Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Owen Wister, The Virginian *** 1/2

The Virginian, published in 1902, was one of the first Western novels. It is very finely written, in a style that splits the difference between flowery 19th century eloquence and gritty 20th century "plain" style. The title character is a taciturn, honorable cowboy who is a bit of a dandy. He falls in love with the schoolmarm out from Vermont, who has a refreshingly complex inner life for a young woman in a Western.

There's a lot to like in this novel. The love story is well told, the sense of place (Wyoming) is strong, and the characters are appealing. It's too long, though. It has many stories in it, and it wouldn't suffer by losing half of them. I appreciated the tragic story of Shorty and his horse Pedro, but could have done without the comic story of Emily the chicken. I was left cold by nearly everything having to do with the Virginian's nemesis, Trampas, although maybe some of it was necessary to set up the tense scene of bringing the cattle rustlers to justice.

The Virginian is the first novel in a leather-bound collection of Classic Westerns that Evelyn gave me for my birthday.

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