Rating: 
Summary: Truly an epic, truly a masterpiece
Review: After almost seven years using amazon.com services, I came to respect the section called "customers' reviews". Most of those reviews are well intentioned and express the reviewers' true impressions of the item they want to talk about. That said, let's analyse the reviews about "Lonesome Dove". At the present date, there are 234 reviews about this book. There are only 3 1-star reviews, 3 2-stars reviews and 2 3-stars reviews. All others are 4- or 5-stars reviews. So many people can't be wrong, and they are not. "Lonesome Dove" is impressive in size, story, style, characters and many other aspects. It won the coveted Pulitzer Prize in 1986, putting McMurtry's name along with others like Saul Bellow, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, etc. The story is seemingly simple enough. The two main characters, Augustus McRae and Woodrow Call, are in charge of the Hat Creek outfit, based on small Lonesome Dove, Texas. The outfit makes commerce on cattle, horses and such. Then, unexpectedly, comes to town Jake Spoon, old Rangers-mate of McRae and Call. Jake talks of Montana, a quiet yet beautiful country on the border of Canada, heaven on Earth, and Call decides to start a cattle and horses ranch up north. The story tells how Call and McRae drive thousands of heads of cattle and horses through the 3000-mile trek. But there's more to "Lonesome Dove" than that. The western background is perfect for the desolate mood set in the book. I've heard many people say that it's almost 200 pages before anything happens in the story. Not true. The first 200 pages are greatly used to introduce almost every major character in the book to the reader. And all characters are extremely well-developed. McMurtry took his time and used his brain to create real people with deep detail. Before long, the reader knows who is who, their motivations, reasons and beliefs. Aside from the "drive to Montana" plot, there are many other sub-plots that will eventualy be related to each other, and these sub-plots make the reader take his time and think about what just happened in the last chapters. The only thing that annoyed me some was the fact that in a place so big and vast, people kept bumping in each other all the time, but that's understandable for fictional purposes. One other thing caught my attention. McMurtry writes what has to be written, not concerned with what is now conventioned politically correct, being true to what he thought his characters should say and do. Even if it's more than 900-pages long, "Lonesome Dove" will be a fast reading because while you're at it, you'll easily imagine the landscapes, the people, the towns, the women. McMurtry is that good. In short, a wonderful book, worth reading, that will transport the hardest reader to another time and place. Grade 9.5/10
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, marvelous book
Review: My dad loved the movie, but I had never seen it, nor read the book until this year. Picked up a copy for a friend for Christmas almost by accident, and he liked it so much that I had to borrow it back when he was done. Couldn't put it down, and when I was done we rented the movie, which is also excellent. The grandeur of the story amazed and touched me. Even with the tragedy (and isn't all life composed partially of tragedy), it made me want go find my own adventure somewhere in the undiscovered west.
Rating:
Summary: McMurtry's Themes
Review: In the last few months I could read nothing but the 4-part "Lonesome Dove" series, so I guess I'm a McMurtry fan. He knows how to create characters you can't help but be interested in and how to tell a story that you have to get to the end of. His clean and unpretentious style never gets on the way. His depiction of the Old West is vivid, convincing (if not always accurate), and honest (no politically-correct distortions). He always twists the plot so that nothing ends up the way you would have expected, one of the qualities that give the books a true-to-life feel. After reading "Lonesome Dove" I read the rest of the series hoping to answer some of my questions about the motivations of the characters, but it didn't seem to be McMurtry's intention to provide them--he'd rather we just keep pondering. I decided that the unresolved mysteries of "Lonesome Dove" were part of its power. As near as I could analyze it, McMurtry's main themes were: 1. Some people are competent, some can at least follow orders, some aren't much use at all and some positively need to be shot. 2. When you think you're on a mission you're usually just wandering around aimlessly. 3. Life may be by turns tedious, absurd, or cruel, but try to look at it as a learning experience. 4. Two ways to waste your life are looking for love where there is none and failing to recognize it when it is right in front of you . 5. Skill and determination count for something, but Fate wins every time.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST WESTERN
Review: I am reading Lonesome Dove again. I forgot how good it is. Was unable to do much else yesterday. O I did take a nice long hot bath but with the book. I think it's the only book I ever read twice. I MEAN as soon as I hit the last page I went right back to the first. I have read other books multiple times of course but not back to back. Now I can just read the other Gus and Call stories as it's kinda a disjointed trilogy. I really identify with Jake and cried when they hung him. A good lesson for a semi slacker with no respect for law and order. Dern straight this book really deserved it's Pulitzer.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: It is impossible for me to find the words necessary to describe the intense love I (and many of my closest friends) have for this, Larry McMurty's, finest work.The adjective "effusive" and "awestruck" does not begin to scratch the surface of my deep feeling for this magnificent and contemporary American Epic. In "Lonesome Dove", McMurtry takes the linear narrative and creates a work art. Granted his simple prose does not reach the heights of a true literary artist like say Pinchon, Vonnegut,Wolfe or even McMurtry's friend the young Kesey. McMurty focuses his narrative abilities toward crafting characters and simply actions that transcend the page and truly transport the reader to a time that could only exist in a romantic mind dancing above feet firmly planted in solid Texas prairie. The characters of Gus, Call, Pea-Eye, Lorena, July, and Deets are all beautiful well rounded human beings containing nuances and dimensions of any character in literary history. Yes that is a tall statement, but McMurtry has crafted a tale that makes a thousand plus pages fly by effortlessly. His depictions of setting and his ability to relate dialouge are finely honed as his uncanny ability to vacillate between the comical and the brutal. His sense of moral order and redemption is also most admirable and uplifting. I have read "Lonesome Dove" cover to cover at least five times. And like a good, close and intimate friend, it always suprises me by playing out like a first meeting. If you do not care for the western genre, no matter, this fine novel will allow you forget your bias for a brief while. If you love the genre, welcome this contemporary classic into your heart. On a side note: I have used this book as a reading text for low level, non readers in the high school setting and have always (and I mean always)watched "Lonesome Dove" captivate a young audience with its colorful story. It is a great addition to any American Lit. curriculumn.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Review: Lonesome Dove is without a doubt my absolute favorite book ever. It is truely one of the greatest works of literature that ever has or ever will be created. The characters that Larry McMurtry creates are so unique and well developed. You form unbelievably strong connections with them, and feel like you actually know them. If you choose to see the movie you must read the book first. The actors in the movie are wonderful and talented, but being able to visually create the characters in your mind is far better than anyone telling you what they look like. I would suggest reading Lonesome Dove before Comanche Moon, even though the events in Comanche Moon take place first. This is simply a masterpiece, and I think that everyone should read it.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest Western of All Time!
Review: McMurtry is my silent mentor. His Lonesome Dove series have inspired me to write my four children's historical novels of life on the West Texas frontier of the l880's. His historical fiction brought about a car trip through the areas of the Rio Grande in South Texas to the Panhandle and a visit to his bookstores in Archer City, Texas, his home town. Not only have I read the series, I also have them on audio tape and listen to them constantly, over and over again. McMurtry's characters are alive and are our friends. For anyone who loves the West and hasn't read the Lonesome Dove series--it is time to begin in this order: Deadman's Walk, Comanche Moon, Lonesome Dove, and Streets of Laredo. They are a gourmet meal of entertainment! These books have become my "bible" on Western story writing. I study his wonderful blend of dialogue, action, setting and plot. Each line, finds his choice of narration perfectly fitting. His words cannot be improved upon, replaced, or made better. I am forever grateful to Larry McMurtry for his great influence in my writing career, and I honor and respect him as the greatest western writer of all time!
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One -Four
Rating:
Summary: This book has it all
Review: I have never read a Western before, and probably don't want to ever again because there is not much chance that it could live up to this story. This story has it all, action, adventure, comedy, romance, sex and violence. The characters are all very well done. The contrast between Gus and Call is fascinating. I couldn't put this book down. Great book!
Rating:
Summary: There is nothing not to like
Review: Lonesome Dove is an amazing epic masterpiece. It transends genre or pop fiction status. Many people have criticized this book for being hackneyed and typical of all western fiction. The part that I think that most people don't understand is that this book isn't about the west. This book is about people. Lonesome Dove explores how people face hardship, brutatilty, illness, death, and even other's expectations. The author treats us to watching the bond formed between men through long comraderie (you will see the word 'companero' often in this book), mutual struggle, and loss of innocence. McMurtry does a stunning good job of exploring the hearts of the women in this book. They are drawn with not just beauty, but with brutal and shocking honesty. Women readers will be surprised at how a male author understands the psyche and coping mechanisms of females. Aside from all of the amazing things about Lonesome Dove that won it the Pulitzer Prize, Lonesome Dove is a thoroughly enjoyable read. There was not one of the 945 pages that I didn't enjoy. The characters are well formed. You will love Gus and Newt, get frustrated with Call, and your heart will just break for Lorena. Their struggles and disappointments will reach you as little else in fiction does. The setting(s) in this book are stunning. McMurtry draws amazing pictures of the the Rio Grande, the Texas panhandle, the American praire, old western saloons (and whorehouses), and many other places. While some readers will find the lack of dialogue in some places frustrating, I found the descriptions to be a treat. Having never been west to see any of these places, I felt truely transported. Anyone who hasn't read this book and enjoys good fiction should read Lonesome Dove - now. Just commit yourself to reading the first 50 pages. After that, you won't be able to put it down. For myself, I stayed up past midnight with this book every night for a week. If I have any complaint about this book at all, it is that it was so good, I am afraid I will never be able to enjoy any other western fiction again.
Rating:
Summary: Epic novel - Great read even if you've seen the mini-series!
Review: After seeing the mini-series several years ago, I finally decided to read the novel, this past year. Absolutely the best western novel I've ever read! Ex Rangers Call and McCrae are well defined characters, as are others - Jake Spoon, Lorena Wood, Newt Dobbs, et al. The saga of life on a 19th century cattle drive (Texas to Montana), with these rich characters, their relationships and challenges, is a true masterpiece. Highly recommended!
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