(The original post can be found at our book club's Instagram)
What is “the best Western novel?” This reader submits three books as contenders for the title.
But first, what makes a book a “Western?” Some might disagree with my classification of one of the three, because it doesn’t have gunfights with Indians, and the main character happens to be female. (I’m referring to the Stegner, which is arguably the most powerful of these three literary powerhouses.)
However, this reader would argue that the essence of a Western has more to do with the spirit of what makes someone leave the East and its more “civilized” cities, rather than focusing on the horseflesh and shootouts with outlaws.
At their core, Westerns are all about the internal transformation once undergoes when one travels. When the external landscape becomes all the more wild and lawless, that is when our heroes (and heroines) reach deep within for the steadying weight of art, choosing to live and die by an honorable code, demonstrating a bravery that outshines the darkest night.
This, then, is the appeal of the Western. In the capable hands of masters like Stegner, Williams, and McMurtry, the genre is every bit an Odyssey, the exterior distance traveled outshone by the grand internal rebirth of the spirit.
🤠 In the Pulitzer Prize winning ANGLE OF REPOSE, I found one of my favorite quotes of all time: “"What though the world be lost? All is not lost. Honor is not lost."
🐎 BUTCHER’S CROSSING was recently turned into a film, which I have not seen but look forward to, especially as it is very timely with its core message against human greed that would kill everything (including what makes us human) for profit.
🤠 LONESOME DOVE (also a Pulitzer Prize winner) is noteworthy for its aging protagonists, and a beautiful and heroic friendship writ large which makes one realize that in some cases, it can be even more fulfilling than a short-lived romance.
Have you read any of these? What is YOUR favorite literary Western?
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