tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post101943631104198157..comments2024-03-27T22:25:42.129-05:00Comments on Reading the Past: Judging books by their setting: The case of the literary WesternSarah Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-76674822383908592492013-07-18T10:43:50.893-05:002013-07-18T10:43:50.893-05:00Hi John, I haven't read The Exile yet but can ...Hi John, I haven't read The Exile yet but can highly recommend Trouble in Tombstone (you can guess the subject), Vengeance Valley (about a mining community, not a gunfighter like the cover implies), Goldfield, Sierra, and The Witness. I ought to read more of his, too. Thinking about it, there are some traditional Western novels I enjoy, mostly those that re-create iconic events and give insight into the characters and what happened.Sarah Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-8653115082732922272013-07-18T09:56:47.101-05:002013-07-18T09:56:47.101-05:00I confess I enjoy the stereotypical Western novels...I confess I enjoy the stereotypical Western novels by authors like Elmer Kelton. Still, battles between Comanches and Texas Rangers fail to fully convey the inner lives of the participants. I have read The Exile by Richard Wheeler, which does an excellent job of this. I need to read more of him.John C Gregoryhttp://pursuitoftemperance.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-60570701726582845032013-07-13T16:05:50.232-05:002013-07-13T16:05:50.232-05:00I agree... I don't care much for shoot-em-up W...I agree... I don't care much for shoot-em-up Westerns but am more drawn to novels about daily life in the West, or sagas like Roses and Somerset.Sarah Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-28859588393664971232013-07-13T06:23:54.009-05:002013-07-13T06:23:54.009-05:00I am anxiously awaiting Somerset - waiting to be a...I am anxiously awaiting Somerset - waiting to be approved on Netgalley. Loved, loved, loved Roses. I haven't read too many Westerns - the one that comes to mind is The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard which I enjoyed. I do find the west very appealing - but I'm looking less for the gunslinger/hokey-tv-show-esque Western and more of a story of those scratching it out to survive. As a child I enjoyed Out of the Dust - which tells the sort of story I'm talking about above.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16609161113240681299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-64877579593284549652013-07-10T20:48:57.325-05:002013-07-10T20:48:57.325-05:00Good points!
I must be really out of it because W...Good points!<br /><br />I must be really out of it because Woodrell was new to me - I had no idea he had such a backlist! I have my eye on the upcoming <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333494-the-maid-s-version" rel="nofollow">The Maid's Version</a>, which (since it's set in Missouri in '29) could be called a novel of the West.<br /><br />Penelope Williamson's Western romances were excellent.<br /><br />So many novels of the historical West these days don't fit the mold of the traditional Western, and many have female leads, so women shouldn't automatically feel like they don't belong. But many of the stories are about hardship, struggles on the frontier, etc., which may not seem like the most upbeat topics.<br /><br />Sarah Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-37060201807794512272013-07-10T17:08:50.628-05:002013-07-10T17:08:50.628-05:00Make that "Lonesome Dove", btw- had a se...Make that "Lonesome Dove", btw- had a senior moment there!<br /><br />I wonder if the perceived dislike of the Western stems from female readers rejecting it as a "male" genre, perhaps put off by its aura of violence?<br /><br />Certainly the Western is based around a culture of violence - what we think of as the Old West was after all driven by the spread of damaged and dysfunctional ex-soldiers following the end of the Civil War, many suffering from what we would now call post-traumatic stress syndrome. <br /><br />In defence of the Western though, it's a classic example of what Joseph Campbell called the "one story" - the hero-quest. And it's very adaptable - it lends itself to so many interpretations - traditional good versus evil, epic saga, bromance or straight romance, irony, black comedy, just plain black or even apocalyptic. It's not surprising that it never quite dies away, but periodically reinvents itself :)Annishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02367569632016734415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-8899550705628269962013-07-10T16:03:29.206-05:002013-07-10T16:03:29.206-05:00"Sisters Btothers" was excellent as well..."Sisters Btothers" was excellent as well, and I thought Daniel Woodrell's recently reissued <a href="http://www.historicalnovels.info/Woe-to-Live-on.html" rel="nofollow">Woe to Live On</a> just brilliant - the US CIvil War frontier-style. (Mind you, I think anything Woodrell writes is brilliant :). <br /><br />Talk of Western romances reminds me of a couple of old favourites - Penelope Williamson's "Outsider" and "Heart of the West".<br /><br />Haven't come across that term "inspy" before, but I like it- less confrontional than the standard label "Christian fiction"!Annishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02367569632016734415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-62218807238682137042013-07-10T08:42:36.520-05:002013-07-10T08:42:36.520-05:00I'm looking forward to seeing how Kent transit...I'm looking forward to seeing how Kent transitions from early New England to the Wild West. That's good to hear about Western romances making a comeback. I haven't seen much of them except the occasional Sourcebooks title (although they've always been huge in the inspy market, a separate category).<br /><br />It'll be interesting to see if there's a revival of Westerns in general in the coming years. Successes like <i>The Son</i> and Patrick deWitt's <i>The Sisters Brothers</i> may help, but I still read many reviews which read something like "I loved this, even though I don't normally like Westerns!"Sarah Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-9935717708081520342013-07-10T08:31:40.881-05:002013-07-10T08:31:40.881-05:00I've been hearing a lot about The Son (rave re...I've been hearing a lot about <i>The Son</i> (rave reviews are popping up everywhere!), and that sounds like a new and creative approach to a multigenerational saga. I'm looking forward to reading it. Enjoyed your <i>Appaloosa</i> review, too. <br /><br />My favorite Western author is Richard S. Wheeler; his <i>Second Lives</i> set in Gilded Age Denver is a standout.Sarah Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340312953393474963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-54177688353298325382013-07-10T04:05:56.906-05:002013-07-10T04:05:56.906-05:00I've been anticipating The Outcasts since I st...I've been anticipating <i>The Outcasts</i> since I stumbled upon it at Amazon! Have never heard of the other two. I cut my teeth on stories of the Wild West, its homesteaders, and its cowboys and outlaws as a child, but grew away from the setting/era because once I "graduated," so to speak, from MG and YA Historical Fiction, the adult shelves were packed with UK and European-set HF. My love for the setting has been stoked a bit by watching reruns of Western TV my mom watched as a kid (The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc) and the plethora of films produced by old Hollywood. <br /><br />I hear the Western is making a comeback in historical romance after about 15 years absence and decline, so it may be the next big thing in publishing.Evangeline Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00132593133675388609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19307003.post-53159686034726446932013-07-10T00:31:32.376-05:002013-07-10T00:31:32.376-05:00Haven't read these particular ones, but have e...Haven't read these particular ones, but have enjoyed quite a few Westerns over the years, from Jack Schaeffer's "Shane" to Brian Garfield's "Wild Times" and Larry McMurtry's "Lone Dove". <br /><br />More recently, I found Robert B Parker's stylish take on the traditional Western a lot of fun - my review of "Appaloosa" <a href="http://www.historicalnovels.info/Appaloosa.html" rel="nofollow">here</a><br /><br />I'm just reading Philipp Meyer's "Son" at the moment and loving it - a multigenerational saga set in Texas - literary but very accessible. And though some readers seem to have issues with his approach in intertwining the stories of three generations rather than taking a linear approach, I'm finding his challenge to how we perceive time a very effective technique in giving a strong sense of continuity through past and present.<br /><br />Annishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02367569632016734415noreply@blogger.com