I haven’t read an actual book since I was in HS. (CO2016) So it’s been a minute. But I really dig the Western Era of 1865-1899. What are some good reads? TIA!
*True Grit* by Charles Portis is a pretty solid novel for someone who hasn’t read in a while. It’s approachable, funny, has great characters, and has a satisfying conclusion.
If you’re okay with fairly graphic violence, I very much enjoyed S Craig Zahler’s two Westerns, *A Congregation of Jackals* and *Wraiths of the Broken Land*. The latter was my favorite of the two. If you’ve seen the Western film, Bone Tomahawk, this is the guy who wrote and directed that movie.
*Lonesome Dove* by Larry McMurtry is excellent as well. It is, however, very long. Probably about as long as the three previous novels I listed combined. It’s a slow burn, but very rewarding and with a perfect ending.
If you want something a bit more challenging from a prose standpoint, *All the Pretty Horses* and *The Crossing* by Cormac McCarthy are fantastic but depressing Westerns. Those two can be read in any order, and there’s a third book, *Cities of the Plain*, that is a sequel to both. McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men is a contemporary Western worth reading as well.
Elmore Leonard has also written several Westerns that are supposedly very good, but I’ve only read his crime novels.
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Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
*True Grit* by Charles Portis is a pretty solid novel for someone who hasn’t read in a while. It’s approachable, funny, has great characters, and has a satisfying conclusion.
If you’re okay with fairly graphic violence, I very much enjoyed S Craig Zahler’s two Westerns, *A Congregation of Jackals* and *Wraiths of the Broken Land*. The latter was my favorite of the two. If you’ve seen the Western film, Bone Tomahawk, this is the guy who wrote and directed that movie.
*Lonesome Dove* by Larry McMurtry is excellent as well. It is, however, very long. Probably about as long as the three previous novels I listed combined. It’s a slow burn, but very rewarding and with a perfect ending.
If you want something a bit more challenging from a prose standpoint, *All the Pretty Horses* and *The Crossing* by Cormac McCarthy are fantastic but depressing Westerns. Those two can be read in any order, and there’s a third book, *Cities of the Plain*, that is a sequel to both. McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men is a contemporary Western worth reading as well.
Elmore Leonard has also written several Westerns that are supposedly very good, but I’ve only read his crime novels.