Texas to Montana

anaca

Jan 05, 2025

Comfortable winter reading, thanks to the Texas heat endured by the characters.

There is a lot of humour, which manages to not be mocking or demeaning. It is not an easy feat when your characters are illiterate drunks, and their very human weaknesses are often the source of the joke (in that regard, Lonesome Dove reminds of Steinbeck smaller novels).

It is also very tragic, but something about the rhythm (this is a very long book, close to a thousand pages) makes it a very pleasant trot towards a tranquil and ordinary tragedy.

(Also, I got to learn some more about USA geography)

Y I+2

4 comments

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tokyodrifter1 year ago(edited)

One of my favorites. Folksy western wisdom (the best kind of wisdom) packaged in a genuinely brutal depiction of the frontier. Love all of these characters so much. As for the rest of the series, the prequels suck, but I very much enjoyed Streets of Laredo. Would love to see another TV adaptation of all the books.

anaca1 year ago(edited)

You were right: Streets of Laredo was good! I really enjoyed the drifting ways of Famous Shoes.

icarusrising91 year ago

I loved this book so much! Such a comfortable page-turner, I don't know quite what it was about the writing that appealed so much to me. I went into it expecting not to like it too much, since it's so highly regarded in mainstream reddit circles, but was really surprised by how deeply the prose and characterisation made me feel. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series at some point.

anaca1 year ago

It is, isn't it? I suspect there is a intentional monotony in the way it's written (speech followed by a memory, then a thought, then an action, then speech again etc.). I have been told the rest of the series is not as good, but nevermind, it might still be pleasant.