Lonesome Dove

Greetings, Lonesome Dove is a Western novel by Larry McMurtry. It was published in 1985 and while it is the first published book in the Lonesome Dove series, the novel is the third instalment in terms of chronological order. The story begins in 1876 in the fictional Texan border town of Lonesome Town of Lonesome Dove, following the adventures of Captain Woodrow F. Call and Captain Augustus McCrae. The two character are now older men as decades have passed since the events of Dead Man’s Walk and Comanche Moon. Both Call and McCrea were famous Texas Rangers who gave up their positions in law enforcement in order to run a livery stable. I have written about these two novels on this blog a few years ago and I do remember giving them positive reviews. Lonesome Dove continues with characters who were expanded upon in Dead Man’s Walk or Comanche Moon, while also introducing new ones.

The plot begins with Jake Spoon, an old friend of the two protagonists, traveling into Lonesome Dove. Spoon was fleeing from law enforcement as he had accidently shot and killed a dentist in Arkansas. He convinced both Woodrow and Augustus to drive a cattle herd to Montana, making them the first settlers in the frontier. The two ex-rangers decided to form a company of men and head out. Call is attracted to the idea as life in Lonesome Dove had become dull as he had spent years living in the town and all of his competitors had died. Gus is motivated by the opportunity to find his old love, Clara Allen, and rekindle the romance as the journey will take him to her location in Ogallala.

As the company sets out, Call learns that the womanizing Jake intends to take the local prostitute with them in the journey. The prostitute named Lorena had succumbed to Spoon’s charms and his promise that he would take her to San Francisco. The cattle drive will take the herd months to complete as they are trekking across America and the dangers mean they will lose men along the way. Spoon is also troubled by the fact that he is being hunted by the Arkansas sheriff known as July. The sheriff has his own problems as his unfaithful wife called Elmira decided to leave him once he set off on his travels and look for her old flame, named Dee Boot, in Ogallala. As such July’s incompetent deputy Roscoe is reluctantly sent off to tell the sheriff of his wife’s disappearance.

While I did feel that the book was slow at times and that a few scenes were unnecessary, I did enjoy it overall. It is a long novel that spans over 800 pages and it contains numerous characters that do not add to the plot or seem to serve any purpose except for expanding the fictional world. Lonesome Dove is also a 1986 Pulitzer Prize winner and its success lead to a television adaptation staring Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall and Anjelica Houston. I am looking forward to the final novel called the Streets of Lerado which was published in 1993.

Plot=8/10

Character=8/10

Wording=8/10

Overall=9/10

Quote of the Day

We all make choices, but in the end, our choices make us.

Andrew Ryan

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