The Wild West

[Dark Muse]

After having read Stephen Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" some time ago, and a bit more recently "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy it peeked my interest in Western Literature, something which I never really considered reading before or felt an inclination to, but in reading these stories which are set in Western settings, I found I really enjoyed both the atmosphere the stories created, and the landscape, and I wanted to venture more into reading Western literature but had no idea where to start.

Though I do not know much about the genre, being that it is indeed genre fiction, I figure there is a good chance that much of it is not very good, and so I did not want to just pick up any random book in the genre, and did not know enough about to try and navigate my way into it.

I am currently reading Lonesome Dover, figuring that a Pulitzer Prize winning book at least would be a good and safe starting point, and I am liking it even more then I would have thought, but I have no idea where I should go from here to further read books of this nature.

So I would like any recommendations on books with a Western setting that are also good reading and of quality.

[Charles Darnay]

I am not too familiar with the genre, and I don't know why. I really like Western films and so you'd think I would have explored more of the literature. I think, like you, I imagine there is a lot of garbage and I had no real compass to point me to the good stuff. Because (forgive me if I'm wrong here) there is no real "classic" Western novel.

That being said, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt is an enjoyable book, a light (at most times) comedy set in late 19th century good ol' West.

[Emil Miller]

I recommend The Octopus by Frank Norris who is a hugely underrated American novelist - perhaps because he died very young- but this story of the spread of the railroad ( the octopus of the title ) and it's conflict with the farmers who owned the land is marvellous. I guarantee that if you liked Stephen Crane, you will enjoy this book.

[OrphanPip]

I think O Pioneers! by Willa Cather might count as a Western.

[dfloyd]

earned the epithet "classic". But one which is a "true" western with cowboys, rustlers, and a hanging is The Virginian by Owen Wister. It was made into several movies, with the best starring Joel McCrae with Brian Dunlevy. It was used as the basis for a tv series, but it deviated too much from the book and its run was short.

When younger, I read several books by Zane Grey who was then the icon of western writers. I'm not sure I would like Grey's novels now as much as I did then. One I do remember as being above the rest was Riders of the Purple Sage. The setting is Utah and it is quite critical of the Mormon settlers there. But what was true then is, of course, no longer true. However, like those who wish to change the vernacular language used in Huckleberry Finn, I recently read that some Mormon leaders were critical of the way Conan Doyle portrayed Mormons in the Sherlock Holmes novella, A Study in Scarlet.

[The Comedian]

Well, I think you made a great choice in reading Lonesome Dove -- It's a fantastic book. Some other titles you might enjoy:

Shane by Jack Schaefer -- arguably, this novel created the iconic western-gunslinger with shady past trying to redeem himself.

The Way West by A.B. Guthrie Jr. -- also a Pulitzer winner -- good, but not as good as Lonesome Dove. Worth reading, though. Guthrie wrote several novels about the old west that were pretty good; this one is just an example.

Like Pip, I'd certainly add several novels from Willa Cather: O'Pioneers and My Antonia come to mind. Though, there not going to be gun slingin', cattle drivin' novels.

[GatorAbe]

Since you already mentioned McCarthy, I'm sure you've heard of his Border trilogy series beginning with All the Pretty Horses. The Western settings are very alive, very much their own character in that series.

[Emil Miller]

Shane by Jack Schaefer -- arguably, this novel created the iconic western-gunslinger with shady past trying to redeem himself.

I usually thought of cowboy stories as something for overgrown schoolboys and, despite some notable films by John Ford such as Red River and Stagecoach, didn't give much credence to the genre. But then I saw Shane and recognised it for the great film it is. There's hardly any gunfire in it but when it comes it packs an enormous punch without the exaggeration that is the hallmark of Westerns generally. I haven't read the novel but I've heard that it's very well written.

[Calidore]

Here's the Western Writers of America's list of the best western novels of the 20th century. That should be a good start.

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/913...e-20th-century

[Dark Muse]

Since you already mentioned McCarthy, I'm sure you've heard of his Border trilogy series beginning with All the Pretty Horses. The Western settings are very alive, very much their own character in that series.

I actually have All the Pretty Horses, but haven't yet got around to reading it.

[Dark Muse]

Here's the Western Writers of America's list of the best western novels of the 20th century. That should be a good start.

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/913...e-20th-century

I will have to check that out.

[The Comedian]

I usually thought of cowboy stories as something for overgrown schoolboys and, despite some notable films by John Ford such as Red River and Stagecoach, didn't give much credence to the genre. But then I saw Shane and recognised it for the great film it is. There's hardly any gunfire in it but when it comes it packs an enormous punch without the exaggeration that is the hallmark of Westerns generally. I haven't read the novel but I've heard that it's very well written.

It's a great novel -- very short, however. But the film does a good job of giving Shane a moral ambiguity: a character who is seeking personal redemption, but is also clearly trying out oust the father and replace him as head of the family that he's supposedly trying to help.

My one critique of the film version of Shane, is that in the film, Shane is dressed in classic good-guy white/tan buckskins. . . . in the novel, he his almost always wearing black and, with this and a few other details left out of the film, the reader is less trusting of his "good intentions", though in the novel he is NOT obviously bad either. . . . it's just much more evident that Shane a lot of redemption to do, which is less a point in the film.

[Dark Muse]

In considering the earlier remarks as to wheather or not there are in fact in classics in the Westren genre, I came across a book in my room, which I forgot I had, which might just be as such.

It is called The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

[The Comedian]

In considering the earlier remarks as to wheather or not there are in fact in classics in the Westren genre, I came across a book in my room, which I forgot I had, which might just be as such.

It is called The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

I've read that book -- a long time ago. I remember liking it, but not loving it. It takes place in the old west, but its major theme is mob "justice" which is clearly satirized in the behavior of the most of novel's characters. But it's certainly worth a read; it's pretty short too, if I remember correctly.

C

[dfloyd]

It was one of the great western movies of the 1940s. Starring Henry Fonda, it is about some wranglers, I think that is the proper term, seemingly caught with some stolen horses. Are they guilty? Should they be hung for their crime if guilty? Should frontier justice prevail with the puported culprits hung without a trial? The vigilantes who have caught the brigands, if such they be, are soon divided into two groups: those for hanging and those for taking the culprits back to town for a trial. The movie features Anthony Quinn in one of his earlier roles as one of the culprits. Human emotions regarding what is right and what is wrong reach the boiling point as the movie reaches its ultimate conclusion of how the bandits are to be dealt with, and if they are indeed guilty. This is another one of those movies which tells us that Hollywood is not making movies as well as they once did. No chase scenes in this one!

[Emil Miller]

It was one of the great western movies of the 1940s. Starring Henry Fonda, it is about some wranglers, I think that is the proper term, seemingly caught with some stolen horses. Are they guilty? Should they be hung for their crime if guilty? Should frontier justice prevail with the puported culprits hung without a trial? The vigilantes who have caught the brigands, if such they be, are soon divided into two groups: those for hanging and those for taking the culprits back to town for a trial. The movie features Anthony Quinn in one of his earlier roles as one of the culprits. Human emotions regarding what is right and what is wrong reach the boiling point as the movie reaches its ultimate conclusion of how the bandits are to be dealt with, and if they are indeed guilty. This is another one of those movies which tells us that Hollywood is not making movies as well as they once did. No chase scenes in this one!

The film is available on Youtube. I watched it quite recently. As for Shane, not having read the book I'm unable to comment on the differences but although I agree that the buckskin outfit might appear rather obvious for a Western hero, he had to be a visual counterpart to Wilson who epitomised evil. The final scene in Ryker's saloon is nothing short of electrifying.

[dfloyd]

He and Veronica Lake, as a pair, burned up the screen although he played Raven, a cold blooded killer with a heart. Lake's romantic interest in the movie was actually Robert Preston, but the audience related to Ladd and Lake being together. Unfortunately, thye both ended up tragically.

After achieving super stardom in his day in films like O.S.S., The Blue Dahlia (screenplay by Raymond Chandler and with Lake again), and others of the mystery or espionage genre, Ladd went into westerns big time. Whispering Smith starred Ladd and his old compatriot Robert Preston. Ladd reached his western apogee in Shane with a great supporting cast of Van Heflin, Walter Jack Palance, Brandon deWilde, Jean Arthur, Ben Johnson, and Elisha Cook Jr whom most will recognize as the gunsel in The Maltese Falcon. Ably directed by George Stevens, the movie was nominated for five Academy awards. Stevens direction showing Shane becoming more of a father image to deWilde than Heflin, and Shane replacing Heflin in Heflin's wife's, Jean Arthur, affections add to the plot of the movie. A strange twist is that Ladd was not nominated for an Oscar in his iconic role. The scene of the final fight between Shane and Mr Wilson (Walter Jack Plance as the credits listed him) is one of the best in the history of westerns. With, of course, Ladd outdrawing Palance and killing him.

After Veronica Lake's withdrawal from Hollywood, she drifted into obscurity and was last heard of tending bar in New York. It was rumored her drinking put an end to her movie career. Ladd fared no better. Near the end of his career, Ladd tried suicide and was found with a bullet wound near the heart. He survived this suicide attempt, and his final movie was the Carpet Baggers, a fictionalized biography of Howard Hughes, with the actor George Peppard as Hughes. Ladd was found dead full of alcohol and drugs. His death was ruled accidental, but there were unproven rumors that Ladd was a bisexual whose homosexuality was about to be revealed.

He did make one more movie which I liked although it was panned by the critics: Boy on a Dolphin with Sophia Loren who was about a foot taller than Ladd. Ladd was only 5'6" tall and had to standon a box during his love scenes with Loren. This was a joke in Hollywood for a number of years. His pairing with Veronica Lake was more akin to Ladd's 5'6" stature. the redeeming feature of this movie was the role played by Clifton Webb who had come out of mourning from his mother's death. This prompted Noel Coward to say, "Poor Clifton, an orphan at only 65."

[Emil Miller]

I don't know how this reads in the novel but it I doubt that it could be more graphic than this:

http://youtu.be/WDDOd8kGBXo

[Bustrofedon]

Try "Little Big Man".