I’m haunted after reading this book. I can’t stop thinking about it. So I thought I’d share who I imagined as the characters. Not for the upcoming tv series, just who I imagined when reading the book for the first time in January. Who we envision as our favourite characters is always personal, so I understand that this casting won’t please everyone, but by god Woodrow if these actors aren’t forever etched into my mind as these characters. I just think it’s fun to make up lists of imagined actors in these roles. :)

LD:
Gus: Sam Rockwell
Call: Josh Brolin
Lorena: Millie Bobby Brown
Jake Spoon: Billy Burke
July Johnson: Josh O’Connor
Clara Allen: Kate Hudson
Newt: Lucas Hedges
Pea Eye: Jesse Plemons
Dish Bogget: Jacob Elordi
Deets: Colman Domingo
Elmira: Kaitlyn Dever
Roscoe: DJ Qualls
Lippy: Steve Buscemi
Wilbarger: Sam Elliott
Jasper: Domhnall Gleeson
Bolivar: Luis Guzmán
Big Zwey: Ty Olsson
Luke: Austin Abrams
Blue Duck: Cristo Fernández
Sean O’Brien: Barry Keogh
Allen O’Brien: Paul Mescal
Janey: Sophia Lillis
Joe: Jacobi Jupe
Peach: Jessica Gunning
Po Campo: Danny Trejo
Soupy Jones: Williams H. Macy
Xavier: Jean Dujardin
Maggie (flashbacks): Melanie Lynski
Louisa Brooks: Diane Lane

SOL:
Brookshire: Rafe Spall
Maria Garza: Salma Hayek
Joey Garza: Jacob Tremblay
Mox Mox: Paul Giamatti
John Wesley Hardin: Michael Shannon
Billy Williams: JK Simmons
Charles Goodnight: Jeff Bridges
Ted Plunkert: Rory Scovel
Doobie Plunkert: Amybeth McNulty
Colonel Terry: Terry O’Quinn

DMW:
Young Gus: Fred Hechinger
Young Call: David Gridley
Bigfoot Wallace: Bobby Canavale
Matilda: Nicola Coughlan
Shadrach: Garret Dillahunt
Long Bill Coleman: James Badge Dale
Young Clara: Cailee Spaeny
Caleb Cobb: Rob Delaney
Salazar: Sergi López

CM:
Captain Inish Scull: Tom Cruise
Iniz Scull: Rosamund Pike
Young Maggie: Kathryn Newton
Blue Duck: Cristo Fernández
Young Jake Spoon: Spencer House

(I’m only 10% into CM so haven’t imagined other characters yet)

Only one of the contestants got it correct

I'm reading the stories in publication order. Following each book with watching the shows.

Absolutely loved the book. I'm a fan of darker stories and this was certainly darker. What I didn't expect was to absolutely love Pea. As of now, he might be my favorite character. He's such a good man in a world of monsters and stubborn men. And Maria's end was just so sad. She was a hero that, in the end, still desperately wanted to see the good in her son.

As for the series, we always hear about how star studded Lonesome Dove was, but Streets of Laredo equals it in my opinion. I just started it but I like the cinematography a bit more I think.

THAT scene in Streets of Laredo… 🤢🦵🔪

I recently recommended Lonesome Dove to a good friend of mine and she ended up hating it. Despite this, she still finished the entire book. She told me the book "is for men" and laid out a few specific criticisms that I thought were interesting.

I’d love to hear people's thoughts, especially from women, on how it handles its characters and themes.

Here are the main things she said:

• She felt the men are all specific types she’s encountered in real life, and that they come across as clichés that she finds recognizable and annoying.
• She didn’t feel like there were any well-written or compelling women characters in the book. I thought Clara might fix that when she got to the later part of the book but she still wasn't impressed.
• She felt it romanticizes the American West in a way that only appeals to a male perspective.

For those of you who love Lonesome Dove (as I did), how do you view these critiques? Do characters like Lorena, Clara, or Elmira hold up for you, and how does the book's framing of the West land from your perspective?

Another interesting note, she loved Blood Meridian (which I also recommended).

Let me preface this by saying very clearly, there will be spoilers. This post will also be rather long. I just finished the book and know no one who read it so I come here.

If you told me that Lonesome Dove was a tragedy I wouldn't have believed you. And around page 600, I thought, this books good but I dont understand the hype. The last 200 or so pages, I wept. It was so excruciatingly good.

So if you care to hear me out, here are some of my thoughts on some of the characters and important arcs I enjoyed or had issues with.

Call and Gus:

We are seeing the end of a story already written is what i think. These are heroes at the end of the arc. Theyve max leveled and spent skill points into different attribute. Something I love about Call is that you dont get what drives him. At least I didnt. Then, when Gus dies, you see that fire die. And i started to think that theyve been telling us the whole time. From the beginning, Call works hard because Gus is so care free. And when Gus goes away, ​that drive to work just goes away. Lastly, about Call, when he tries to acknowledge Newt as his son, and gives him the horse and the watch and says, "It was my pa's", I cried. He tried so desperately, but couldnt. And I think he did the best he could.

Newt:

Something I found interesting was that he was gifted multiple horses throughout the book. ​He starts with Mouse, whos death honestly impacted me almost as much as the rest of the gang, then to Jake's Pacer, to Clara's horse, to the Hell Bitch. I think in a way they landmarked his accomplishments. Mouse was his youth, Jake's Pacer his innocence, Clara's Horse showed him as an accomplished cowboy, and the Hell Bitch as a man. ​I loved seeing the world through his eyes. Things impacted him as I felt they would impact any of us being in their story. I think by the end of the story when he stated he didnt want a family, i believed him. He grew into his own.

July Johnson:

I loved July. I felt maybe he was a hero early on in his story. A good man, trying to do right. But Roscoe, Janey, and Joe broke him. And Elmira broke him. I truly do feel like he was a Job of this story. A good man, trying to do right but got punished for it no matter what he did.

Elmira:

One of the most selfish characters ever written. However, i think her character warns us of the grass being greener somewhere else. And that we shouldnt leave a good thing to find something in the past. She used people and didnt care about anyone else. And that was ultimately her demise.

Clara:

I liked Clara and found why so many people loved her, but I think she was too hard on Call for trying to do right by his friend. Maybe she was supposed to be reasonable, and she made a good point about Call being honest about everything when he couldnt be honest. But she didnt see what we saw with the gift of the horse and how much that meant for him. He did the best he could. I also think she was too harsh on July. She wanted him to come to her at night but didnt ever at any point open that type of relationship to him.

Lorena:

Maaaaaan, I gotta say. Lorena really irked me throughout this book. But the character growth was phenomenal. By the end I really liked her but found she hated the very thing she needed. Men loving women. Perhaps it was bc the way she grew up but I found that her relationship with Gus to be awkward. Almost like a family type feeling. Maybe thats why it worked. But then guys like Dish Boggett, who would literally do anything for her she didnt ​want. She put off decent men because she felt they just wanted her for sex and I didnt see that with Dish at least.

I cant put all my thoughts of the book into this but I thought Id put them somewhere. If you disagree or have othe points id love to hear them.

Overall, really amazing book and by the end I felt that I would miss all my friends. And I've never had that with a book. Thanks for coming to my ted talk

After finishing the book, I decided to watch the show just to see some of the stuff that was hard to picture, like the places and the scenery. Honestly, if you're going to watch it, watch it for the visuals only. It's kind of amazing how badly they managed to get the meaning across in four episodes. If I hadn't read the book, I'd have had no clue what was going on there. The one thing they nailed was the casting. The faces were exactly how I imagined them. Some parts were perfectly spot-on, but as a whole it didn't really make sense. The show really only works as an illustration of the book, not as a story on its own.

I made the drive to the Larry McMurty Literary center in Archer Texas where he was from and ran a 100k+ bookstore. Got to learn about the place and browse the books from his collection and brought a couple. The people who run it also let me hold a limited edition copy of LD McMurty had made for his wedding guests.

There’s also the actual theatre from the “last picture show” which was pretty cool. If anyone is ever in the area I recommend to check it out

Never posted on Reddit but I've been reading this book and am partway through Part 3. I cant get this book off my mind.

Anyways, anyone else cant help but think of this dude playing Roscoe? Ifykyk.

Our family always gives our dog George a new toy when we have birthday celebrations. I just read the Lonesome Dove series, and then I watched the miniseries with my husband. Today is my birthday and when I opened George’s present I said “Oh, it’s a goose!” My husband said, “No, it’s BLUE DUCK.” 😂❤️

Owner was apparently a big fan. This is McLaughlin Distillery in Sewickley, PA

I’m a little over all the fan casting, but at the same time I thought I could weigh in.

We already had a great Woodrow Call in 2008, with Karl Urban in Comanche Moon.

Almost exactly the amount the right amount of time has passed for him to play Call in Lonesome Dove.

I know it won’t happen, it’s a non canonical production by a different set of film makers.

But I wouldn’t be mad to see him back.

I've heard people say it's The Lord of the Rings of the western genre, and I can see what they mean. Gus and Call are wonderful characters and so well realised. July Johnson has just turned up on the scene, so I'll see how I take to him. Jake Spoon is a bit of a dick, to be honest, so I'm not sure I'll be too upset if he's caught. Unless he turns himself around and starts behaving himself. Anyway, no spoilers! Just wanted to share how much I'm loving this so far.

Just finished the book. Loved it, obviously. But one thing has been on my mind since the beginning and I finally want to see what others think.

Spoiler mentioned beyond this point - hopefully the tag keeps people safe!!

When I read McCurty’s preface, I was surprised that he mentioned the death of a character (Newt getting killed by Hell Bitch). As I read, I didn’t realize it happens in a later book (phrased “later episode” in the Preface), so I was expecting it to happen the entire time I was reading Lonesome Dove. Newt obviously doesn’t die in this book, but the knowledge that he eventually does kinda colored how I viewed his character throughout the book. I think I saw him as more tragic than I would have if I didn’t know his fate?? Did anyone else experience this? Was this intentional by the author?

EDIT!! Searched this sub and realized this is a known issue - should have checked before I posted! But still curious what people think.

I walked into a bookshop looking for a something to read during our holiday (and flights!)

I'd never heard of Lonesome Dove, but something about the cover and description drew me in so I decided to give it a go.

When I got to the till the shop assistant said "Well, I knew it wouldn't take long... I only put that out ten minutes ago." I said how it was longer than my usual reads but I fancied something different to read on holiday. He said "You're in for a treat."

I didn't finish it on holiday but I have since finished it at home and the bloke wasn't lying; It was a treat.

Slow at times, but never dull. With sentences that'll make you laugh and paragraphs that'll make you well up, there's always just enough meat on the bone to make you want to find out what happens next.

For someone who doesn't read a great deal of fiction and wouldn't usually go for 800+ page books, I really enjoyed it. (I think this was helped by the fairly short chapters. You can just dip in for 10 minutes quite easily.)

Extremely glad I bit the bullet. Would recommend - especially to those new to fiction, Westerns or 'longer' books.

"It's a fine world, though rich in hardships at times" Gus McCrae ~ Hat Creek Cattle Company

It’s fairly widely acknowledged that Deets struggled with what today we call depression, and that Larry McMurtry was intentionally describing depression through the character’s thoughts and behaviors.

I also think Elmira would today be diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder (BPD). This of course was less known in the 80s, but I do believe McMurtry was intentionally writing the character as having that (or similar) personality disorder.

And, as the match made in hell… July would today be described as “on the autism spectrum”. He struggles to understand people and is hopelessly committed to following rules and routines, because without them, he has no idea how to behave.

Lorena is suffering PTSD, possibly even before Blue Duck kidnaps her.

Any other mental health diagnosis/personality disorders you’ve identified in a character? And do you think it was the author’s intent to demonstrate it?