Max Brand - The Greatest Western Writer?

[keilj]

All right, maybe I'm breaking a taboo here on Lit Net, but it's time to discuss westerns. I've only read a few western writers, Zane Gray, Max Brand, Louis L'Amour, but I've found Max Brand to be the clear best. In fact, Band injects truth and even philosophy into his stories (like a good lit writer). For example, on good men being attracted to bad women: "The straight gents always like the poison."

Or a different line about a woman: "She flashed her smile as a weapon that never dulls with use."

Anyway, I'd love hearing comments from others who read westerns from time to time...

[dfloyd]

but I do like Zane Gray. Of all the authors you list, the classic western author is missing: Owen Wister's The Virginian. This book was made into a movie twice with Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea. As I remember, the movies didn't exactly follow the book. I remember that Brian Dunlevy played a rather villainous Trampas.

[keilj]

Very cool

Yeah - though I favor Brand - I read Wyoming by Zane Gray, and I'd say that is the closest I've seen a western approach literature. It had a resonating, deeper theme to it than any typical western.

I'm also looking forward to checking out a collection of western short stories by Elmore Leonard. Apparently some of Leonard's earliest books were western short stories

[Brad Coelho]

Would Cormac McCarthy's forays into the west be eligible for discussion here?

[keilj]

Would Cormac McCarthy's forays into the west be eligible for discussion here?

Absolutely

Also, I forgot to mention Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, which I know is considered by many as a great western


I wish I had some Max Brand titles to recommend. I've read so many, and I forgot to note the titles of the better ones. The Gauntlet has 3 stories in it, one of them is called The Blackness of MacTee - and it is one of my favorites. Also, the ones featuring Speedy and Riata are very memorable and good.

[dfloyd]

I forget about Cormack. Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men are my favorites, but I would like to forget about the apopylictic, overly repetitive The Road.

[Brad Coelho]

D,
Did you think the Cohen brothers did No Country justice?

[ForKnowledge]

The lonesome Dove series is by far the best i've come across. I also like Shane by Jack Schaffer.