Review: Lonesome Dove by Larry mcMurtry
“All America lies at the end of the wilderness road, and our past is not a dead past, but still lives in us. Our forefathers had civilization inside themselves, the wild outside. We live in the civilization they created, but within us the wilderness still lingers. What they dreamed, we live, and what they lived, we dream.”
T. K. Whipple, Study Out the Land
I was nervous to read Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. At 864 pages – which translates to over 37 hours in audiobook format – it is a daunting task. I like to see progress when I read and if a book is too long I can start to feel like I’m lost in the woods. It becomes a test of mental fortitude to slog through some of these longer books with all their world building and branching storylines. Sometimes it’s just easier to start another book rather than continue the painful journey ahead.
Lonesome Dove, I feared, was going to be just that.
The novel chronicles the exploits of the Hat Creek Cattle Company as they drive their newly acquired cattle herd from Mexico straight north to the unsettled land of Montana in the 1870s. Not something that really wets your appetite, but as with most stories that’s just the call to action to get these bored cowboys out and into the world. The true adventure begins following that as we see this surly group go up against bandits, military, Indians, the land itself and each other.
Let there be no doubt, this novel is an epic through and through. Set in the American wild west during the 1870s, Lonesome Dove takes place across 7 states and includes around 12 main characters and over 26 minor characters all of which get plenty of “screen time” by McMurtry, and for good reason. The characters are what make this novel shine.
Every character both big and small feels so fleshed out they could have a novel of their own. In a story full of cowhands you would think that a lot of them would feel generic, but McMurtry has made every single one of them unique and memorable and full of life. When we are introduced to them it is as if we are truly jumping into their lives at this point in their existence.
The characters love and hate and have desires, many of these things they leave unmentioned. McMurtry truly shows his mastery of the craft in how he lets the characters speak for themselves in nonverbal ways as well as verbal. The characters are not perfect either. They will often make mistakes or take the wrong path or do something harmful to themself or others, but it makes them more believable and loveable or sometimes absolutely dreadful.
There are many things that a person could get sour about in this novel – we’re talking about Indians and prostitutes and unintelligent white men – but McMurtry handles it all with professionalism and maturity. Even when things get to their worst – and things do get dark on the trail – he never gets gratuitous in his depictions. His writing is pointed and thoughtful giving the reader just enough and letting their minds fill in the rest. It’s effective and the story is much better for it.
But that’s not all it is. One thing that surprised me about Lonesome Dove is just how funny it is. Throughout, this novel made me laugh out loud as I progressed through the story. It was heartwarming, sad, horrific, exciting, thoughtful and so much more.
On a bigger scale, this is a story about how America was made. It’s the passing of generations and how we have been given our forefathers dream, but deep inside we still yearn for the wilderness. On a smaller scale, it’s much more personal. It’s a story about happiness and how we are running away from or towards something to achieve that goal and if we even know what that thing is. In between all of our lives intersect to great effect and whatever comes out on the other side is the product of our actions, good and bad.
What we have on the other side is a great novel. I’m sad it had to end.
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Attribution:
Lonesome Dove by Shannon Stirnweis, 1985, from Sid Richardson Museum
Utica (A Quiet Day in Utica) by Charles M. Russell, 1907, from Sid Richardson Museum
Lonesome Dove Map by Cary White, photo by Jeff Wilson from TexasMonthly.com
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