I ask because last weekend I found a bunch of Louis L’Amor books for a quarter a piece because the couple was moving so they just wanted to get rid of a lot. Also, found the Lonesome Dove book (may be multiple stories in one because it’s very thick).
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Louie L’Amor was my Dad’s favorite author. He must have read everything L’Amor ever wrote.
I look forward to reading them
I read almost every one of his books as a kid
Lonesome Dove was super popular when I was a kid. I remember the TV series and then later recall seeing tons of those books at garage sales. I don't know much about it but the short scenes I caught always made it seem like one of those sappy character-driven stories with romance that neither kid nor adult me would have been interested in. When I think Westerns I want cattle rustling and drinking and gambling and shootouts and rounding up a posse to save the town, not "Clara travels to San Francisco and learns what life is truly about, while Bob discovers that the toughest enemy he'll battle out west is his own heart."
Lol. That definitely sounds like some western themed romances. I remember when Lonesome Dove was on and my parents watched but I didn’t pay much attention
The four part Lonesome Dove miniseries is probably the best Western ever filmed.
Fun fact: Bret Hart was on that show.
Yes, the pro wrestling legend.
Oh yea! I remember them doing an interview with him on set. He is one of my favorites
Louis is castle rustling, drinking, gambling, shootouts and rounding up a posse. Also Family
Sadly you really aren't going to find much better than the Sackett series out there. Westerns haven't been in vogue for a long time, and L'Amour is by far the best among them.
It's a shame that there haven't been more portrayals of the Sacketts on film
I figured he was the best because I tend to see his books a lot. Better for me because I have bought a lot of his books at yard sales. I know Yellowstone is a modern day western but I hope if they ever do more it will be done by someone who respects the genre. I know Razorfist has a western comic out. It’s just that westerns have a lot of stuff that doesn’t fit with “modern audiences”
If you're interested in a movie I recommend Silverado. Quite good overall.
Wyatt Earp starring Kevin Costner was an interesting one too. I'm usually not into westerns, but historically, the real Wyatt Earp was quite a fascinating dude.
The Earp/Clanton feud is hilarious from a historical sense. It's always portrayed as Good, Clean Cops vs. Dirty, Evil Rednecks, but most of the Clantons were fairly well educated, and a good chunk of the friction was based on the fact that the Earps were running gambling and prostitution rackets, and giving the Cowboys shit for using their services.
Also, the Cochise County fight was entirely along party lines. The U.S. Marshal, the Earps and the town marshall were all Republicans, while the Clantons and Beehan were former Confederates.
Visiting tombstone is definitely on my list of things to do
On the subject of Earp, while it's a very different movie than the older style Westerns, Tombstone is an absolutely fantastic movie.
Thanks!
In particular the score is absolutely fantastic. It's practically an opera. Probably the very last of the old style of Westerns.
I’ll be looking it up
I guess it’s not technically a Western, but it originated many of these tropes (and like, most tropes we associate with “the novel”, today) - Don Quixote by Cervantes.
It’s excellent, especially given that it is almost as old as Shakespeare, lol!
Spanish is my second language and I’ve been trying to read the original Spanish version. I’m gonna read it in English abc then tackle the Spanish version. I read my Spanish Bible and it’s the equivalent of old English so I should be able to read it.
Oh awesome! I tried to read Harry Potter in French (family gift), but gave up, lol…
Not Western, but… You read any Lorca yet?
He’s not bad.
Did you grow up with the Castilian (vosotros) or Latino (ustedes) version of Spanish..?
Because I feel like the first would definitely make old Doamish literature a bit easier!
I had a Basque Spanish teacher, and then one from Colombia, and then Uruguay….
Made it interesting!
I took Spanish in school and then I’ve worked various jobs where I had to speak it but I mainly learned from people from Mexico. Only Castilian that I have would be the Bible. I don’t have any Lorca. Will have to check them out.
The original was so popular that there was huge demand for a sequel.
Cervantes was taking his time and a fake got written, which sold quite well.
Eventually Cervantes finished his (genuine) sequel. In the book Quixote meeds his counterfeit and deals with him. It is pretty funny if you know the context.
You might be interested in Owen Wister, e.g. "The Virginian"
Does the book have any connection with the old tv show?
Good question that I can't answer
Most of the Western fiction I read is only tangentially related to the genre (I read more SF/fantasy set in the West than straight Westerns), or is foreign graphic novels (Blueberry, 'nough said).
But, I can recommend one Western TV show...
Have Gun, Will Travel: most episodes were written by a nobody you've never heard of, one Gene Roddenberry. Civil War soldier gets exiled to California by his family for being an embarrassment, he becomes a vigilante for hire.
I recently saw a couple of episodes of HGWT.
I was surprised not only by the appearance of Boy, who was every Asian stereotype of the era, but by Girl, who was far closer to a modern depiction of such.
Knowing this, Roddenberry writing it makes a lot more sense.
Boy is actually fairly well written, but it comes off as period camp on the surface. It's implied that either Paladin knows enough Mandarin to understand him, or that Boy has taught him enough Mandarin over the years, because Paladin can go to Chinatown and follow conversations and obey the cultural rules.
Kinda like Nichols (Uhura) figuring out that Star Trek was morality tales IN SPAAAAACE, Have Gun Will Travel looks a lot like a standard 50s/60s Western on the surface... then you start peeling layers back. By the beginning of the final season, there are a couple of metaphysical/spiritual levels added (the man who created his persona as Paladin looked exactly like him, everyone who knew him in his former life who tries to out him dies before they can speak his name, he can seemingly travel much faster than people expect) that cause it to be something very different.
Ackchyually their names are “Hey Boy” and “Hey Girl.”
I mainly watch older tv shows so I’m aware of that show. Very good. Sci-Fi/Fantasy are my favorite genres to read but westerns do have Sone similarities to sci-fi in the sense of settling on unknown territories
L' Amour is quite popular. If you want a laugh, look up Thunderclaw by Mae. Tony Hillerman does a great job from a modern Navajo perspective.
Cool!
Louis L'Amor is probably the greatest western writer ever
I believe William Johnstone is considered a good western author. Never personally read his stuff but I see his books everywhere and have seen plenty of leftists seethe over him, so he must have been doing something right
I’ll have to check him out. Sounds like a great endorsement if they don’t like him. Lol
Mickey Spillane is another good one. He did a bunch of hardboiled pulp detective stuff mainly, but he has western stuff as well.
I have some of his. Haven’t read them yet but I looked for his stuff after watching the old Mike Hammer show and Maltese Falcon
The 1958 Mike Hammer series starting Darren McGavin (of Night Stalker fame) is also great.
I like comics, Tex is really good.
My co-worker suggested the show and books to me. I’ve been planning to check it out