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Summary: I love this book, and would recommend it to anyone.
Review: "Monte Walsh" is a great book. I was given this book to read many years ago, and have read it many times since. As you read, you feel as if you are outdoors riding along a trail, or on top of a bawling bronc as he gives you all he's got. The book tells a story about two men, (Monte and Chet). these are the kind of men you'd like to name your sons after. I love this book, and would recommend it to anyone. Jack Schaefer writes this novel as if he must have experienced the tale himself. The detailing to cowboying and horsemanship is authentic and educational.
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Summary: Monte Walsh, an American Icon, a hero for us all.
Review: "Monte Walsh" was given to me by my father. An old faded yellow, dog eared, and missing the last three pages copy he had long since memorized verbatim. He said that I must read this book if I love horses and westerns movies. I was not disappointed. I couldn't put this page turner down. The detailed descriptions of Monte's journey from young cow"boy" to worn and weathered cattle"man" are fantastic. As a lover of the mythic cowboy and avid horseback rider, it was like I was riding along side Monte every hoofprint and bucking ride of the way. He has become my new hero, a real man's man, yet gentle, sensitive, and immensely caring, a man who's main concerns are simple: knowing what you're good at and pursuing it to an expertise level, the value of good friends, and always being honest and living with integrity. As a big fan of the Western movie genre, my favorite films are True Grit, The Shootist, The Searchers, Hondo, Red River, The Cowboys, Shane, and Will Penny. Now I'll have to add Monte Walsh to this list. All these movies had heros where that were part of the mythic west and in one way or another ride off into the sunset leaving modernity to fend for itself. And I must add, at a loss for they're not being here. I will also add to my list of memorable cowboy expressions: "It's a horse, ain't it?" No matter what the problem is , it's still a horse, and one that can be ridden. Not conquered, but mastered. And I loved the relationship that Monte had with his horses, more mutual respect than anything else. And his inseparable relationship with his best friend Chet, there gentle jibes and finishing of each other's sentences and thoughts. We should all have friends like Chet and Monte. Incidentally, my father read me the last 3 pages over the phone from another copy he recently found at the library. And that was the best part of them all. What a great story! Truly the best man with a horse ever. So swing into the saddle and rope a copy of this book. I promise that you won't be bucked off. Be well.
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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I cried, I laughed out loud and I experienced the pain of losing a friend. This book is as honest a portrayal of the old cowboy life as I've ever read. Not everyone will understand Monte, or his way of life, however anyone who has spent their life around live stock will recognize him/herself in Monte Walsh. So if you are inclined toward the "Big Country", horses and integrity, read this book, I guarantee you will love it!
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Summary: Definately in a class by itself...........
Review: I have just finished this book. It took me more than 3 months to read it. The style of writing takes some getting used to and I kept putting it aside, but I never put it away. I'm glad that I didn't. Upon finishing it, I found that Mr. Schafer's style of writing this book had grown on me, and like very few other novels that I have read, gave me a feeling of sadness that Monte Walsh has an ending. It is a book that I will read again for sure. This is not just a western novel, it is a true classic. It will always have a place on my bookshelf.
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Summary: Cowboy to the bone
Review: I have lived the life of a cowboy. I know what goes on with horses and cattle. This book is a good depiction of a real cowboys lifestyle. Some people think that the American cowboy has gone the way of the Indian; but I assure you there are still people out there like Monte Walsh, riding bad horses and people like Chet Rollins, roping ornery critters. This is an excellent book for anybody who has ever dreamed of being a cowboy and even for the folks in the city who feel like they might have a little cowboy in them somewhere. Read it...live it.
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Summary: What a great story.
Review: I read this book many years ago, have bought many copies I've given for gifts. It tells a slow wonderful story of a man and a way of life. I wish people were more like Monte.
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Summary: Pure and simple, this is simply the BEST of it's kind.
Review: Like so many other reviewers, my copy of this marvelous book is tattered, dog-earred and just plain worn-out! When real cowboys and ranch-hands give this book the "thumbs-up," then you know that you've got something REALLY special going on. Jack Schaefer has woven his vignettes of Monte Walsh's life into a superb compilation of the "real" cowboy life, full of bumps and bruises, growing pains, life lessons, cantankerous behavior and bonds that last longer than a mere lifetime. Monte's and Chet's story is a true love story, but not the kind that today's society so often thinks of---this is the love that two men, buddies for life, have for one another, and the absolute devotion that they have for the other is remarkably told here. Filled with truly memorable characters and events, this is a must-read for anyone seeking to learn what it truly means to be called a cowboy. Honest, gritty, hilarious, and heartbreaking, Monte Walsh is simply the best of the best. Once you've read it, you'll find yourself reading it again and again through the years. Just try it and you'll see for yourself!
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Summary: Pure and simple, this is simply the BEST of it's kind.
Review: Like so many other reviewers, my copy of this marvelous book is tattered, dog-earred and just plain worn-out! When real cowboys and ranch-hands give this book the "thumbs-up," then you know that you've got something REALLY special going on. Jack Schaefer has woven his vignettes of Monte Walsh's life into a superb compilation of the "real" cowboy life, full of bumps and bruises, growing pains, life lessons, cantankerous behavior and bonds that last longer than a mere lifetime. Monte's and Chet's story is a true love story, but not the kind that today's society so often thinks of---this is the love that two men, buddies for life, have for one another, and the absolute devotion that they have for the other is remarkably told here. Filled with truly memorable characters and events, this is a must-read for anyone seeking to learn what it truly means to be called a cowboy. Honest, gritty, hilarious, and heartbreaking, Monte Walsh is simply the best of the best. Once you've read it, you'll find yourself reading it again and again through the years. Just try it and you'll see for yourself!
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Summary: Monte Walsh: the prototype for Lonesome Dove
Review: Monte Walsh is a classic Western, maybe the best ever written, and deserves to be read even by those who are not normally taken by the genre. It is a beautifully crafted period piece, describing the West and its cowboys during a time when it was in transition to modernity. But at its heart, it really is about those simple yet enduring themes: friendship, honor and duty. From Shaefer's elegant descriptions of the land, to his careful, humorous, and at times poignant portrayals of his characters, the book is a beautifully crafted masterpiece. Each chapter can stand on its own (as, in fact, they originally did) as a beautiful short story (I read Christmas Eve at the Slash Y on every Christmas Eve to get me in the spirit of the season) but taken as part of a whole they have greater power. I read Lonesome Dove 20 years after I first read Monte Walsh, and I was struck by many similarities between the books. I can't help but wonder if McMurtry had previously read Monte Walsh at some point in his life, and like many who have read it, been greatly influenced by it. Monte Walsh's epitaph read "a good man with a horse". I don't know what is Jack Schaefer's , but by writing a classic like Monte Walsh I think Jackie Robinson's epitaph would not be inappropriate, "a life is important only in the way it effects other lives". The code that Jack Shaefer wrote for living a good, honest life is a timeless gift to all who are lucky enough to read this book.
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Summary: The best
Review: Monte Walsh is the classic western tale. Over the years I have read the book on average once every couple of years. It is the best western. Slash Y, Monte Walsh, and Chet Rollins almost seem real to me. It is too bad the movie versions badly distorted the story and butchered the characters.......someday, someone may make a good movie of the book. Tom Sellack's portrayal of Monte was not true to the charactor nor was Lee Marvin's early attempt
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