Radigan

Radigan is the 66th Louis L'Amour book I've read, my number one author if you count by number of books read but only number 6 if you count by the number of pages read. This is another fairly average length L'Amour paperback novel, coming in at 154 pages. Obviously, you can tell I like this author and I read his novels periodically but this time I chose to read one because they serve as great "comfort" reads for me. I received some bad news yesterday and was feeling pretty low. I didn't want to do any of my normal hobbies and I didn't even want to read. That's certainly a rare occurrence for me. But I had to do something to fill the hours so I gave reading a try and L'Amour was just the ticket.

I've remarked before about how I read these novels for the fun of them. Not for any great literary accomplishments or for what anybody else may think of them. There's a certain honesty about them and it sure beats listening to the radio which is constantly playing campaign ads right now.

Tom Radigan is a former ranger and now owns a small cattle ranch in northern New Mexico territory. Along comes Angelina Foley with an outfit of gunfighters, 3000 head of cattle and what she claims is a deed to Radigan's land. Radigan knows the deed is phony but despite his attempts to tell her so, a full-on range war begins. Now you might expect some sort of boiler-plate western plot to take over with Radigan falling for the girl and living happily ever after but that is just not the case. I won't spoil it for you but this is a fine western story with gunfights, fist fights, wilderness survival (in deep winter snows), and more. The ending came abruptly and I would have liked to have a little more filled out with the final moments of the plot but overall, this was a great one.

And yes, I do feel better now, thanks for asking.

Fallon

Fallon is the 4th book written by Louis L'Amour that I have read this year. Normally, that's about my max for L'Amour each year because I have other westerns on my “To Be Read” shelf by other authors. But I'm plum out (that's a little western expression there) and only have L'Amour books there now. That's OK though if they're as good as Fallon.

This book is the 65th L'Amour book I've read. That tells me I read a lot of books, or else I'm just getting old. A little of both I suspect. Ever since I fell in love with the Sackett family in my teen years, I’ve been reading L’Amour westerns (as well as a few of his non-western adventure stories). Fallon was first published in 1963 and tells the tale of a drifter who is part con artist, part fraud, but mostly a good guy. It is shortly after the Civil War is over and he cons his way into establishing the new town of Red Horse, based on rumors of a gold strike nearby (rumors started by Fallon, himself, of course). Instead of skedaddling to San Francisco like he planned, using the money from a dry claim he sold to an unsuspecting fellow, he finds himself coming to care about the little town and its people who, in turn, rely on him for leadership against the roughnecks in the neighborhood. This is a fine story, with a few unexpected plot twists to keep it interesting. The ending is satisfying and even humorous. Yet again, I am happy to see a "formula" western by L'Amour not be so formula-driven after all. I would rank this one in his top 10...and if you don't count the Sackett novels it would be in his top five.

The High Graders

It's been a while since I read my last western novel so I chose The High Graders by Louis L'Amour, my 64th book by this author.  In fact, with the completion of this book, I have now read more Louis L'Amour books than books by any other author.  Number 2 only has 63...

A "High Grader" for those that are not aware, is somebody who steals the high quality, rich ore from a mine.  This book is quite a bit different from the usual L'Amour novel in that it features quite a few major characters as well as a rather complicated plot.  I felt a bit like I was watching a chess match as the various players jockeyed about the pages.  Even though this is a typically short western novel (184 paperback pages in my copy) there were times when it seemed to drag.  Probably because there were too many characters to get to really know any of them, I rank this one in the bottom half of L'Amour's work.

Back in the Saddle Again

Ok, so I kinda missed my blog...

I've decided to take up the reins again but this time in a little different fashion.  I still need to devote spare time to writing and to my on-line bookstore so I'll be taking less time with each of the entries on this blog.  It was starting to feel like a chore before, sort of like doing a term paper for a high school english class.  I always had this need to write up my review just as soon as I completed reading a book.

The other thing I noticed after doing this blog as a book review blog for over a year was that it was deeply effecting how and what I chose to read.  As I read your comments and as I followed other book blogs, I started to choose books that would be agreeable to other people more so than books that I really wanted to read.  Strange, huh?  Moreover, I found myself forming opinions about what I read based on how I felt others would want me to feel.  In essence, I was lying to myself...and reading became less enjoyable.

So now what?  Why not just drop it all together? 

Dunno.  I guess I really do miss it.  So I'll try again but this time, I won't be doing a book review blog.  I'll be writing about what I read and perhaps put in a very short blurb about whether or not I liked it...and who knows what else.  And if anybody out there would like to discuss anything, I'll be happy to give you my two cents.

Just to catch up since my last entry, here's what I've read since then (sorted by genre):

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum
New York, the Novel by Edward Rutherford
Fatally Flaky (Goldy the Caterer #15) by Diane Mott Davidson
Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp #1) by Vince Flynn
Hosts (Repairman Jack #5) by F. Paul Wilson
The Pirate Devlin by Mark Keating
Hondo by Louis L'Amour
The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
The Tunnel Behind the Waterfall (Magician's House Quartet #3) by William Corlett
The Policy by Bentley Little
The Woods are Dark by Richard Laymon
Stars and Stripes Forever by Harry Harrison
The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century edited by H. Turtledove and M. Greenberg
Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling
The Crystal Cave (The Arthurian Saga #1) by Mary Stewart
Well of Darkness (The Soverign Stone Trilogy #1) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
The Puppy Handbook by Sara John

So now we're all caught up.  As for what I'm reading now, stay tuned for the next blog entry.  That won't be for a couple of days because I'm going out of town to attend my son's college orientation session.

By the way, the picture at the top is "Abigail" our new puppy.  We call her Abby most of the time.  She's a "Sheepadoodle" which is a cross between an Old English Sheepdog and a Standard Poodle.  She'll be pretty big when she grows up but for now, we're enjoying her playful puppiness.

Hanging Woman Creek

No Matter how many times I read a Louis L'Amour book from my "to be read" pile (or shelves in my case) I seem to still have about 5 left to read.  I'm beginning to think they are breeding.  Nevertheless, I always seem to enjoy them and really tend to use them as breaks between larger novels.  With over a hundred novels and short story collections published I am constantly amazed when I read one of his books and discover a whole new actual story and not just a repetition of something he's done before.

Hanging Woman Creek, is yet again an original western story.  This is one of his shorter ones, coming in at exactly 150 pages in my copy.  It's the story of Baranbus "Pronto" Pike who, for a change, is no gun fighter and not really much of a fist fighter either although he has found himself in many such scraps over the years.  He meets up with Edie, a boxer, who also happens to be black, and together they look to survive a rugged Montana winter while making plans to start their own horse/cattle ranch.  Edie teaches Pike the finer arts of boxing which come in handy at the end of the story.  But they come across an old friend of Pike's who apparently, has gotten mixed up with the bad side of the law and before you know it, Pike and Edie are in the fight of their lives.  As always with a L'Amour book, good triumphs over evil and there is a happy ending.

Pike is an unusual protagonist for L'Amour in that he is not the quiet, reserved gunfighter that we often see.  The story is told from the first person perspective and it becomes obvious very soon in the story that Pike is not cut from the normal hero mold of so many westerns.  That's probably what I like most about this book.  The way in which the author weaves historical elements of life between the Little Big Horn and the Powder Rivers in 1885 with the action of cattle rustling, bar fights and, of course, a blossoming romance, makes for a great western read.

And I still have 5 more L'Amour titles to read...

"A Greek Tragedy" was the next title in Jeffrey Archer's short story collection, Cat O' Nine Tales.  This one was very different, not a jail-related story at all but rather a true tragedy whereby a wonderful, much loved elderly man is in the wrong place at the wrong time and unknowingly sacrifices himself, saving several other lives.  It is difficult to describe without giving away spoilers so I won't attempt it.  Suffice it to say it was an enjoyable story but with a sad ending.

Next up:  William Gibson's Pattern Recognition.

The Strong Shall Live

No need to rehash the stories in this marvelous collection of western short stories by the immortal Louis L'Amour.  I've blurbed on my blog (blog-blurbed?) each time I finished a story in The Strong Shall Live so my thoughts are already posted.  All except the last one, "Bluff Creek Station."  That story is the perfect story to finish off the book; whomever selected the order of the stories is to be commended.

"Bluff Creek Station" is one of the shortest of the stories in the entire collection and yet it is one of the most inspiring.  It begins with the main character knowing he is soon to die, shot through the spine by Indians raiding the stage coach station.  His only purpose in living at this point is to warn the stage that is due in to the station shortly, striving to live just long enough to fire off his shotgun as a warning that Indians still lay in ambush.  His thoughts while he waits and as numbness sets in throughout his limbs are poignant indeed.  This is excellent writing and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat for the few minutes it takes to reach the end.

I've said before that Louis L'Amour has two reputations: one as a hack western formula writer who churned out short book after short book for years and so was obviously a "bad" writer.  I know personally of some people who dismiss him as a horrible writer simply because there are so many of his books on the book store shelves.  Obviously he can't be any good.  Of course, they have never tried a single one; they choose to let their elitism keep them from enjoying a good reading experience.  Others have said that his writing is "authentic" and allows the readers of today a glimpse into the real west of the later 1800s.  I probably fall somewhere in between but I've read enough to know that he isn't just a western writer, having written all sorts of adventure books from the WWII era all the way back to the stoneage.  He puts a lot of real history in his stories.  His biography makes it clear that even though he was a self-taught man he did an enormous amount of research for his stories; walking the hills and valleys where they take place.  A quick check of my database reveals that this book is the 61st of his that I've read.  That puts him at number 2 on my all time list and I can honestly say that I've enjoyed all but perhaps 3 of them.  That's a pretty good record.  While I don't pretend to say he is a "great" writer, he certainly fits the description of an enjoyable writer.  And when all is said and done, that's a pretty good epitaph.

Coming soon: my end-of-the year "TopDragon" annual award winners.  Stay tuned!

Callaghen

Thanks to a holiday off work yesterday, I was able to finish up Louis L'Amour's Callaghen. This is another one of the books I picked up during my last visit to the local library. I like to peruse the store they have there and hunt for my "collections." My Louis L'Amour collection is one of those; I don't think I've purchased a L'Amour book at full retail price since the first one back in the 1970's sometime, when I was a kid. Now I'm up to over 50 of his books, mostly read, but since he was such a prolific author, it's still pretty easy to find some of his books that I don't have yet.

Callaghen is one of those books that came along at just the right time for me. I was due to read a western anyhow, but I had a bit of a bad day on Tuesday (don't worry, nothing all that serious). Nevertheless, it was one of those instances where somebody close to me got the raw end of the deal through no fault of their own...and was punished for it. The world ain't black and white but your typical Louis L'Amour western novel usually is. I really liked being able to escape into this world where you know who the good guys and the bad guys are. And you can be pretty comfortably assured that the bad guys will get what's coming to them in the end. This one was no exception. The main character, Callaghen, is an army sergeant with years of experience in both US, just after the Civil War, as well as in foreign services. He has an intriguing past, having held the rank of Major before being busted down several times. Now he is eligible for discharge but doesn't really know what to do with his life. Soldiering is all he knows.

Fortunately, Callaghen has one last bit of work to do for the US Army, namely serving with a unit to protect the Government road to Vegas Springs and Las Vegas. Right through Indian country. Callaghen's vast experience with desert survival serves him and his companions well as they run into all sorts of Indian trouble, stage coach protection, and of course the political snakes within their own camp. We spend a lot of time seeing the countryside through Callaghen's eyes, an especially vivid portrait of the desert landscapes. L'Amour does a better job than anybody I've read on describing the thirst his characters encounter when they run short of water. Coupling that with the action of the gun battles as well as the intrigue that develops among the members of the Army unit makes for a fine story. I'd rate it a top 20% of all of L'Amour's works.

From there it was an easy transition into another L'Amour short story from his The Strong Shall Live collection, "Merrano of the Dry Country." This is the longest story in this collection and seems to me could have easily been fleshed out into a full novel. As it was it was very enjoyable but in essence it seemed to me to be too much plot for the short story format. It is about a half white, half Mexican rancher who has to fight for his land when the drought has the other ranchers in a bind. The protagonist has thought ahead and worked hard to be prepared for such times but he has to fight against the prejudice of the others to keep what he has earned. This story had a great opening and middle...sort of a "stand up for what's yours" plot. But something happened over the last third of the story and it changed into a "who shot who" story. As I say, if this was a full length novel, the author could have explored all sub plots completely and expanded the characterization.

Next up: I need another relatively short book so I can finish before I take a business trip next week. I've selected another in the "Cat Who" series with The Cat Who Tailed a Thief."

Cherokee Trail

Do you ever get tired of the world we live in today? With all the stress of day-to-day life compounded with news of how bad the economy is, no end in sight, terrorism, crisis after crisis, etc. don't you just want to hide in a little cubby hole and not come out until it's over? Well if that sort of day ever comes your way then I heartily suggest a good western novel by Louis L'Amour. I've just completed Cherokee Trail and it took me to another place and time that somehow made our current predicaments fade away, at least for a while. I've probably read 40-50 of L'Amour's novels now, interspersing them throughout all of my other reading and I just never get tired of them.

Cherokee Trail is about a widow who takes over the management of a stagecoach stop in northern Colorado during the years of the Civil War back east. She is a very strong female character and it is a pleasure to see how she copes with the wildness of the times in a man's world and succeeds with her business. Now these novels will not win a Pulitzer prize, of course, but I don't read them for their literary merit. But I am impressed with L'Amour's knowledge of western life and I think he gets short shrift by historical purists who often discard his research and consequently his novels as "typical westerns." Yes, there are some cliched characters, the gun fighters, the ranchers, the stage operators, etc. but his protagonist displays the same sense of honor and courage that we find in all of his novels. And that's why I read them. I can always count on them to be what they are. I don't expect more or less than a good ol' fashioned western.

This morning I borrowed some time form my morning reading book to work on another Deaver short story. "Locard's Principle" is an original Lincoln Rhyme story (Deaver's main sleuth in his novels) and this story is consequently a bit longer than the other short stories in this volume. And you can see that Deaver is comfortable with these characters; in fact the very style of writing differs than the other stand alone stories I have read here. Unfortunately, I have not read any of his novels and I can't escape the feeling that I am eavesdropping on somebody else's story this time. It's like I am missing the inside jokes or perhaps I should know more than I do as I read the story. That's to be expected I suppose but while this story is probably the major draw for most readers, it doesn't work as well for me. But what irked me the most is that Lincoln Rhyme solves the case and doesn't fall for the bad guy's twist. That in itself is OK but an earlier story depicted Sherlock Holmes being duped by the bad guy's twist. Somehow that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Of course an author can do anything he wants, within copyright laws, but to have your own sleuth be infallible and somebody else's sleuth be tripped up...well, I just don't care for that.

Next up: Dawn, part of the second Warriors series of young adult books.