Lonesome Dove

Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove starts with pigs and ends with sorrow. In between lies one of the best books I’ve ever read.The novel is set in the American West after the Civil War. The protagonists, Woodrow Call and Augustus “Gus” McCrae, are former Texas Rangers who retired a decade ago and spent the intervening years in the little Texas town of Lonesome Dove. Nominally, they run the Hat Creek Cattle Company with a few of their old comrades (and two blue pigs, who kick off the book by eating a snake). But mostly they’re just whiling away the hours.This part of the story is easy, pleasurable reading. McMurtry writes in third-person omniscient, meandering from one character to the next and bringing them to life quickly and completely. Call is a workaholic prone to brooding. (“Give Call a grievance,” we hear early on, “however silly, and he would save it like money.”) Gus is voluble and lazy. Pea Eye is simple but solid. Deets is as reliable as he is quirky (he makes his pants out of quilts). Newt is young and desperate to please.Even minor characters get distinctive traits. Lippy “was so named because his lower lip was about the size of the flap on a saddlebag. He could tuck enough snuff under it to last a normal person at least a month; in general the lip lived a life of its own, there toward the bottom of his face. Even when he was just sitting quietly, studying his cards, the lip waved and wiggled as if it had a breeze blowing across it.” And Joe “had a habit of staring straight ahead. Though Call assumed he had a neck joint like other men, he had never seen him use it.”For a while, it seems like the Hat Creek crew might putter around Lonesome Dove forever. Then Jake, another ex-ranger—on the run from the law, as it happens—rides into town and mentions that he’s been to Montana and seen vast tracts of good, unsettled land there. This lights a fire under Call. He spurs the boys into motion, leading them on cattle raids across the Mexican border and hiring extra hands to help drive the animals north. So begins a great, three-thousand-mile trek from some of the lowest latitudes of the country to the highest.Things get hairy almost immediately. Death comes fast on the drive, and the dangers are too varied to guard against: snake-plagued river crossings, lightning storms on the open plains, searing droughts, and worse. Likable characters are abused and killed. Some of your favorites won’t make it. Prepare to be heartbroken.Yet there’s no grand goal here. Call and Gus aren’t trying to open up the American West—they already served their time protecting settlers along the shifting frontier. Montana is a vague destination, not a mission; Call essentially leaves Lonesome Dove on a whim. Gus goes along for lack of anything better to do, but not eagerly. “Here you’ve brought these cattle all this way,” he complains to his partner around the halfway mark, “with all this inconvenience to me and everybody else, and you don’t have no reason in this world to be doing it.”McMurtry has plenty of reasons for the drive, though. In his preface to the 25th-anniversary edition of Lonesome Dove, he argues that “the central theme of the novel is not the stocking of Montana but unacknowledged paternity,” namely Newt’s. His mother is long dead, and his father might be one of the Rangers.But that wasn’t the thread that stood out most to me. The book is filled with restless souls regretting all sorts of errors. Gus wishes he’d married his sweetheart when he had the chance. “I expect it was the major mistake of my life, letting her slip by,” he tells Call. For his part, the quieter man laments getting involved with women at all. Jake can’t believe he’s committed hanging crimes. July Johnson, the Kansas sheriff pursuing Jake, hates himself for leaving three of his charges to face a murderer. And so on.Aging is the through-line here—aging and change. Gus and Call are past their primes. They were legendary Rangers once, but now they’re fading into irrelevancy. The younger generation doesn’t hold them in the same esteem. “I guess they forgot us, like they forgot the Alamo,” August observes after the owner of a bar tries to kick him out for demanding respectful treatment. “Why wouldn’t they?” Call answers. “We ain’t been around.”The West is moving on too. The buffalo are nearly done, pushed to the brink of extinction by wasteful hunting. Gus rides past several slaughter sites where it looks like “a whole herd had been wiped out, for a road of bones stretched far across the plain.” The Native Americans aren’t in much better shape—despite their fearsome reputation, their numbers have dwindled in tandem with the buffalos’. “With those millions of animals gone,” Gus reflects, “and the Indians mostly gone in their wake, the great plains were truly empty, unpeopled and ungrazed. Soon the whites would come, of course, but what he was seeing was a moment between, not the plains as they had been, or as they would be, but a moment of true emptiness, with thousands of miles of grass resting unused, occupied only by remnants—of the buffalo, the Indians, the hunters.”This is all tragic, but it’s beautifully done.A couple things bothered me, however. That 25th-anniversary preface contains what feel like major spoilers. They aren’t, but I’d still skip this section until you’re done with the story proper. (Unless you want to start the book as grumpy as I did.)More significantly, while Deets shines as the only African American in the Hat Creek outfit (“He’s the best man we got,” Call says late in the drive; “Best man we’ve ever had,” Augustus agrees), the one Native American that gets extended time on the page is a vicious monster. We meet some friendlier indigenous people in passing, but I kept waiting for a real counterweight: a kind Comanche, or a decent Sioux. It never happens. (To be fair, McMurtry does have Gus take a few stabs at articulating why the Native Americans aren’t always hospitable. “We won more than our share with the natives,” he remarks near the end of the novel. They didn’t invite us here, you know. We got no call to be vengeful.” And earlier, he puzzles Call by saying, “I think we spent our best years fighting on the wrong side.” I don’t think this is enough, but it’s something.)Other than that … it’s hard to complain. Lonesome Dove doesn’t close with a climactic shootout like you might find in other westerns. But it doesn’t need to. The journey—Gus and Call’s last shot at big, unnecessary adventure—is the point.And it’s a masterpiece.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryLiterally one of the BEST books I have ever read in my life..Larry McMurtry gives you so many characters and yet fleshes out every single one of them and makes you love or hate every single one,these Characters are literally some of the greatest of all time when it comes to fiction…Augustus McCrae might just be the best character ever written,and his friendship with Woodrow Call the best bromance/friendship in all of fiction as well… I just finished this book a few hours ago but can not stop thinking about it and has become one of my fav books of all time, I really look forward to the other 3 books now in the series!now I leave you with two amazing quotes by Gus…”It’s a fine world,though rich in hardships at time” and my personal favorite “It Ain’t Dying I’m talking about,It’s Living. I doubt it matters where you die,but it matters where you live.”

Have only read a few books over 900 pages. Loved this one entirely from start to end. Then found out near the end that it was all based on truth and real people. This in itself does not effect how much you will enjoy but it does make it very impressive, to say the least. Maybe sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up, but still mostly a very enjoyable read regardless.

One of the best books that I have read in a long time.

Arrived on time in excellent condition.

When I was young, there were lots of Western TV shows airing and there were many pulp Western paperbacks available to read. And now, 65 years later, I’ve read another Western, “Lonesome Dove”. Not pulp, instead a classic (as “Lonesome Dove” won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction).The story is about a pair of retired Texas Rangers who decide to hire a number of cowboys and, all together, drive a herd of cattle from Southern Texas up to Montana. Of course, the real story is about the western lands they travel through, the difficulties they encounter on their journey and the people they meet along the way. But all those adventures of travel, as interesting as they were, take a back seat to the very well-drawn characters and their attitudes, words and actions toward each other. Indeed, I felt the author took great care to introduce many of the characters to the reader so that they were much more than just a name.Reading this book was essentially an experience. It’s a long book (960 pages), and so by the time you have finished it, you feel like those two retired Texas Rangers have become personal acquaintances that you got to know well. So reading this book felt like a surprisingly personal experience to me.My only complaint was that, despite the great distances involved in traveling through the west and the plains, some characters would coincidentally come across each other’s path despite the unlikeliness of that actually happening.Bottom line: This is very much a character-driven story, and yet filled with action, tension and grandly-descriptive vistas.

Item was received as advertised and in a timely manner

This book has everything. A great plot. Epic adventure. Moving love story. But what McMurtry does that is unequaled to me is create multiple characters (not just the main ones) who are multi-faceted to such a degree that you respect, admire and are taken with their goodness while clearly seeing their flaws. I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with them many times, in the same point, conversation or moment. I hope this makes sense but it is difficult to explain because this is the only book that I’ve had that experience with. This is a masterpiece of a book!

Just a few pages into this one I knew it was something special. This is without a doubt the best book I've read in years - a huge cast of characters that are all memorable in their own way, this book is just bursting with story and ideas. Reminds me a bit of Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden (my all time favourite novel) and definitely up there with those two Steinbeck classics in terms of quality - a truly great American novel!

Le meilleur roman que j'ai lu de toute ma vie. Les 800 pages s'enchaînent d'elles-mêmes, j'étais même déçu que ça ne soit pas plus long!On a (presque) hâte de prendre les transports en commun pour poursuivre la lecture.Les personnages, les dialogues l'intrigue, les descriptions géographiques : tout est génial!Un chef-d'œuvre tout simplement.j'ai déjà commandé la suite.

enjoyed it

Libro excelentemente editado. Da gusto hasta sopesar su volumen (1100 páginas) y saborear su portada, y por supuesto su lectura. Una obra coral, aunque "Gus" y Call (viejos tipos duros) sean los principales protagonistas, hay muchos personajes llenos de realismo y de personalidad que tienen mucho que ofrecer. Incluidas las mujeres, como esa otra paloma solitaria que es Lorena. Un western épico que tambien es Literatura en mayusculas. Lleno de dialogos agudos, episodios dramáticos, cómicos o emotivos. Muy recomendable.

Lonesome Dove, written by Larry McMurtry, is a sprawling epic that takes readers on a remarkable journey through the American West. With its rich characters, vivid landscapes, and powerful storytelling, this classic novel earns a solid 4-star rating. Here's why:One of the greatest strengths of Lonesome Dove lies in its compelling characters. McMurtry has crafted a diverse cast, each with their own unique personalities, strengths, and flaws. From the grizzled former Texas Rangers, Gus and Call, to the young Newt and the fierce Lorena, the characters come alive on the pages, evoking empathy, admiration, and sometimes even disdain. Their relationships and personal growth throughout the novel add depth and emotional resonance to the story.The American West is vividly brought to life in Lonesome Dove. McMurtry's descriptions of the vast plains, rugged landscapes, and gritty towns transport readers to a bygone era. The authenticity of the setting is enhanced by the author's attention to historical detail, making it feel like a character in itself. The raw beauty and harsh realities of the frontier are vividly portrayed, immersing readers in the world of cowboys, outlaws, and pioneers.McMurtry weaves a compelling and multifaceted narrative in Lonesome Dove. The story follows a group of characters on a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Montana, but it encompasses much more than a simple journey. The novel explores themes of friendship, loyalty, love, and the pursuit of dreams, all against the backdrop of a changing and unforgiving frontier. The pacing is deliberate, allowing for moments of introspection and introspective character development, balanced with tense action and dramatic plot twists.Lonesome Dove manages to evoke a wide range of emotions in its readers. It skillfully captures the camaraderie and bond between the characters, while also delving into the harsh realities of the Old West, including violence, loss, and heartbreak. McMurtry doesn't shy away from depicting the tragedies and sacrifices that come with such a rugged lifestyle, leaving a lasting impact on the reader. The emotional depth of the novel adds weight and resonance to the overall story.In summary, Lonesome Dove is an epic Western tale that immerses readers in the captivating world of the American frontier. With its compelling characters, evocative setting, engaging narrative, and emotional impact, it stands as a timeless masterpiece in the genre. While some readers may find the length and slower pacing challenging, those who embark on this literary journey will be rewarded with a powerful and unforgettable experience.