As someone who has never read westerns, this book made me feel what I think is so captivating about them: creating larger-than-life, mythical heroes from the clay of ordinary men. McMurtry doesn’t shy away from the grim realities of the untamed west, the fallout of Native American displacement, and the brutal lawlessness of a nation yet too big for its people. But there’s obviously a reverence and idolization of the period, and what it represented in American history. Gus and Call’s cattle drive feels like the Wild West’s last hurrah, a sad and terrific wane into a new era.

I would rate this book 1 Pulitzer. ( )

Masterpiece. Genuinely one of my favorite books. Not in the least bit conventional ( )

Every review and recommendation was right - this was an absolutely ethereal read, completely magical. The first 150 pages or so are a bit slow, but that fits the characters and story anyway. Then I was beyond hooked.

McMurtry's writing flows like water. Whether it's describing the landscape, or getting glimpses of character motivations, or heartbreaking tragedy, it's obvious why this novel won the Pulitzer. There is true beauty here in nearly every sentence.

I was practically screaming at the characters sometimes to go against their nature. Stay, be safe. Apologize to the other person. Share your feelings. But they never do - even if they're aware of it, they can't go against who they are. The frontier is almost a character in itself - full of untapped potential, but brutally dangerous. Some death scenes were as shocking as any I've ever read before. I'm still thinking about them weeks later.

It's blunt and bleak, but also funny and hopeful. It's one of the best books I've ever read. ( )

An incredible audiobook with excellent narration by Lee Horsley. (I should probably hold off on my review since the story just ended and I'm sitting here tearing up again! Just as I did reading Melissa's review from 2017. But I will forge on.)

Since I'd already seen the mini-series twice, I had wondered why I should also read the book. But the audio pulled me right in and I was hooked. Lee's accents were amazing. (Of course! He was born in Muleshoe, Texas!) I could tell each character's dialog just by their voice. My dormant Texas drawl re-emerged and had me chatting to myself in the voice of Gus McCrae. He will always be with me.

The characters were astonishingly real and vulnerable with many sides to them. Strong, hurting women. Tough, crying cowboys. A long, dangerous journey with a wide range of struggles, both physical and emotional.

This is a classic not to be missed. But I also suggest seeing the mini-series first. The colorful characters (the actors) from the show were firmly in my mind throughout this rich, entertaining story. Or at least watch some scenes on YouTube.

Highly recommended to all. ( )

I'm like Newt ( )

His best book by far ( )

Absolutely incredible. As always westerns have a very simple plot, it's the characters and their movement through it that makes the story, and I'll be damned if this isn't one of the greatest ever told. Two old ex Texas rangers, in 1880, with a poverty ridden cattle ranch in Lonesome Dove near the Rio Grande decide to go thousands of miles north to Montana, with a bunch of cattle stolen from the mexicans and their companions and workers of their ranch, convinced by another ex Texas ranger Jake Spoon. Through that journey a lot of characters get introduce. The book decamps from the main plot to bring in even more people. a lot of them important, as the main characters stumble upon them. Woodrow Call and Gus Mcrae, the core of the book, are a great potrait of male friendship, their chemistry is magnetic. The main crew goes through grief, guilt, shame, loss, unrequited love, longing, death, coming of age, just everything. A lot of the characters could have their own book, it's that deep. The book is funny, moving, entertaining as hell, and half way through it gets so real and brutal you can't believe it. There's even a grizzly bear fighting a bull. Just read it!!!

There is a theme going on, I think. Everytime a character has an opportunity to stay somewhere where they're gonna be comfortable, or well enough, and they don't, they end up suffering injury or death. Like when Roscoe is being persuaded by a lonely woman to stay with her, he doesn't and goes looking for July he ends up killed by Blue Duck, or the little girl that follows him, she could have stayed with some woman in some town, but follows Roscoe and Blue Duck gets her aswell.
When Elmira is weak and sick she decides to leave town and not come back to hers, so July can't go look for her, she dies off-camera to some Indians.
Lorena is kidnapped by Blue Duck and gets raped and battered, and she could've stayed with Xavier in Lonesome Dove
When Lorena tells Jake Spoon to stay with her and not go gambling, he doesn't and ends up hunged.
When the main crew reaches Clara, in Nebraska, she offers them to stay there and they refuse. Deets and Gus die.
Pea Eye gets into horrible hardship going scouting with Gus.
When Call is offered by Clara to bury Gus there and he keeps going to Texas, he gets injured.
But when July Johnson decides to stay instead of looking for her wife, he lives. Or Dish Boggett, he comes back to Nebraska and stays trying to get Lorena. Lorena herself stops at Nebraska and finally has some peace and a welcoming family. Bolivar comes back halfway through and lives aswell.

Is McMurtry trying to tell us not to lengthen our destinies too far? ( )

What a phenomenal read, enormous and brilliant, witty and heartbreaking, a mamoth tale that touches the reader's emotions on so many levels. This is a book that honestly did not appeal to me in the slightest but 100 pages in I was hooked, invested, facinated and brought back in time to the Wild West of the 1870s and the adventures of a bunch of unforgettable and unique characters. I can definatley see why this is a Pulitzer Prize Winner.

The story focuses on a the relationship amount a bunch of Texas Rangers and takes the reader on an epic cattle drive from The Rio Grande to the highlands of Montana in the closing years of the Wild West days, A triumphant portrayal of the American West as it really was.

I came across this book on a " What Should I read next" Podcast by Anne Bogel, It was reviewed on several of her shows as one of those books you just have to read. When I realised that the novel was close to 850 pages and was a Western I put it on the top shelf and decided it could not possibly be worth the time and commitment. However January can be a long month and when my husband was looking for a good book to read and something that would hold his interest I reached for Lomesome Dove and we decided it was to become our January reading challenge and what a remarkable surprise this book turned out to be for both of us.
Western Novels are totally out of my confort zone however I do like a challenge and this book reminded me of [b:The Pillars of the Earth|5043|The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)|Ken Follett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576956100l/5043._SY75_.jpg|3359698] in the sense that it is an epic monumental novel, with a wonderful sense of time and place, the most amazing and extremely well formed characters that you grow to love and root for and a book that suprises the reader in so many ways.
The prose is simple yet effective, the descriptions of the countryside and are vivid and transporting, uplifting and inspiring. This is a story of heroism, love, honour, loyalty and betrayal.

I gave this one 5 stars because it, educated me, made me laugh out loud, made me fall head over heels in love with Agustas McCrae and I couldn't wait to come home from work every evening to spend time with the boys and gals from Lonesome Dove.

I think there should be a list on goodreads for Books that you would never dream of reading but will end up absolutely loving

I read this in paperback and also purchased an audio copy as well and I can highly recommend the audio as very well paced and narrated. ( )

This time, it is all about the characters in Lonesome Dove. Romantic entanglings and broken hearts. Unlike Dead Man's Walk and Comanche Moon, the action moves at a gentler pace from Texas to Montana. Noticeably, there is less violence in Lonesome Dove (the town and the book) from the very beginning. McMurtry brings his characters alive whether they are important to the story or not. People like Dillard Brawley, Lonesome Dove's barber, is missing a leg due to a centipede bite. Hopping around on one leg while he cuts hair doesn't bother him one bit. True, he is a minor character but he is developed as if he will be impactful throughout the entire story (which he isn't, but do not forget about him.)
Back to the people who are important. Call and Gus are now retired from being captains with the Texas Rangers. Bored without wives, children, or families of any kind, they take a journey to the unknown land of Wyoming to start a cattle ranch. Gone are the violent Indian scalpings that were so prevalent in The Long Walk and Comanche Moon. The buffalo herds have all but vanished. Revenge is doled out on a much smaller scale. The first real violence comes when an former prostitute named Lorena is kidnapped by Blue Duck (remember him?). Lorena is sold to the Kiowas who rape and torture her repeatedly. Rest assured, this is nothing compared to the violence in the previous novels.
For fans of Clare, she is back! Her life has changed quite a bit since she ran the general store in Austin, but rest assured, she is still as feisty. She still remains one of my favorite characters. ( )

Masterpiece. Simply impeccable. This is one of the books that will stay with you forever once you've read it. ( )

i read this novel when it first came out in 1985. i retained very little of the details, beyond it was a novel i loved at that time, and that there were some really difficult moments. so this is a book i've been meaning to re-read for a long, long time. i've been dealing with a particularly nasty reading slump, thanks to life throwing shenanigans, and i've been dying for a book to just completely absorb me and take me out of my own head and woes for a while. lonesome dove certainly did that, and i am so grateful!

i think mcmurtry is an interesting storyteller. he managed quite a balancing act in creating a very intricate and nuanced tale in a very plain, straightforward style. my reading of the book this time happened with a more critical eye for historical and cultural accuracies (yes... i know. it's fiction. heh!) - something that left me taken outside of the enjoyment and the entertainment value at moments. it's an uncomfortable feeling. the book works in many ways: as a frontier novel, and as a cowboy novel, life is vividly portrayed in its archetypes and conflict narratives (mcmurtry also pretty much hits each of the seven basic plots in his behemoth). yet, in other ways, there are some glaring moments of cultural insensitivity: two irish brothers spend an inordinate amount of time mentioning potatoes; the portrayal of indigenous peoples as savages to be feared is perpetuated. i will grant that augustus mccrae has moments of speech where he acknoweldges native americans as first peoples driven out of their lands, and we are shown groups of indigenous people who act kindly, and others who are suffering starvation due to white settlers wiping out buffalo. so mcmurtry tries a little bit, and has apparently based a lot of his story on historical records and real people (in some cases). but it does leave me struggling with these concerns as a reader today. mcmurtry's depiction of women at this time in history, in the locations he's bringing to life, is limited: whore, or wife-mother. neither is easy in the unforgiving landscape, and i really wanted more depth from clara and lorena -- both were such interesting women.

if you are thinking about reading this book, i offer the following:
∙ it takes abut 200 pages before the action moves and the cattle drive begins. stay with it. the early part of the story is setting the stage, building up the lifestyles and characters for the journey to come. once the cattle drive begins, the pacing settles in. so don't be held back by the page count... it really will fly by quickly.
∙ once the drive begins, a second storyline, which originates in arkansas, begins. stay with it.
∙ for whatever reason, mcmurtry has chosen, in his cowboy vernacular, to refer to penises as 'carrots', and sex as 'pokes'... for a good bit, there's a lot of carrots and pokes going on. as far as i could find... not accurate words for the time. and now that i've mentioned it, you won't unsee those terms in the story. sorry!
∙ the ending (the very, very ending) was fairly 'meh' for me. all this time, and all this story... and this is where we finish? i do wonder, is the disappointment because it's over, or did mcmurtry not figure out how to close things off?? i'm not sure. (i realize there are three other novels that make up the collection, and i do plan on reading them.)

but here's the thing... the novel is just so compellingly readable and entertaining. so for all my worrying (which was consuming at times)... i was still won over. (mostly by newt, and following his arc. this boy, you guys!)

i read that mcmurtry has reflected on his novel, and included this preface in the 2000 edition of the book:

"It's hard to go wrong if one writes at length about the Old West, still the phantom leg of the American psyche. I thought I had written about a harsh time and some pretty harsh people, but, to the public at large, I had produced something nearer to an idealization; instead of a poor man's Inferno, filled with violence, faithlessness and betrayal, I had actually delivered a kind of Gone With The Wind of the West, a turnabout I'll be mulling over for a long, long time."

in searching online for reading about lonesome dove, i found this terrific piece. you might enjoy reading it too (the writer touches on some of the historical issues, and also writes about the TV series adaptation):

https://truewestmagazine.com/on-the-trail-with-gus-and-call/ ( )

What an incredible book. I’m happy I read “Dead Man’s Walk” and “Comanche Moon” first as I feel I would’ve been disappointed in them. They are also great reads, but do not quite live up to the story and emotion of “Lonesome Dove”. ( )

Gran novela, con personajes que enganchan y bien desarrollados y una trama de apariencia simple pero de gran profundidad y que te atrapa con una combinación de realismo, épica y tragedia.

Me costó un tanto arrancar pero una vez que conectas con los personajes, la novela fluye y las páginas se devoran. ( )

Gran novela, con personajes que enganchan y bien desarrollados y una trama de apariencia simple pero de gran profundidad y que te atrapa con una combinación de realismo, épica y tragedia.

Me costó un tanto arrancar pero una vez que conectas con los personajes, la novela fluye y las páginas se devoran. ( )

Gran novela, con personajes que enganchan y bien desarrollados y una trama de apariencia simple pero de gran profundidad y que te atrapa con una combinación de realismo, épica y tragedia.

Me costó un tanto arrancar pero una vez que conectas con los personajes, la novela fluye y las páginas se devoran. ( )

I tried reading this about 20 years ago, when my oldest two kids were toddlers. I was working full-time and momming, so I really didn't have what it took to read a nearly 1000-page epic novel. I wanted to--I just couldn't manage it at the time.
Fast forward to 2024.
In the past two and a half years, as I've been going through a divorce, and my kids and I are recovering from that, we watch our favorite TV series over and over again for comfort. In The Office, Michael Scott mentions that Holly claims to have read Lonesome Dove three times. I always loved that detail, because I, too, will re-read a book multiple times, even if it's a super long one. (see The Stand) So I knew I'd come back to Lonesome Dove one day. And that day came this April. I saw that the audio version of this (the only way I'd likely get through it in any decent amount of time) was over 30 hours long. I set the speed to 1.5, though I really enjoyed the reader's slow, country drawl and wanted to listen to it at regular speed. Still, I felt the fast speed might help, and I think it did.
I got through this much more quickly than I would have. I read a few reviews online, first, from people stating they struggled with the beginning of it, but forced themselves to get at least 100 pages in. I'm not married to that amount--if I don't like something, I can usually tell within the first 30-50 pages. Anyway, I steeled myself against the thought that I might not like this.... And I was *instantly* in love with it!!! The writing is so beautiful, I can't even take it! The fact that there are so many characters was good, to me. I still kept Gus and Call at the front of my brain as the main protagonists; but I came to care about so many other characters within the story!
I believe I experienced just about every basic emotion while listening to this: fear, anger, joy, sadness, etc. I will read this again and again! (The question now is whether or not to go on with the rest of the books in the series!) ( )

A rare five star for a fantastic novel. Such an epic story, so well written and well told by the narrator. 36hrs of listening! I had to keep stopping to check the place names and geographical features on the map. So interesting, heart breaking, heart warming and awe inspiring. The book carried me far away in place and time and had me in tears several times! ( )

Impressive, massive western. The characterization is extraordinary. There are larger-than-life figures like retired rangers Augustus McCrae and Captain Woodrow Call and plenty of other memorable characters.

Larry McMurtry writes beautifully. The pace is not always fast, but your patience is generously rewarded. There's always something happening to catch your interest and keep you immersed in this huge story ( )

A treasure. ( )

A group of ex-Texas Rangers living purposeless lives in the small town of Lonesome Dove near the Mexican border decide, almost on a whim, to drive a cattle herd north to Montana to establish a ranch there. Along the way they encounter Native Americans, outlaws, decent settlers and misfits (for good and ill) in the vast emptiness of the late 19th century Great Plains.

I think this book sets out to do two things.

Firstly, it is an elegy for a world about to undergo enormous change, both technological (trains, planes and automobiles) and social (the immigrant influx bringing huge numbers of people and new cultures). All the characters are exposed to change in some sense or other and all recognise that something is slipping away to be replaced by something they know not what. The characters that embrace that change may be seen to prosper, but the ones that do not often become lost in a world that does not want them and punishes them for clinging to something from before.

Secondly, this is an honest look at the world of the American West. It is, I suppose, an attempt to counterbalance the commonplace view of a more gentrified, anodyne, black hat/white hat America - think the films of Randolph Scott, Bonanza and The Little House on the Prairie. Women are generally treated as objects with an uncertain value - rape seems never to her very far from the minds of the women we meet here. Even apparently respectful men who really see women as people regard sex on demand as a given. Of course, love and fidelity are present and are properly praised, but almost always on the man's terms. It is also clear that many men in the West hardly ever came in to contact with a woman, let alone developed a relationship with one, so had a poor understanding of how to act.

Interestingly, racism is less of an issue in this book. True, Mexicans and Native Americans are generally portrayed as 'bad', but even then are acknowledged to have some agency and position in the world. The only significant and overtly black character in the book is treated with respect by his colleagues and mourned when he passes.

This is a long and not always easy read. Many incidents will make the reader recoil in horror or disgust. The overall feeling is downbeat. Having said that, this is a magnificent and majestic story of a way of life in decline. ( )

Epic existential cattle drive from the Mexican to the Canadian borderlands. Two flawed Samurai Texas rangers, a Disney cast of character-type cowboys, and women located somewhere between madonna, harlot and orphan. Best quote by a million miles: "The earth is mostly just a boneyard. But pretty in the sunlight." Well written and pacy, it's an absorbing adventure sustained and developed over 800 pages. ( )

An instant favourite and deserved classic. Can't believe I waited so long to act on this recommendation. ( )

Better than 5 ⭐️
My friend sent me this book for my 60th birthday citing it as one of her two favourite books (the other was To Kill A Mockingbird which she was sure I’d read. Correct!) My friend said she hoped I’d give it a go despite being a 950 page western.
People, this book was EPIC! I absolutely loved it. The characters were so vivid and the writing was beautiful. While I was reading I couldn’t wait to see what happened next and the fate of the central characters.
The book won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction and really is a masterpiece. I can definitely see myself reading this again, in fact the minute I finished it I wanted to go back to the start because I was so invested in the story and characters.
I have to know what happened to these characters before and after this book although my friend warned me the other novels in the tetralogy pale in comparison. I’ve also lined up the mini series starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones to watch. My friend says it’s very faithful to the book.
It took me awhile to get through this but I absolutely LOVED it.
My one regret is that I’m not able to share this with my late father and his brother, my late uncle. They were western fans and I’m sure they would have loved it as much as me.
Without doubt one of the best books I have ever read.
Thank you Bonnie for sending me this book. ( )

Beautifully written. Highly recommended even for those who are not fans of the western genre. ( )

One of the finest books I've read. 755 pages of great characters and adventure. It's been many years since I read it. It's about time to read it again. ( )