Best Westerns

[kev67]

The Western is a neglected genre these days. Which are the best Westerns? I nominate Lonesome Dove (plus the prequels and sequels) by Larry McMurtry.

[Dark Muse]

I have been wanting to explore the reading of westerns but I never know quite where to start. I think I posted a thread a while back on the Western Genre looking for suggestions. I have read a few books which have a Western like atmosphere to them, but are not exactly Westerns.

I have read Lonesome Dove and very much enjoyed it. I really should get around to reading the other books within the series.

[kev67]

I have been wanting to explore the reading of westerns but I never know quite where to start. I think I posted a thread a while back on the Western Genre looking for suggestions. I have read a few books which have a Western like atmosphere to them, but are not exactly Westerns.


I am reading a book a bit like that now, Leaving Cheyenne, also by Larry McMurtry. It's not a western, but it is set in Texas in the first half of the 20th century.



I have read Lonesome Dove and very much enjoyed it. I really should get around to reading the other books within the series.

The book from the Lonesome Dove series that I enjoyed the most was Dead Man's Walk, which was set 20-30 years earlier. It was very sad knowing the fates of some of the characters while reading about them in their youth.

[Calidore]

I have been wanting to explore the reading of westerns but I never know quite where to start. I think I posted a thread a while back on the Western Genre looking for suggestions. I have read a few books which have a Western like atmosphere to them, but are not exactly Westerns.

I have read Lonesome Dove and very much enjoyed it. I really should get around to reading the other books within the series.

Here's the thread:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?71000-The-Wild-West

[kev67]

Here's the thread:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?71000-The-Wild-West


Can threads be merged?

Actually, I have read one other western, True Grit by Charles Portis. I never saw the Coen Brothers remake of the film, but I gather it was more like the book than the John Wayne film.

When I looked up westerns on Amazon, it seemed like many of the best were more famous as films.

Adolph Hitler liked westerns. His favourite author was Karl May. He was a German author who had not visited America before writing his books. His protagonist was named Old Shatterhand, and he had a Red Indian friend called Winnetou.

[Dark Muse]

Can threads be merged?

Actually, I have read one other western, True Grit by Charles Portis. I never saw the Coen Brothers remake of the film, but I gather it was more like the book than the John Wayne film.

How was the book? I am interested in reading that one.

[Dark Muse]

Here's the thread:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?71000-The-Wild-West

Oh, thanks for finding that.

[kev67]

How was the book? I am interested in reading that one.

It was very good. It did not take long to read. It had a very strong female protagonist, who was just about believable for a 14-year-old. I expect Margaret Thatcher was like that when she was fourteen. I wonder if it was one of those books that never had a chance to become a classic because it was so soon overshadowed by the film. Midnight Cowboy was a book, as was Jack's Return Home (Get Carter). It could be that in those cases, the films were better than the books.

[mtpspur]

Might be interesting to try the what is generally considered the first Western written--Owen Wister's The Virginian. Read it as young teenager and to be charitable found it slow paced. Might be better as an adult now in hindsight and retrospect.

[Eiseabhal]

There is a great deal of dross in that genre. "Butcher's Crossing" is good for three quarters of its length but becomes a Clint Eastwoody High Plains Drifter at the end.