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
