Lonesome Dove is a western novel by Larry McMurtry that does often feel as long as it is, but it’s still easy to see why it has become so acclaimed. It was written by the now deceased author in 1985 and was the basis for one of the most highly regarded mini-series in television history.

Lonesome Dove is a name of a small Texas town, and the story takes place not long after the Civil War. Two former Texas Rangers have a cattle ranch together and are tasked with herding number of cows to Montana. Along the way, they encounter all kinds of dangers ranging from the wrath of nature to Indian attacks. A ruthless outlaw has caused a fair bit of trouble as well. Plenty of bullets and arrows are let loose on the journey, but grit and courage are displayed as well.

I have probably over-simplified the story because McMurtry delves into some pretty intense emotional journeys as well for all sorts of characters. The two Rangers are pretty fascinating, but McMurtry does not stay limited to their perspective. There is a sheriff from Arkansas who finds that his wife has run off while he was pursuing a fugitive. A former prostitute has joined one of the Ranger on the cattle drive. The reader is not quite sure which character is going to feature in the next chapter for a while.

Sometimes, the novel seems a little unfocused as various threads are laid out. It is almost 860 pages long, so it does drag at times, but I was still determined to get through it and was not disappointed.

McMurtry’s prose at times feels long-winded, but there is undeniable eloquence in his style. I didn’t mind the unpredictability as to which element of the story I was going to land as I progressed through the chapters.

The Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, were a fascinating pair and typical of the rugged, no-nonsense western archetypes of the genre. McMurtry displays a vivid and creative imagination when it comes to the threats the cowboys face on their long journey.

The title also has some metaphorical meeting which is explained in a foreword written by McMurtry, but I won’t spoil it. I still found it amusing that very little of the story actually takes place within the town the bears the name.

The story does suffer a little from being as long as it is, but it’s still a rewarding journey for the reader to take. I don’t usually read westerns, and I doubt that I will devour the genre as voraciously as I do when it comes to crime fiction, but I doubt this will be my last visit to the world of Larry McMurtry or to westerns.

Next up, private detective Cormoran Strike has a missing novelist to find in Robert Galbraith’s The Silkworm, and I am going along for the ride.