The Wandering Hill : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Pointless
Review: This book was a waste of time. I kept hoping it would get better, that some purpose or plot would develop -- but nothing. The writing is juvenille and embarrassingly obvious. The only point of the book is to leave the reader hanging to maintain interest in the next volume. I have no reason to believe the next book will be any better or worth investing my time.

Rating:
Summary: Still waiting........
Review: This book will be a dissapointment to Lonesome Dove fans. I did not see character development to speak of, action was absent, plot was thin, and after 400 pages, I was still waiting for some excitement. As part of a 1600 page book (four novels), it might be ok, but not as a stand alone work. I'm glad I only spent the money for a paperback.

Rating:
Summary: One of McMurtry's worst
Review: This is one book I could put down. Seems like every paragraph was in some way related to sex. Who was wanting who or who had who. Didn't appear a plot to the entire book. Save your money and don't but this stinker.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Yarn
Review: With the look and feel of an old dimestore novel, "The Wandering Hill" is populated with interesting and memorable characters, great action, and simple yet thoughtful prose. McMurtry's writing is, as always, crisp, elegant, very funny, and never dull. By the end of this second installment in the series, Tasmin is well-established as one of the great McMurtry characters, and the supporting cast of various mountain men and Indians, and the hilarious Lord Berrybender, offer much entertainment. McMurtry's writing is like the fine claret Lord Barrybender has the good fortune to stumble upon after a long dry spell on the prairie - it seems to get better with age.

Rating:
Summary: Part of a great McMurtry series
Review: You can read this as a stand-alone book, but I think it's better if you read it as it's intended: the second in a 4-book series, The Berrybender Narratives. It's a comic melodrama, typical of some of McMurtry's best stuff, that grabs up some unwashed heathens from the mountains and some arrogant English nobs, stirs them altogether on the banks of the Yellowstone River in the middle of the 1800s, and then stands back to watch with high glee as they try to get everything straightened out. Think of it as an American Western soap opera, and you won't be far wrong.
Enjoy it; it's not great literature, but it's a great read.