Unlike you, I adored Lonesome Dove from the very first page. I loved the long, slow descriptions of the ranch. And - the thing I don't think you bring out - the humor of it. A lot of the book, particularly in those opening sections, is extremely funny. The account of the Latin motto that Gus puts up, and the description of how he came to put it up - the joke runs for pages, with every new twist to the story adding another layer to it. The relationship between Gus and Woodrow is so touching partly because it is mediated through the constant banter.
It isn't a typical Western, true - it isn't Shane, or The Searchers; but it draws on those while spinning them out into a new, rich world.
But then again, I loved A Suitable Boy as well, so maybe I'm just a sucker for long, slowly elaborated novels. I always recommend Lonesome Dove without hesitation, but maybe I should alert people that it might not be to all tastes.
I've taught the book a couple of times for the ways in which it represents history and historicity, and thus the slow beginning is to me rather interesting, because it's where McMurtry really shows off his chops as a guy who has looked into the historical context and knows the stories that a lot of Western myth-making up to that point would leave out--most importantly he uses it to decenter Gus and Woodrow as agents of American civilization, moral exemplars, etc. But it's a great book by any standard, and as you say as it gains momentum it really becomes something.
On slow beginnings: isn't that a standard feature of commercial fiction as opposed to literary fiction? In literary fiction, the exciting formal elements need to be apparent right away, but, since commercial fiction relies on the thrill of narrative propulsion, the beginning can be very slow and mundane, so that the climax will be propulsive by contrast.
I'm not to familiar with Stephen King, but I believe this is one of his main tricks - the first 300 pages or so of his thick novels will be full of everyday middle class American life with hints of the eerie every forty pages or so.
A novel that does a slow beginning exceptionally well is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - in fact, it is seriously let down by its first "exciting" chapter and only really gets good when the plot basically pauses for sixty pages.
Unlike you, I adored Lonesome Dove from the very first page. I loved the long, slow descriptions of the ranch. And - the thing I don't think you bring out - the humor of it. A lot of the book, particularly in those opening sections, is extremely funny. The account of the Latin motto that Gus puts up, and the description of how he came to put it up - the joke runs for pages, with every new twist to the story adding another layer to it. The relationship between Gus and Woodrow is so touching partly because it is mediated through the constant banter.
It isn't a typical Western, true - it isn't Shane, or The Searchers; but it draws on those while spinning them out into a new, rich world.
But then again, I loved A Suitable Boy as well, so maybe I'm just a sucker for long, slowly elaborated novels. I always recommend Lonesome Dove without hesitation, but maybe I should alert people that it might not be to all tastes.
I've taught the book a couple of times for the ways in which it represents history and historicity, and thus the slow beginning is to me rather interesting, because it's where McMurtry really shows off his chops as a guy who has looked into the historical context and knows the stories that a lot of Western myth-making up to that point would leave out--most importantly he uses it to decenter Gus and Woodrow as agents of American civilization, moral exemplars, etc. But it's a great book by any standard, and as you say as it gains momentum it really becomes something.
Great piece! I agree with you McMurtry does not glamorize, but neither does he demonize. he just says what is
more thoughts on the book:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomasvondriska/p/for-ai-cowboys-the-cows-are-incidental?r=1t99e8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I think I gave up in the first 200 pages, but maybe bc of your piece, I'll try it again!
On slow beginnings: isn't that a standard feature of commercial fiction as opposed to literary fiction? In literary fiction, the exciting formal elements need to be apparent right away, but, since commercial fiction relies on the thrill of narrative propulsion, the beginning can be very slow and mundane, so that the climax will be propulsive by contrast.
I'm not to familiar with Stephen King, but I believe this is one of his main tricks - the first 300 pages or so of his thick novels will be full of everyday middle class American life with hints of the eerie every forty pages or so.
A novel that does a slow beginning exceptionally well is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - in fact, it is seriously let down by its first "exciting" chapter and only really gets good when the plot basically pauses for sixty pages.