Book Review: Lonesome Dove

There's this feeling you get when you finish a really, really good book. You haven't been able to put it down, but you don't want it to end. And when you do finish it, you feel that emptiness, like something wonderful has just ended. That's exactly what I felt like today at approximately 2:30pm.

I picked up Lonesome Dove for the first time about a year ago, at the urging of my good friend Mark, who had been trying to get me to read it for some time. It's a massive book, and I just wasn't in the mood, so I got about 2 pages in before putting it down. It's a Western, and westerns aren't really my thing. I'm more of a Bridget Jones kind of girl.

While complaining about having no good books to read in Peru, Mark again urged me to read Lonesome Dove. I told him I would read it if he would send me a copy, not actually expecting him to do so. But he did, all 945 pages of it. This time, I had no other options, so I dug in. I had my doubts still after the first few pages, but soon I found I couldn't put it down. It's about a group of cowboys and a whore on a long cattle drive from Texas to Montana. It still doesn't sound that interesting, even after I've read it, but the characters are all so rich and very real. First of all, they have cool cowboy names like Pea Eye, Needle, Gus, and Newt. When trying to pick my favorite character, I just keep going. I like Deets, the scout, and Po Campo, the little Mexican cook, and Gus, who can't stop talking, and Newt, the baby of the bunch. There's not a bland character in the group. The wild west can get a big gory for my taste, but I just kind of skimmed the bloody parts. Throughout the journey, tragedy strikes several times, some of which made me very upset (but then again, if it wasn't good, I wouldn't care, right?). When it was all over, I found myself getting a bit choked up, not just because it was a sad ending, but because it was over. Now that's a good book.

Now I'm at a complete loss for reading materials, so if anyone wants to send any my way, please feel free. Gone With the Wind? Bring it on.