Westerns in book form

[Steel Icarus]

Bit niche this but Urban is like the hobbies and interests version of Rule 34 - if you make a thread on it, SOMEONE will know SOMETHING

I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows of any actually-good Western/cowboy books in the genre of pulp Westerns, if indeed that IS a genre. Even in there, there must be some standouts. Better than the stuff Rocky learns to read using in Rocky 2. My local library used to have loads of them but I didn't really know where to begin. Yes I've got the Cormac McCarthy books, I'm looking for far more lightweight, ripping yarns set in the Wild West etc

 

[Sweet FA]

Not pulpy maybe but Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is ace. Plus he's got loads more if you like it.

 

[Humberto]

There's a Flashman set in the Wild West.

 

[Steel Icarus]

What's/who's Flashman?

 

[Pickman's model]

Elmore Leonard
Karl May

 

[Pickman's model]

What's/who's Flashman?

Google flashman and George macdonald Fraser - you'll like him

 

[Pickman's model]

The ox-bow incident's a classic of the genre

 

[A380]

The only westerns i read are Elmore Leonard. But then his are the only crime books i read too.

I think he's great.

 

[Pickman's model]

If you want a proper good read that's true, true George w coe's frontier fighter and Charles Kelly's the outlaw trail

 

[Orang Utan]

Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian
- brutal antiwestern

 

[story]

I second Lonesome Dove as a good beach book

Shane by Jack Schaefer was one of my favourite repeated reads as a child. The film was a disappointment.

 

[Saunders]

Have you read any Louis L’Amour? Might be too pulp and generic, but they are lightweight and western. Otherwise maybe Zane Grey? My dad had a guilty pleasure of pulp westerns and they’re the two names I remember.

 

[polly]

Not pulpy maybe but Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is ace. Plus he's got loads more if you like it.

Came here to strongly recommend all four of these (iirc Lonesome Dove is the second book of four?). All but one are huge so they'll keep you going for a while.

 

[Sweet FA]

Yes I've got the Cormac McCarthy books, I'm looking for far more lightweight, ripping yarns set in the Wild West etc

Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian
- brutal antiwestern

 

[Sweet FA]

Came here to strongly recommend all four of these (iirc Lonesome Dove is the second book of four?). All but one are huge so they'll keep you going for a while.

LD was published first but isn't first chronologically:



(I've only read LD though and that was years ago. The others are good then?)

 

[Sweet FA]

Also, not westerns but have you read Joe Abercrombie, Steel Icarus?

 

[Sweet FA]

Have you read any Louis L’Amour? Might be too pulp and generic, but they are lightweight and western. Otherwise maybe Zane Grey? My dad had a guilty pleasure of pulp westerns and they’re the two names I remember.

Stephen King is a big pulp western fan and cites both those authors as being the best.

 

[polly]

LD was published first but isn't first chronologically:

View attachment 356876

(I've only read LD though and that was years ago. The others are good then?)

Ahh thanks for putting me right! Yes, they're all good. One is less good than the other three but I can't remember which! Comanche Moon is excellent, really dark in parts.

 

[hitmouse]

B Traven - Treasure of the Sierra Madre?

 

[hitmouse]

Did Jack London write Westerns?

 

[JimW]

One I recall enjoying supposedly a genuine memoir was Tough Trip Through Paradise, fur trapper in early west who ends up living with natives for long periods.
Eta looking it up it's late west not early, author is Andrew Garcia.

 

[Sue]

Did Jack London write Westerns?

Yes, loads.

(Genuinely my first thought...)

 

[story]

Did Jack London write Westerns?

I suppose it depends how you define “Westerns”.

In any case I reckon that if a person is interested in the Western genre, they ought to know Jack London.

Same with Laura Ingalls Rider and the Little House on the Prairie books. They're considered to children’s books because they’re written from the perspective of a child (she’s 4 yo in the first book and I think she’s 18 in the last) and they’re problematic in certain respects (esp. attitudes towards Native Americans) but they are authentic and provide first-hand information about the pioneer life at that time. One of the reasons they’re important is because they provide the female perspective.

 

[Sue]

Same with Laura Ingalls Rider and the Little House on the Prairie books. They're considered to children’s books because they’re written from the perspective of a child (she’s 4 yo in the first book and I think she’s 18 in the last) and they’re problematic in certain respects (esp. attitudes towards Native Americans) but they are authentic and provide first-hand information about the pioneer life at that time. One of the reasons they’re important is because they provide the female perspective.

I read all of them as a kid. Found them fascinating.

 

[sojourner]

Thomas Savage, but not very pulpy, just realky good storytelling.

 

[story]

I read all of them as a kid. Found them fascinating.

Me too. Our Granny gave us the entire set when we were little and we all read them over and over. My sister still has has them and her own kids also read them over and over. The pages are now as supple as the fabric of your favourite shirt.

 

[marty21]

LD was published first but isn't first chronologically:

View attachment 356876

(I've only read LD though and that was years ago. The others are good then?)

Read them all , all good , also seen the adaptations of them on telly , a bit mixed. LD is fantastic , others less so.

 

[marty21]

And the book True Grit by Charles Portis is well worth a read.

 

[krtek a houby]

The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe.

More of an epic Western than pulp, but still a great read.