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.
This is standard Louis L'Amour fare. He has said that he literally "walked the land my characters walk," and from time to time, I find myself researching and even visiting (upon occasion) places described in his books. I've never found him to claim historical events or geographical places as true when his claim wasn't supported. This version of Hanging Woman Creek came with a rough map in the front showing the locations of some of the places described in the book. On a recent vacation, we actually passed by or visited one or two...they are there, just as he described. I especially enjoy the times when L'Amour waxes philosophical. There is some wisdom to what he says through his characters' words. Such a soliloquy occurs in this book, and I excerpt it here:"A man has to face up to himself sometime or other. You can go on being satisfied or ducking the issue only so long, and then there comes a time when you start asking yourself, not what you've done with your summer wages, but with your whole life...And more often than not the answer you have to give yourself isn't a happy one.""The thing a man has to realize is that it is never too late...About the worst thing a man can do is to let a dream die...An idea like that doesn't just lie fallow; it builds up and gathers background, trying to fit itself for realization...Every idea is a seed and, like a seed, it germinates. Only you have to feed it to make it grow properly.""A man never starts to get old until he starts to forget his dream. Somebody said once that nature abhors a vacuum; well, from all that I'd seen, I would say that nature dislikes anything that doesn't produce."These are thoughts worth pondering.
What do You think about Hanging Woman Creek (1994)?
Not sure what to think of the book. It was not my usual genre and was written some time ago, which showed in the writing style. The characters were OK, not exceptionally strong or thoroughly developed. It would have been great to hear more about the homesteader and his sister, who end up as main characters to the tale with a minor introduction. The friendship between Pronto and Eddie was well written, yet it felt the friendship ended so the rest of the story could be wrapped up in a neat little bow. Lacking female characters at all, only two in the whole book, one was crazy and the other rides off into the sunset with the lead man.The historical pieces of the book were the best part. Train rides, the winding down of the Wild West and ranching life styles. A quick read, probably better suited for tween age kids interested in the western frontier. D
—Rebecca Hill
My favorite line in the book is "About the worst thing a man can do is to let a dream die." The fact that one of these western man thinks this shows just how much people are alike even when they seem to be so different on the surface. I love reading Louis L'Amour's novels about life as a wandering cowboy. I also love the idea that a man's name or what he calls himself doesn't matter, how the cowboys judged a man by his actions, not his name or supposed reputation. Though they certainly respected some men's reputations. Louis L'Amour always equals a good read.
—Rosalind
