Rating: 
Summary: Lonesome Dove
Review: The book "Lonesome Dove" was a good book that portrayed the western life on a cattle drive with excitment and humorous descriptions. Lonesome Dove drew you into the characters and made you apart of their adventures. I recommend this book to any adventure seekers that want humor, drama, suspense, and action. Lonesome Dove is a classic that will draw readers from all walks of life.
Rating: 
Summary: LD
Review: Lonesome Dove seemed like a good book. It shows the way the western frontier, was back then. I would have liked it better if I had read more.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent adventure
Review: This book came to me highly recommended, and I must say that I wasn't disappointed. The wide variety of characters keeps you interested in the story.Also, Lonesome Dove is the only western I've ever read. I typically read authors like Tom Clancy, or novels from the sci-fi genre.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever enjoyed reading
Review: Simply put this book is one of the best western novels ever written. It will be hard to beat! I read the book twice which I've never done before. Unfortunatley the sequels did not come close.
Rating:
Summary: It will Live to be a Classic
Review: Lonesome Dove is a rare book - the absolute favorite of anyone who reads it. Whether you are a serious reader who normally eschews novels or a recreational reader who seeks the joy of a great read - this is your book. Lonesome Dove is a no-brainer. This is as good as a book can be. Buy it. Read it. Treasure it.
Rating:
Summary: An American Epic
Review: Lonesome Dove--the definitive epic of the American West. I finished the book not five hours ago, and since then, I have not been able to concentrate on any other task. It was amazing. Never have I encountered such intriguing characters. The only word of caution I can give, it is sad at times; expect to be upset. But, trust me, it is worth it. While 945 pages might seem foreboding, you will find that it is only sufficient, and McMurtry could have gone on much longer--I wish he had.
Rating:
Summary: The Fastest You'll Ever Read 900 Pages
Review: This is a terrific book. I was daunted by it's length and actually had it hanging around my office for a month before deciding to wade in. Needless worry on my part. Larry McMurty's classic cowboy novel is one of the most delicious works of fiction I have ever read. This is a book about the Old West. Cowboys, Texas Rangers, whores, gamblers, drinkin', cattle, indians, sheriffs, cattle drives, the Plains --- its all here. The main story revolves around a group of retired Texas Rangers, bored with running a minor ranch in the two-bit town of Lonesome Dove, who decide to take one of the last great adventures left in a West that is almost conquored. They decide to gather and drive a cattle herd from the Rio Grand to Montanna -- one of the last open areas where men could stake a claim and subjugate raw land. What McMurty does so well is craft believable and highly entertaining characters. Gus and Call, the two Rangers are two of American literatures most memorable figures. The story revolves around their ambitions -- very different as are their personalities -- and the way they affect about twenty or so other characters who people the book. This is a big book. It has several strong sub plots that could have been novels in themselves. The author ties each together in a manner that lends the unembarrassed moniker of epic to the whole. The characters are each well developed and believable. Human to the last, there are no super heros here -- no Tom Clancy like Jack Clarks who can do no wrong. But several of the major characters are heroic in their struggles to survive and overcome the rough obstacles that frontier life often entailed. They are made more believable because of their flaws and mistakes and the less than direct paths they follow in following their souls. The villains and those in between are also memorably drawn and made full in the telling of this tale. The West protrayed in Lonesome Dove is not the type found in Hollywood protrayals. McMurty's West is brutal, lonely and very tough. Living is hard, life often tragic and cheap. The joys are either hard earned or purchased in the form of liquor and/or women. Altogether a more realistic portrayal of life at the edge of law and civilization than the romanticized version often held forth in movies. McMurty's dialogue is wonderful, creating a warmth that makes the characters stay with the reader. This is a book I could not put down and was sorry to finish. A treasure that any devote of good fiction will enjoy. "Dern good," as Gus Mcrae would say.
Rating:
Summary: Tolstoy on the Range
Review: Stay with me here. I'm serious. I think Lonesome Dove can standcomparison to Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Of course, I've only read Tolstoy in translation, so chances are I've missed alot, but there is no question that McMurtry creates something here very close to that impossible dream: The Great American Novel. I dont know that any other American writer has ever suceeded on this scale, which is why I go to Tolstoy. McMurtry uses the Western as a starting point, but there is a little of everything here. Surely there has never been another American Western with so many varied characters, both men and and women. McMurtry juggles many different points of view, but manages to give each of his characters a unique voice. Most remarkable of all, I think, are the women in the book, who manage to escape the usual stereotypes of madonna or whore, even though many of them are, quite literally, prostitutes. Lonesome Dove is written in a deceptively simple, unpretentious style. I've just finished reading it for the second time. Despite its length it is really a fast read, since it is one of those books that demands to be taken with you where ever you go until you are done.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing
Review: That is the best way to convey the quality of this novel. McMurtry succeeds in writing a wonderfully descriptive novel of the only true American myth -- the cowboy. Americans have always been fascinated with the West. McMurtry realizes this and embraces the world of cattle drives, whores, indians, gunfights, and more. In doing so, he refuses toshow us the picture through rose-colored glasses. Instead he weaves a rich tale with wonderful characters -- who contain vivid human flaws. I can honestly say that this is the single greatest piece of contemporary fiction I have ever read because it captures the spirit of the old West without dilluting it with glorification. There are times when this book and its villains truly frighten you, times when you laugh along with the "good guys", and times when sadness shamelessly sweeps over you. Like all great novels, this books embraces the reader and makes you a part of its world. Even better, that world is the great American horizon -- the land west of the Mississippi. Truly, a great epic novel. If you want to read a tale of American history, full of wonderful characters, drama, comedy, and action, then this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read if you are interested in different cultures
Review: Although many would not classify a western as a "different culture", I found Lonesome Dove to be interesting in the same way that I Claudius or Red Tent -- as a fascinating fictional account that gave life to a different way of life. Lonesome Dove shows the tenderness and brutality of the west during the expansion years of the United States in a way that no history textbook could. Well written, poignant, and fascinating, it's a hard to beat read. I liked the miniseries also (again, like I Claudius). A die-hard fan recommended me this book. I found it hard to start, but also hard to put down once I made it through the first quarter of the book. The journey is completely worthwhile, although if you like pat, American movie-style endings and hate realistic ones, you might not enjoy the conclusion to the book.
| 
