Η άδεια γηΠέμπτο βιβλίο του Λουίς Λ'Αμούρ που περνάει στην λίστα με τα διαβασμένα, ακόμα ένα καλό γουέστερν. Πρόκειται για την ιστορία μιας νεότευκτης πόλης χρυσού, της Κονφούζιον. Η πόλη χτίστηκε στα γρήγορα δίπλα σε φλέβες χρυσού σε κάποια περιοχή των ΗΠΑ. Τα γνωστά. Βέβαια, από την πρώτη μέρα τα πράγματα δεν έδειχναν ενθαρρυντικά, όσον αφορά την εγκληματικότητα και την βία. Οι μισοί κάτοικοι της νέας αυτής πόλης ήταν φασαριόζοι, ληστές, κλέφτες, φονιάδες και δολοφόνοι. Οι ληστείες και οι φόνοι, από την πρώτη κιόλας μέρα, έφτασαν σε επικίνδυνα επίπεδα. Ο Ντικ Φέλτον, ένας εκ των ιδρυτών της πόλης, ήθελε μια ήσυχη πόλη, χωρίς όμως να χρησιμοποιήσει βία για να το πετύχει. Αλλά δεν γινόταν αλλιώς. Και εμφανίζεται στην πόλη ο Ματ Κόμπερν, ένας σκληρός αλλά καλός άντρας, ο καλύτερος και ο πιο γρήγορος στο πιστόλι, ένας άντρας που θα παράταγε το πιστόλι αν οι συνθήκες του το επέτρεπαν. Οι σχέσεις μεταξύ των δυο αντρών δεν είναι και οι καλύτερες: Ο Κόμπερν είναι ένας ρεαλιστής, που καταλαβαίνει ότι χρειάζεται βια για να καθαρίσει το μέρος, ενώ ο Φέλτον είναι ένας ιδεαλιστής, που πιστεύει ότι χρησιμοποιώντας βία για να καθαρίσει το μέρος, θα καταπατούσε τα πιστεύω του. Με τα πολλά, συνεργάζονται, μαζί με άλλους ανθρώπους, για να καθαρίσουν την πόλη. Οι σκηνές δράσης πάρα πολλές, ειδικά προς το τέλος του βιβλίου. Οι περιγραφές των σκηνών δράσης πολύ καλές και κατατοπιστικές. Οι χαρακτήρες πάρα πολλοί, και όπως είναι λογικό χωρίς ιδιαίτερο βάθος, παρ'όλα αυτά δεν είναι χάρτινοι. Η ατμόσφαιρα είναι εξαιρετική. Γενικά ένα καλό γουέστερν, από τον μαιτρ του είδους.
Imagine the pure luck of a man wandering the wilderness and just so happens to take a water break in the mountains only to discover a rich gold source. After the discovery Zeller went home to start a tavern and a family. Although tragic events result in their deaths he once again hits the wild frontier with a few foreign lads and goes to make a new life for himself. Unfortunately luck was not on Zeller’s side and he is ambushed by Native Americans along the way and dies in the attack. His friends do carry on in high hopes and end up finding the gold rich valley and stake open claims for the legalizing of mining it. Hoping to create a strong and stable town that would last after the boom Fenton is flourished in waves of ruff necks, scallywags, gamblers, murderers, thief’s and hussies. Far opposite to the moral and stable society he had in mind. Luckily He is determined and has one of the best gunmen on his side giving him a shot. The Empty Land is a pretty good western classic that fits all the stereotypes but in a good way. Many can enjoy this short novel as Louis L’Amour has such a great way of describing. He truly paints a perfect picture in a persons mind making you feel like you’re scraping past the ruff scrub town yourself. It’s full of material which can be enjoyed by many genres of audiences. It has more shoot outs than you can shake a stick at, adventure, travel, history, prospecting, romance, drama, comedy and tragedy all rolled into one cigar. Truly it is probably more fixated on a male prospective but I believe that The Empty Land could be enjoyed equally among the female audience. There is no age limit to this short novel with a fairly basic vocabulary that can be understood by all and also doesn’t drive too deep in restricted material giving it a great PG feel to it.Explain- I personally can not get enough of Louis L’Amour’s publications. He does such a great job making characters relatable and setting scenes so that you actually feel like your part of the story. I find his works to be considered art. I do take a fancy to western novels which made The Empty Land a pretty solid read. I though this was good because the plot was a little different to other westerns. Instead of just strolling into a town and running into trouble it was actually people setting up a boom town and stopping trouble from rolling in. I did find it a little disheartening to kill off one of the main characters so early on in the story but it did add to it’s uniqueness.
What do You think about The Empty Land: A Novel (1995)?
The Empty Land starts out with one of the best attention-grabbing "teasers" I have ever read to entice the reader on:"In Europe Pope Gregory the Great had died. In Ireland the golden age of scholarship was at its height. And in the Continent the Merovingian Kings ruled much of what is now Germany and France. In Southeast Asia the little kingdom of Champa, now called South Viet Nam was locked in a life and death struggle for its independence with China and what is now North Viet Nam. It was the Seventh Century and the great Tang Dynasty was rising in China while across the Asian continent a relatively unknown young man named Mohamed sat meditating in Mecca conceiving the religious teachings that were to dominate civilization for the next 700 years. In what was someday to be known as western Utah, a hungry coyote trotted across a barren slope. The coyote had no awareness of history beyond the memory of where his food had been obtained in the past. Nor had he any realization of the sequence of events he was soon to start in motion; a sequence that was to enrich several men and at least one woman and was to bring sudden and violent death by bullet or blade to at least 40 men. All of that lay more than 1,100 years in the future but it was the coyote that began it." How can you not continue to read on. I considered this to be one of L'Amour's better westerns. Classic L'Amour. Plenty of action, opposition, budding romance and southwest lore. Of course, the seasoned gun-toting lawman comes to the rescue and saves the day. Right always prevails. Again, one of L'Amour's better books.
—Craig
A boom town springs up in the middle the wild west desert, full to bursting with miners, law abiding traders, and also the outlaws that smell the chance to make a quick buck. The opportunity to create a prosperous settlement is threatened by a gang of drifting thugs who do not think twice about using violence to get their way - killing a couple of Marshalls in the process.There is only one man who can take them on - Matt Colburn. A good hearted, 'street' smart man with a lightning fast draw. The only concern is that he doesn't think twice about shooting to get his way either.Is he no better than a murderer himself?I had the feeling L'Amour was posing this tough question to the reader. It would make for a good debate seeing as Colburn ends up using some questionable methods to rid the town of these outlaws, including; killing, fist fighting, public threats and naming/shaming, and of course the *DRAW* gun battles. But, taken into the context of a lawless community this was all fair game, and it did end up working in the end.After reading a small pile of L'Amour books I have found this one to be the best so far. There was lots of action and cowboy things, but, more importantly there was something deeper - that ethical question of when is it, if ever, ok to kill?http://bookwormsfeastofbooks.blogspot...
—Bookworm Smith
I'm not a big fan of westerns so much but it was Allie's choice for book number 8 in our reading project. It was really what I expected it to be. Fist fights and shoot outs, a couple pretty ladies and a lawless mining town. I founds some of the characters to be just caricatures. Was Laurie Shannon really so put off by the killing of a murderous thief? It doesn't make any sense to me and doesn't seem rooted in reality. Matt Coburn is a bad ass and you know he'll win in the end. It all seemed pre-deteremined from page one.
—carolyn
