Loopyloo100 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Western books? - ie cowboy based. Would they be a male based genre generally? I'm sure I have seen them in libraries, but I've never picked one up or been tempted to. I did in my younger days enjoy watching westerns - John Wayne movies and the series Alias Smith & Jones starring Pete Duel were favourites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I wouldn't normally. But, as with all genres, there is some brilliant stuff out there. The one that's really stuck with me is Lonesome Dove which is a stunning novel. Cowboys on a massive cattle drive north to Montana from Texas, and a properly epic sort of length (and, actually, one of those books where I've been sad that it ended). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest radjack Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 you can also read the Dark Tower books by Stephen King. I haven't read them, but I think they have something to do with cowboys and fantasy. Please correct me if i'm wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergran71 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I wouldn't normally. But, as with all genres, there is some brilliant stuff out there. The one that's really stuck with me is Lonesome Dove which is a stunning novel. Cowboys on a massive cattle drive north to Montana from Texas, and a properly epic sort of length (and, actually, one of those books where I've been sad that it ended). That was serialised on tv some time ago and OH and I caught an episode on evening. We really enjoyed the storyline and carried on watching until it ended. I didnt realise it based on a book:blush: Who is the author Andy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Larry McMurtry, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergran71 Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Thanks for that Andy, will look him up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Chadwick Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 My favourite novel of all time isn't a Western as such - it's a book about the 'Native Americans' It's called Hanta Yo by Ruth Beebee Hill and it's about a tribe of Lakotah Sioux on the eve of the coming of the White man. Just brilliant. There's Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake on which the film is based. There's author Dee Brown who does a Native American slant too. Creek Mary's Blood. There's Marilyn Durham's The Man who Loved Cat Dancing Paint the Wind by Cathy Cash Spellman - which manages to pack in nearly everything about 19thC American history going and includes quite a bit of Western stuff. I loved that one. Also Will Henry for readable Western adventure. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/will-henry/ There's author Jeanne Williams - A Lady Bought with Rifles and others. Larry McMurtry as others have said too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I always think of Westerns as being blokes books (I don't watch cowboy films for the same reason) - perhaps I'll check one out one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Severnlad Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I always think of Westerns as being blokes books (I don't watch cowboy films for the same reason) - perhaps I'll check one out one day. I have tried reading westerns many times in the past but I have never managed to get into them. Strange really because I do like a good western film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carm Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I've read Cormac McCarthy's cowboy ones... my favorite would have to be The Road which isn't cowboy related- he has a different writing style which takes awhile to get used to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Chadwick Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I always think of Westerns as being blokes books (I don't watch cowboy films for the same reason) - perhaps I'll check one out one day. Ah, that's the thing! I rarely read stuff thinking 'this is a bloke's book' or 'this is a woman's book' I just take them on their merits for what they are and read across the board. Then again, I can watch The Good The Bad and the Ugly time and again and recently loved Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in 3.10 to Yuma. Also I confess to being thrilled with a cowboy outfit and 6 guns that was bought as my Xmas present when I was 6! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I've read Cormac McCarthy's cowboy ones... my favorite would have to be The Road which isn't cowboy related- he has a different writing style which takes awhile to get used to The Road is wonderful, but it's definitely not a Western. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I've read some books set in the American West, but none were specifically Westerns. For example, The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder - I read them all when I was a kid and loved them. I also read a coouple of young adult books set in the West, but they were more family sagas with a slightly historical slant to them - set in the time and location, but not Westerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Try 'Shane' by Jack Schaefer - it's a fabulous novel. The John Wayne film 'The Shootist' was based on a novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. I've never read the book, but the film is exceptional, and books are usually better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 My dad adores Westerns - books and movies. I read Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx earlier this year. It's a collection of short stories, and is a really good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I discovered a wonderful series [i love series] by Louis L'Amour, the "umbrella name" is The Sacketts. There are 18 books about the Sacketts in all. The first title is Sackett's Land. A synopsis of the first one is as follows: Fleeing a deadly band of enemies in his native England, Barnabas Sackett arrives in America in 1600, determined to conquer the forbidding wilderness...to make a home for himself and future generations of Sacketts. This isn't a 'shoot em up' type western, it is a family saga that covers from England to the East Coast of America, out to the Old West. It'll follow different branches of the family at different times, and in the end tie up nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tiresias Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Western books? Does W. S. Burroughs eccentric trilogy count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergran71 Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I discovered a wonderful series [i love series] by Louis L'Amour, the "umbrella name" is The Sacketts. There are 18 books about the Sacketts in all. The first title is Sackett's Land. A synopsis of the first one is as follows: This isn't a 'shoot em up' type western, it is a family saga that covers from England to the East Coast of America, out to the Old West. It'll follow different branches of the family at different times, and in the end tie up nicely. That sounds like a really good read. I too love series, especially family series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Jacobs Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 I love westerns and normally choose a few short paperbacks but if I want a real epic I will buy a western with more pages. Depends on my mood atm I am into Fantasy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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