I read this for my adult lit class and I can now say that westerns are no my genre of choice! The story started out OK, but I soon found it a bit boring. The book starts out with the story of the Teale family. Evie and her children are trying to make it in the west and they happen to be settled near the stagecoach which brings passengers here and there with a small income. This part of the story I found interesting enough, but after a few chapters the story changes from Evie to Conagher. Conagher is a drifter and somewhat of a fighter. He spends a lot of the book being intimidating and threatening the bad guys. Conagher takes a job at a cattle ranch and he starts to find notes in the tumbleweeds written by a lonely woman. The author gives so many hints about how lonely Evie is and how lonely Conn is, I guess he felt there's no need to develop anything between them. We get several chapters of Conn and it's like we've forgotten about Evie and the kids altogether until she randomly shows up in Conn's drifter path again.The story tries to alternate between Evie and Conagher, but it never pulls it off successfully. It's like we had two different stories going on that never really met. The stories try to come together, but it's so sudden it feels a bit forced. The end is a bit of a rush and I didn't think there was really any character development at all. It's a simple story with a few fights between the good and bad guys with the good guy winning and getting the girl. For fans of westerns it might be good, but it wasn't for me.
My favorite quote from the book (assigned for my Georgics Class): He was not, he told himself, gifted with much imagination. He simply did what had to be done, and his code of ethics was the code of his father, his family, and his time. It would be easy...to throw everything overboard and disclaim any responsibility. All he had to do was saddle up and ride out of the country. It sounded easy, but it was not that easy, even if a man could leave behind his sense of guilt at having deserted a cause. To be a man was to be responsible. It was as simple as that. To be a man was to build something, to try to make the world about him a bit easier to live in for himself and those who followed. You could sneer at that, you could scoff, you could refuse to acknowledge it, but when it came right down to it, Conn decided it was the man who planted a tree, dug a well, or graded a road who mattered.
What do You think about Conagher (1982)?
Conagher was alright but it was a bit more of a love story than most of Louis L'Amour's books. Still, I enjoyed it and it was a short, swift read.Also, I love Louis L'Amour for his excellent writing - great for quotes:"To be a man was to be responsible. It was as simple as that. To be a man was to build something, to try to make the world about him a bit easier to live in for himself and those who followed.”I like to imagine that Louis L'Amour means human, not masculine-personage here, and in such a case, I feel like that sentiment is a code good enough to live by. Not his best, but still a good quote.
—Sara
I had seen the movie and enjoyed it ... but, the book was superb as well. It is the classic western of a single cowboy with a moral compass that is simple and direct. It contains good scenes of the 'white hat' versus the 'black hats'. It also shows how much the character of a man can do to win over a situation ... even with men who is pitted against. Finally, it is a love story of two lonely people out on the prairie who come to realize that they love each other. In other words it is a good read for anyone who likes westerns.
—Villager
I like this book very very much.In fact, it is one of the few books that I enjoy reading every year or so.Like many westerns the story involves conflict between good and evil,loyalty and dis-loyalty, loss, and overcoming adversity.Conagher is a pretty straight forward individual that certainly fitsthe mythic portrait of the rugged individual who helped settle the american west.This book has a lot that would satisfy most readers. Good story, interesting characters and challenges, some believable romance with more than one or two twists to keep one's interest going.
—Rob
