Monday, May 03, 2021

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry

I have now re-read Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove two times since first discovering it in a Houston B. Dalton bookstore shortly after it was first published in 1985. In both instances, because I always fear that a book will not hold up to my earlier reads of it, I waited more than fifteen years between my re-readings of Lonesome Dove. A novel itself, of course, will not change, but readers, their perspectives, and their perceptions of the world do change — especially during this period in our history when we’ve allowed a loud group of political and social-media bullies to decide what new books should be published and which ones from the past should be erased from public consciousness. Thankfully, the mob has not yet come for Lonesome Dove or its readers.


I am happy to report that even after three reads, Lonesome Dove is as fresh as ever. It is still one of the funniest and one of the saddest books I’ve ever read; it is still home to some of my favorite fictional characters; and it still keeps me entertained throughout its (depending on which edition you read) near-1,000 pages. McMurtry’s story is a long and complicated one that explores the long relationships of a core group of Texans, men and women, who define the world and themselves based largely upon their mutual experiences and what they have learned from each other. 


“When Augustus came out on the porch the blue pigs were eating a rattlesnake — not a very big one. It had probably just been crawling around looking for shade when it ran into the pigs. They were having a fine tug-of-war with it, and it’s rattling days were over.”


These opening sentences give a sense of Lonesome Dove, the little south Texas border town that former Texas Rangers Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call now call home. Gus and Call, along with a couple of other ex-Rangers, run a little outfit there they call the Hat Creek Cattle Company. Gus, Call, Pea Eye, and Deets have been on the southern border ever since the governor sent them south to watch the state’s border during the Civil War. Now, all these years later, the only real action along the state’s border with Mexico comes from the raiding parties that cross in both directions to steal cattle and horses from each other. And the retired Rangers enjoy doing that as much as anyone. 


Call, though, is feeling his age now…and he’s fast becoming bored with this life. Gus, on the other hand, spends much of his time drinking whisky wherever he can find shade, or at the Dry Bean saloon where he spends time with the town’s one and only whore, and he’s happy enough to go on doing so. Call yearns for one more big adventure in his life, and he wants it now, so when another ex-Ranger, Jake Spoon, rides into Lonesome Dove with stories about the unspoiled grazing paradise to be found in Montana, Call decides that the Hat Creek Cattle Company is going to be the first outfit to drive cattle north of the Yellowstone River. 


What happens next is epic. 


Bottom Line: It is impossible even to hint at everything that happens in Lonesome Dove, so I’ll quote McMurtry’s preface to the edition I read instead. The author addresses the novel’s theme this way: “…if one cuts more deeply, the lonesome dove is Newt, a lonely teenager who is the unacknowledged son of Captain Call and a kindly whore named Maggie, who is now dead. So the central theme of the novel is not the stocking of Montana but unacknowledged paternity. All of the Hat Creek Outfit, including particularly Augustus McCrae, want Call to accept the boy as his son.”  


Lonesome Dove is a not-to-be-missed masterpiece. 


Larry McMurtry

12 comments:

  1. Embarrassed to have never read this or any of the author's other books. This has been on my list though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lonesome Dove, Diane, is a tragedy in every sense of the world. The humor, and there is a lot of it, is a bonus that makes the eventual tragedy of the story even more poignant than it would have been. I think you'd like this one...but it's a real time commitment, for sure. I do wonder what the audiobook would be like because, in the hands of a really good reader, it could be a very special audio experience.I think I'll go sample it...

      Delete
  2. I haven't reread Lonesome Dove, but I've thought about it often. It is a genuine classic that should be enjoyed for generations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can hardly believe how well it holds up, Jen. For me, that's largely due to Gus and Call, but it's one heck of a story.

      Delete
  3. It's good to hear the book has stood up to repeated re-reads over the decades. This is one I've also been meaning to read for a long time now, and never quite got around to it yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think its length discourages people from picking it up. Depending on the edition you find, it can run something between 860 and 940 pages from what I've seen. But if you ever get that kind of time, it's a wonderful experience.

      Delete
  4. This is one I will read one day. I'm not put off by its length as I tend to approach long books by pacing myself. Tommy Lee Jones was in the movie/TV series wasn't he?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tommy Lee Jones played Woodrow Call, the leader of the ex-Rangers, in the movie, and the role of Gus McCrae was played by Robert Duval. They are two of my favorite actors, and both were absolutely perfect for the roles.

      Delete
  5. It's probably been 15 years since I read LONESOME DOVE for the first and only time. I've been meaning to re-read it for years. I bought myself a copy since I didn't have one - now, I just need to make the time to actually read it! Glad it stands the test of time for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's definitely a time commitment, Susan. I started reading it in February and didn't finish it until early May by reading two or three chapters a day...all 102 of them, finally. It really does hold up well for me and still feels fresh even after three readings. I think every 15 years is a good reading schedule for this one. :-)

      Delete
  6. This is another "maybe some day" book. The length does put me off, although I have read at least two books that long and enjoyed them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's long, but very, very readable, so the pages really seem to fly by, especially once you get into the story. Too, the story simultaneously takes place in three different locations before everything starts to intersect, so you never get bored with the chronology of a single story. It's an easier read than you would think.

      Delete

I always love hearing from you guys...that's what keeps me book-blogging. Thanks for stopping by.