but it's easily in the top 10. But if I were told I could choose only one novel to have for the rest of my days, Lonesome Dove just may be it.