Hondo

Rating:
Summary: A "must read" for Louis L'Amour fans
Review: "Hondo," by Louis L'Amour, was first published in 1953. The story starts with Hondo Lane combating Apaches that killed his horse. Walking back to the fort, he finds a ranch in a hidden valley. A married woman and her son live on this ranch in Apache country, while her husband spends his time away at the town gambling. Hondo, the woman, and her son quickly take a liking to each other and Hondo buys a horse from them to speed his journey to the fort. At the fort, Hondo encounters the woman's husband. Their encounters have multiple motives, as Hondo cares for the woman and the husband wants to rob Hondo. The plot becomes even more complicated as the Apaches and the military have several battles -- all of which affect Hondo and the woman.

I highly recommend this book for Louis L'Amour fans or those interested in sampling his writing. I found the book hard to put down and neglected other activities until I was done reading it. Several battles and hand-to-hand combats give the book plenty of action. There is also suspense because the reader is left wondering what will happen between Hondo, the woman and her husband. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: OH WELL
Review: Looie has a great following. So does fast food. Look in any fast food place and it's packed, So we know why the truck drivers and landscapers and sanitary engineers are reputed to read Looie. But somebody should at least complain. Here is a master of false suspense, unsound motivation, stepping out of character, acts of God, and a need for copy editing (which he didn't allow after he becdame famous). Here in Hondo we find the first in the series of books in which his publisher invented "the man who walks the land he writes about." As someone or other asked, "Why didn't he 'ride' the land if he was such a hellacious Westerner?" It occurred to his publishers (and perhaps him) rather late that he should and we saw those hokey TV Commercials where his stand in furiously rode a horse down a hill at risk of life and limb for both him and the horse. Then they thundered dirctly into the screen like a 'silent movie' freight train, the rider dismounted in a huge cloud of dust so you couldn't see him, and we see Looie standing, arms resting on top rail of a corral wearing a hat right off the rack. (And probably Gucci loafers, but the camera carefully stayed away from that part of him - as the cameras should have with Jack Dempsey posing as a welder in WWI, wearing spit polished shoes - but Jack wasn't a big hokey faker - it was actually him in the ring).

So give us a break arreddy! In both the book and movie Hondo arrives somewhere in never never land after walking only fifty miles or so across the desert, packing his saddle. Ever pack a Western saddle? Even John Wayne who played the movie role couldn't have packed one a mile. C'mon. Give us a break. And after years of Looie PR hoke, we wonder why he didn't carry his dead horse to give it a ceremonial burial, as he carried his parched camel fifty miles to a waterhole in his bogus biographies, when he wasn't wrestling gorillas like Tarzan.

If yer not a Looie reader, don't start.

Rating:
Summary: Louis L'Amour's literary piece is full of non-stop action.
Review: Louis L'Amour is the author of Hondo, and exciting, action-packed western. Hondo is the cowboy of the story; fighting off Indians, killing betrayers, and rescuing Angie and her son Johnny. This story fits the sterotype of westerns with all the gunslinging and violence. Hondo, the character, is the typical cowboy. He never shows his feelings to others, is courageous, rugged, and appealing to the women. Angie, whom is a damsel in distress, depends on him to get her and her son out of the danger that surrounds them, and she trusts him. She is attracted to his exciting and dangerous life; the violence is what makes him so appealing to her. The violence in his life represents his masculinity as a cowboy. Killing Indians and surviving in the desert shows how much power and control he possessess, and the power he has makes him even more masculine in Angie's eyes, therefore increasing the attraction. This book is full of action and constant excitement, and it is simple to read. The positive side to reading this book is that it is entertaing to those people who like westerns. Hondo gives an adventuresome, interesting version of the stereotype of the "old west". The book seems to fly by as one is reading it. However, if a person does not enjoy action books, this may not be the correct choice for them.