Book Review: LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

McMurtry begins his novel with a quote from T.K. Whipple: "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."

The difference between life and dreams. McMurtry draws upon generations of his family history and Texas legends to weave a tale that rings true, winning it the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1986.

Before we go on, I need you to Google the map of the USA and look at how far apart Texas and Montana are. Now think about driving a huge herd of cattle (and horses! and pigs!) all that incredible distance, in a pivotal moment in history: post-Civil War, pre-strip mall, the transition from a Wild West to a kinder, more peaceful one.

"Uva uvam vivendo varia fit" ("A grape becomes mottled by being a grape," a round-about way to say that character is destiny) is a Latin phrase that hangs on the sign by Lonesome Dove, the ranch in the middle of nowhere where there is so much to do but so little evidence of it being done.

LONESOME DOVE is unlike any book I've ever read. If this is the best of Western literature, then I must warn you readers that you're in for a gritty, tough time. So much sorrow lies between the pages, interspersed with moments of incredible humor. The title isn't just the name of a ranch where two retired Texas Rangers are killing time. It speaks of the human condition: of how one can be lonely even when surrounded by all kinds of folk; the kind of inner isolation that drives some to despair, others to heroism. The kind that drives the White Man across the country, in the vain hope that he will find peace over the next mountain pass, across that next river. Only to find in the end how futile it all is, as he leads his loyal companions to death.

This is a book for more mature readers, for its main protagonists are "old" men past their prime. Media has a way of being unkind to those who have looked better, been stronger. But readers will never forget Gus and Call, who personify the word "legend." McMurtry writes very simply but has the gift of making each person in the huge cast of characters breathe and live, each hill and vale drawn in technicolor, it comes as a shock to me when I have to put the book down to take care of Real Life Matters! Rare is the book that is capable of this degree of mental transportation! McMurtry made me care about ornery cowboys, impatient youths, down-on-their-luck whores, all drawn vividly and without judgment. There is evil, too, but McMurtry shows how everyone is capable of evil, if they're not careful. Woe to them who do, because Gus and Call (and the hanging tree) will come for you.

My golly but I didn't expect to feel so many feelings for a Western! It brought me to tears, not once but many times, and made me stay up late nights to finish "one more chapter."

And now it is done. And how I wish my Pa were alive so we could discuss this book, and watch the series inspired by it.

Folks, the hype is real! LONESOME DOVE is well worth the read, and your time (it's rather thick!).

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