I've have decided to read the entire Lonesome Dove saga in chronological order which means I kick off with Dead Man's Walk which was actually the third book published following Lonesome Dove (chronologically the third book) and Streets of Laredo (a direct sequel to Lonesome Dove and chronologically the fourth and final book in the series) . I'd previously read the Pulitzer Prize winning, Lonesome Dove but the rest of the series were new to me, though I had seen all the TV movies based on the book. And to be honest now that I've read Dead Man's Walk I can say that the TV mini-series was pretty damn faithful with only a few cosmetic changes.Dead Man's Walk then gives us the very early years of Gus McCrea and Woodrow Call and depicts how the boys first became friends and of how they joined the Texas Rangers. The book starts with Gus and Woodrow signed on as rangers with a road scouting expedition led by the inept Major Chevallier. During the expedition they are repeatedly attacked by Indians led by a deformed Comanche called Buffalo Hump. During this early section of the book we get to know the important characters, especially Gus and Woodrow - their personalities are sketched out over a number of brilliantly written set pieces, usually involving the war chief, Buffalo Hump. Gus is the talkative, whore-loving, easy to get along with type, which his best friend, Woodrow is solid, dependable, serious minded and not all together likable. When Gus visits a whore he is in love with her and treats her with genuine affection, while when Woodrow visits he gets his business done and then gets out of there without a wasted word. The two men are polar opposites but they live and breath as real people on the page and the chemistry between them is excellent.There are several other secondary characters who are equally well drawn - Matty, known as the Great Western, is the whore who throws snapping turtles at the men and generally allows them a poke till pay day, Bigfoot Wallace is a mountain man with a fine line in storytelling, Shadrach is another mountain man, an aged character in the final years of his life. And then we have Long Bill Coleman and Johnny Carthage, two everyman types who provide one or two moments of comic relief as well as several truly poignant scenes.Gus and Woodrow make it back from the first expedition, regarding it a failure but no sooner are they in Austin than they sign up for an expedition to capture and annex Santa Fe. This expedition is led by the pirate and soldier of fortune, Celeb Cobb but unfortunately he proves to be just as useless a leader as Major Chevallier. Before they leave Austin though Gus has finds to meet and fall madly in love with a Clara Forsythe, a young lady who works in her father's general store."Why I believe I have smitten Mr. McCrae," Clara said with a laugh. "I doubt I could smite you though, Mr. Call- not unless I had a club."Indeed Cal has to remind Gus that he's signed up for the expedition when he announces that he is remaining behind and plans to marry Clara Forsythe."Marry her - you ain't got a cent," Call said. "Anyway, why would she have you? You ain't known her ten minutes.""Ten minutes is enough," Gus said. "I want to marry her and I aim to."It is only the fact that leaving the expedition would be desertion and that he would be shot for the crime, that persuades Gus to go on with the expedition though he vows he will return and marry the young woman.The storyline truly is epic and the doomed Santa Fe expedition makes for an incredible feat of storytelling in which the author keeps the reader glued to page after page of incredible prose. The period and people are brought vividly to life, and the author doesn't shy away from the cruelty of the times.
Woodrow Call and Gus McCrae did not begin as the competent Texas Rangers whom we met in Lonesome Dove. Here our young men blunder their way through one ignominious defeat after another. They get schooled and outdueled by Comanches, Mexican soldiers, outlaws, and strong women, but these men survive and adapt with optimism. Their response to certain death: "I expect to live."Call is pragmatic, quiet, and duty bound. Gus is a romantic dreamer preoccupied with whores, rumors of gold, and Clara Forsythe, who has him confused as to whether to chase the gold or the girl. If Gus was the soul of Lonesome Dove, Woodrow is the soul of this prequel published ten years after Lonesome Dove. Embark with Call and Gus on the ill-fated Santa Fe Expedition of 1841. Behold the salvific vision of two naked women riding together toward Comancheria: one draped in a snake and singing arias; the other, a black woman with a sword lifted high riding a white mule. Watch Matilda Jane Roberts, “the Great Western Whore,” dispatch a snapping turtle. Meet Colonel Caleb Cobb, a former pirate with a Harvard education that proves to be no help in the wilds. Listen to Bigfoot Wallace’s advice on how to commit suicide to escape torture. Witness the scalping of Ezekiel Moody. Feast on mule meat to avoid starvation. Feel the lance of a warrior named Buffalo Hump impale you. Jump off the cliffs of the Palo Duro Canyon to escape being burned alive by the same Comanches who just stole your horse. Drink urine from a horse’s bladder to avoid dying of thirst. Stare in bewilderment at the “Witch Buffalo," shot more than 30 times. Draw beans with your best friends to gamble for who will be shot at dawn. Ask yourself, “are you brave enough to meet your own execution without blindfold?" How far would you go to survive? “The land smells like Africa. It means we have to be careful….Quite the contrary, it means that we have to be wild." McMurtry portrays tenacious survival instincts engrained into the bedrock of character. When Call is ordered to be punished with 100 lashes, he defiantly responds: "I expect to live!" Later, when faced with a 200-mile “Dead Man’s Walk” across the New Mexican desert, Gus also responds, "I expect to live!" Some of these scenes may read like tall tales on steroids, but, God help me, I do love these characters and McMurtry’s anarchic imagination so. I expect to live through the absurd cruelties of life and to keep my optimism. Hear me: I expect to live. July 19, 2013Links to my reviews in the Lonesome Dove Trilogy:Dead Man’s Walk (1)http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...Comanche Moon (2)http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...Lonesome Dove (3)http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...Streets of Laredo (4)I have read but not yet reviewed.
What do You think about Dead Man's Walk (2000)?
Ahh, this is a great cowboy story. It's the first time I've ever read McMurtry who has written over 30 books, and I'm excited to read more. Dead Man's Walk is the first in a tetrology which includes the Pulitzer Prize winning Lonesome Dove. I think his writing flows beautifully, his dialogue is great and you can smell the sagebrush and taste the dry sand as he describes the West. I imagine that his story reflects some truth of how the West was explored which means it is not a light-hearted story. I was fearful of the Comanche Chief Buffalo Hump from his first introduction to the final scene. I can't imagine ever having the courage to cross the plains after hearing the stories of the Comanches and Apaches. It paints a picture of men (and a few women) who were courageous, adventuresome, careless and perhaps carefree enough to risk life and limb to the unknown. My favorite part of the book begins in the leper colony of San Lazaro, where a black or white bean determines the fate of the 10 remaining cowboys and continues to the final scene of Gus and Call helping a leper women on her journey home to England and have the ultimate face-off with Chief Buffalo Hump.I would recommend this book to: Vaughn, Rex, Jay, Clark, Jerry, Darren, Dad, Uncle John and all other cowboys.
—Molly Jae
It was with quite a bit of trepidation that I gave McMurtry and his Lonesome Dove crew another shot. If you read my review of Lonesome Dove you know how furious I was with the poor ending of that very, very long novel. Also, I find McMurtry's head-hopping narrative style rather annoying.However, McMurtry does such an amazing job of creating characters, and I was (and still am) in the mood for good Western reading that I gave Dead Man's Walk a chance. I don't regret it.This is chronologically the first book about Gus and Woodrow, when they are not yet 20, and have just joined the Texas Rangers. It is a violent story, but the violence is tempered by so many human emotions that it never comes off as gratuitous. The characters, even the minor ones, seem like living people.Who lives and who dies is sometimes completely arbitrary. There is one important character who dies and his death is just a shockingly stupid thing. I thought he would make it to the end, that nothing short of a grizzly or at least the fierce Buffalo Hump Comanche chief would take him out. Not the case.One issue I do have, though, is with Gus and his whoring. Yes, he was a whoremonger in Lonesome Dove. That is the case here, too. How did somebody so frisky for whores manage to live so long in that time period without dying of some STD?That aside, I completely enjoyed Dead Man's Walk and definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good Western with plenty of action built around character development, or anyone who just wants a good story and can handle reading about fights, torture, scalping, etc.
—Steven
Wow. What a stinkeroo this turned out to be. In fact, it sadly confirms the suspicions I had of McMurtry while reading Lonesome Dove which is to say he has incredible skill in drawing you into a rich, realistic, dusty Old West atmosphere but lacks the ability to create a well-structured story. Also, contrary to popular opinion, I feel McMurtry -- at least in his Western novels -- paints some pretty one-dimensional characters.This book triples the meandering of Lonesome Dove, which incidentally I really loved but for different reasons. Dead Man's Walk forms the first of two prequels to Lonesome Dove (the other being Commanche Moon) and attempts to build a solid back story to our two macho heros Gus and Woodrow. Lots of tension, to be sure. Tons of violence? You bet. Grisly, sadistic (and mostly unnecessary) torture? Yep. Not much point for being? Unfortunately, yes.I slogged through Commanche Moon after this book but now, after reading three out of the four Lonesome Dove books, I have to admit defeat and leave Streets of Laredo (the series' last book, chronologically speaking) untouched. Probably just as well as that book is frequently talked about as the worst of the bunch.
—Craig
