I never expected to read this book. Sure, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1986, but it’s a western. I’m not a big fan of westerns in TV, movies, or books. I just don’t understand the fascination with a period of time that was so brief and has been overly romanticized. But a member of my book club loves this book. He raved about it many time to our members. So when historical fiction month rolled around in July, our club decided that this is the book that we would read.
The plot centers around two aging former Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call. They are the owners of a small business selling horses near the Rio Grande in southern Texas along the border with Mexico. When one of their old compatriots from their rangering days returns and tells them of the beauty of Montana and the money to be made by bringing cattle to that area, Call gets it into his head to round some up and head north. Most of the book surrounds their efforts to round up the cattle and their travels driving those cattle north. There are a lot of other side stories that weave in and out of the main narrative.
The writing in this book is flat out incredible. He does this thing where he is describing the action of the story and turns aside to tell the history of a sign, for example, over the next two or three pages. Then he returns naturally to pick up the story from where he diverged. Sounds like it would be boring and tedious but it works incredibly well. I would get sucked into the side story and completely forget the main line until he returned to it. What a storyteller!
The story is largely about relationships, the main one between Gus and Call. There are also a number of mild romantic lines. But mainly it is about relationships in general, among and between all the characters. Another theme that comes up over and over is timing, and it is a little heavy handed. More than once a character points out that if one decision in the past had gone differently, then they wouldn’t be where they were at that time. All the characters feel like real people with strengths and flaws. Some of them are infuriating. Some are lovable. Most are a combination of both, you know, like people.
I found myself coming back to read this book whenever I could. I always wanted to find out what was happening in the lives of these people. One of my biggest disappointments was the ending. It wasn’t bad or particularly unexpected. It just sort of stopped. There was no sense of conclusion. But then, there isn’t an easily defined conclusion to the episodes of our lives, is there?
One final note, if your copy of this book has a preface by the author for some sort of anniversary edition, do not read it before you read the book. It contains spoilers. Mild ones, but spoilers nonetheless. I read the preface before reading the book, as I normally do. I was very unhappy with the editor. I guess because the book was originally published in 1985, they expected that readers who purchased this book would have already read it. A warning for those who haven’t would have been greatly appreciated.
My rating: 4/5
I’m glad you got some enjoyment out of it. I’ll repeat what I’ve said before, and that is, “Very rarely has the end of a book made me so sad.” True story. Even this time, after reading it a third time because of the book club. I reiterate this is the best American novel ever. The entire point is the randomness of life. That’s the reason behind the heavy-handed references to choices in life and where they take you. Consider that the entire book took place because a dentist in Forth Smith, Arkansas, decided to go for a walk on a sunny day. From that, several people’s lives were forever changed, even though they lived hundreds of miles away. Mind boggling.