Andre Gide reading.
It's been of some embarrassment to me that despite the many readers and writers of Westerns who contribute to Friday's Forgotten Books, I have not read one. Okay, I did read Lonesome Dove, but that's about the only one.
I've always suffered from the mistaken impression that Western novels resemble the TV westerns of my youth. The plots were about cattle rustling, bar fights, women depicted as all good (schoolmarms and wives) or all bad (saloon girls and hookers), shootouts, Indian fights, cattle herding, lynchings, etc. Everything seemed painted in black and white to match the day.
Ed Gorman took pity on my misconceptions and sent me two of his Westerns, saying he thought I'd be surprised at the modern Western and how it bore more a resemblance
to noirish crime fiction than I might think. I read GHOST TOWN and it was surprisingly like current crime fiction, but more than that, it was a terrific novel, regardless of its genre-leanings. GHOST TOWN was a great story, well-told, with interesting characters in an unfamiliar setting.
The book takes places in a small Wisconsin town overrun by both malaria and a few suspicious types who run the bank and the town. It's the story of Bryce Lamont, who comes here to get his share of the take from a jewelry theft that put him in prison. What he finds in that Wisconsin town will lead him down a bloody trail, jeopardizing himself and the people he loves.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot here, but let me say this--nearly every character in Ghost Town is complex--neither all good or bad, and this includes, of course, the protagonist. Although there is a lot of action in the novel, it never feels overdone. There is plenty of time to look around at the scenery, the clothes, medical practices, woman's issues, the news of the late 1800s in a small mid-western town. Despite this, the book is succinct, fast-moving and exciting.
Its greatest asset is-- this book has heart. You can feel it beating on every page. And that's not easy to pull off in any genre of writing. Grit and heart in one slim volume is a gift.
I will certainly read more Westerns after this one. It hardly hurt at all. Thanks, Ed.
15 comments:
One of the many great things about Forgotten Fridays is the detailed look at books beyond my normal reading. I think it's very cool that you, the founder, have discovered new reads as well.
Robert Parker writes some terrific Westerns. I would recommend Appaloosa. I also want to read Loren D Estleman's westerns, although I haven't done so yet. So many books, so little time.
Gotta agree Ghost Town is a great read, was the first I'd read by Ed Gorman too.
Patti, as you know, two of my first three FFBs were Westerns...and those would be the first two western I ever read! But, I loved them and will be reading more, one, likely, this Friday.
Ed Gorman writes some very fine westerns. But the truth is, I also like the traditional ones. Sometimes I want a little bit of black and white.
Travis-That has been the great thing for me about FFB, hearing all these new titles across genres.
R2-Is Appaloosa, the one that was just a movie? It came and went here so fast I didn't get to see it.
Charles-What should my next one be?
Steve-I love his Sleeping Dog-not a Western but it could be.
Scott- I remember and you western readers/writers have a intimacy I envy.
There are a number of great westerns out there besides Larry McMurty. Scott Phillips with Cottonwood, Warlock by Oakley Hall, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, True Grit by Charles Portis, Desperadoes and The Assasination of Jesse James by Ron Hansen.
Wait-I also read a Cormac McCarthy story-the one with Matt Damon in the movie.
I have read only one, but it was excellent. It is by Elmer Kelton and is called The Time It Never Rained. I have the beginnings of a book report in my email drafts, but haven't found just the right words of praise yet. It is what a western should be - a book about the west.
Thanks, Nan. I'm gonna make that my second one.
Yes, Appaloosa was a great movie with Ed Harris. Try to rent it if you get a chance.
A good Western is the the equivalent of 19th Century noir. No one loves Elmore Leonard's crime fiction more than I do, but HOMBRE may be his best novel.
More people are probably familiar with the film version of the realistic, updated Western. Starting back about the time of LONESOME DOVE, moving through UNFORGIVEN and OPEN RANGE, up through what I think is the greatest marriage of noir and Western, DEADWOOD. One doesn't need to be a "Western" buff to appreciate the characters, conflict, and storytelling in these.
The McCarthy movie you're thinking of is ALL THE PRETTY HORSES. I can hardly bear to read McCarthy, but that's a good movie.
ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, right. I have Season One of DEADWOOD sitting on my DVD player and I just don't play it. Maybe now.
Don't forget Walter Van Tilburg Clark (THE OX-BOW INCIDENT and TRACK OF THE CAT) and Conrad Richter (I forget the titles of his YA Indian novels, but they are great).
Or Stephen Crane.
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