Two Books with One Blog...

All winning streaks must come to an end at some point, right? Well, Humboldt's Gift was a large disappointment. I can understand why the committee liked it, but for me it was a less than entertaining read. I found it too heady and philosophical (and even that was hard to follow at times). Perhaps I am just not in the right phase of life to appreciate it, but I don't plan on rereading it to find out.

The story follows a once-successful Pulizer-Prize winning author who has fallen on hard times. He learns that his dear friend and mentor, Humbolt, has died, which sends him into self-deprecating meditations. His sordid past and poor investments are revealed in a painfully slow manner. He ends up in some criminally funny situations, but the plot is lost in the periodic monologues of heady thoughts.

With that said....

I was relieved to pick up Lonesome Dove.

Lonesome Dove, written by Larry McMurtry and winner of 1985 Pulitzer, was a wonderful adventure of the last frontier. The two main characters are Augustus  McCrae and Woodrow Call, two ex-Texas Rangers that own a livery outside of Lonesome Dove. They are complete opposites in every way to people can be, but they are connected as one person.  Life is great for the Hat Creek gang, albeit dull, until (as in all great westerns) a stranger rides into town. Well, to be honest, he wasn't a stranger but a distant memory from their rangering days, but the effect was still the same.  

His name was Jake Spoon, and he had gotten himself into a bit of trouble up in Arizona. He mentions the last remaining wilderness of Montana, a cattle-driver's paradise, and that was all it took to spur the suppressed desire for adventure in William Call. The rest of the story recounts their adventures on an unprecedented cattle drive to Montana. To make it more interesting, Jake Spoon unwillingly carts along Miss Lorena Wood, the only whore in Lonesome Dove.  

In Lonesome Dove, McMurtry has penned some amazing characters. He flawlessly shifts your opinion of Jake Spoon as he floats from day to day with no direction, his moral code slipping along the way. You innately like Augustus McCrae, even if he is a bit of a scoundrel, and you desperately hope for Call to change, to become the man he can't admit himself to be. In the end, it's a haunting tale; everyone is looking for something, something to end the loneliness, but all settle for something a little less than ideal in the end. McMurtry's characters demonstrate how everyone is interconnected and how the crazy idea of a lackluster drifter can alter the lives of so many.

Well done.

I think I will take a break from the Pulitzers for a moment. The Hunger Games has been on my list for a while, and with the upcoming movie, I have decided to bump it up on the list.

Until then... Happy Reading.