Our forefathers had civilization inside themselves, the wild outside. Whipple: “All America lies at the end of the wilderness road, and our past is not a dead past, but still lives in us. Lonesome Dove is prefaced by the following quote by someone named T.K. Cowboys, sheriffs, outlaws, tough frontier women and prostitutes populate the sprawling cast of characters. The story is this: Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, former Texas Rangers, decide to drive a herd of cattle from the small outpost of Lonesome Dove, Texas to the new frontier of Montana. Last Monday was his 77th birthday, so I figured it was about time that I reviewed this Pulitzer-winning classic. My prior experience with Larry McMurtry was minimal: I’d seen the movie The Last Picture Show, based on one his books, and co-adapted to a screenplay by him. I raced through the rest in the couple of weeks following my return to the States. I only read a little of it on my trip, in the end, but I read enough to know I’d made the right choice. For my trip to Istanbul and to Jordan, I didn’t plan on reading much, so I wanted to bring only one book, preferably long, preferably mass market, and preferably an already used and worn copy that I could just toss carelessly into my bag if needed. Last December, I bought Lonesome Dove from a public library’s book sale room. I have had Lonesome Dove on my to-read list for a couple of years, assured by several bloggers that one didn’t need to be a lover of westerns to love Lonesome Dove.
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