Reading Lonesome Dove for the first time.

SPOILER

Just got to the part where July wanders back to camp after the campfire shootout, and he finds Joe, Roscoe, and Janey. Realizing he's in over his head out there, and having to bury them. Absolutely gutted me. Had to put the book down. Damn this book is a rollercoaster of emotions.

Got to be one of my favourite passages in the book...I'd have taken her up on the offer :)

So I'm almost done with Lonesome Dove. such a great novel. I'm not ready to let it go and plan on reading the other books.

What to read first? Dead Man's walk, comanche moon or Streets of Laredo.

And why?

Simple as that, is Pea Eye Parker Black in the Lonesome Dove book? I have been trying to figure it out and I think I must have missed it but the book was not as clear.

Thank you!

"The Earth is mostly just a boneyard. But pretty in the sunlight."

Lonesome Dove is about finding meaning in purpose in a life that lacks external grounding. The purgatorial Great plains representing the harsh reality of the life we all must live in and traverse and the characters demonstrating the various ways people cope with such a life.

I just finished the book today and I feel like there's an essay brewing in me on the subject. But I need to marinate on it a bit more.

 The big question hanging over Newt's head is, "Who is my Father?"  The best Call ever does to answer that question is give Newt a horse.  Newt is already rich in horse gifts.  Jake gave Newt his first horseback ride, the Hat Creek outfit gave Newt a horse to work with, Newts first adventure is horse rustling in Mexico, Clara gave Newt a horse.  Newt doesn't need another horse gift. He needs a last name.  Newt needs Woodrow to acknowledge that Newt is his son and give him the last name, Call.  Gus unceremoniously told Newt the truth about Call being Newt's father, and Call knew that had happened.  The secret is out, and the hard work should be over.  Call could never say Maggie's name aloud until well after her death when it wouldn't do anyone any good and Call is making the same failure his and Maggie's child.  Captain Call, the most capable man in the nation, is incapable of doing the one thing that matters most to Newt.  Call the ranger, there were lots of rangers.  Call the fighter, there are lots of fighters.  Call the cattle drover. There are lots of cattle drovers.  Call the horse gifter. There are lots of horse gifters.  There is only one father of Newt, and Call isn't good enough to be that.  

Hey everyone, I just finished Lonesome Dove not 3 days ago, and like almost everyone of you I feel incredibly empty inside now that the book is over. What I experienced in the almost 900 pages made me feel like I had taken the journey with them. It's hard to pick up another book after that.

Anyways while I was getting ready for work today I was playing my outlaw country playlist and the song
The Taker covered by Kris Kristofferson came on, and as I was listening to the lyrics I instantly thought wow this song perfectly describes Jake Spoon, that smooth talking treacherous rake who did Lorena so effing dirty!!! The infamous "Who?" line still haunts me.

He's a taker, he'll take her to places

And make her fly higher than she's ever dared to
He'll take his time before takin' advantage
Takin' her easy and slow.

And after he's taken the body and soul

She gives him he'll take her for granted
Take off and leave her taken all of her
Pride when he goes.

Have a listen here to the song. It made me wonder, what other songs remind you of Lonesome Dove and their characters?

I've read the novel many times over the years, but that never really stuck with me until I'd become a Sourdough Guy myself. Glad to know that Gus is one of us!

There were several deaths in the book that literally made me gasp out loud and several were quite heart breaking.

These are all the ways I recall someone dying in the book. Did I miss any?

•	Gored by a bull
•	Drowning in a river
•	Getting shot by a bullet
•	Getting shot by an Indian’s arrow 
•	Hanged for stealing horses
•	Castrated 
•	Scalped
•	Dying of lung cancer
•	Snake bit
•	Kicked in the head by a horse
•	Falling from a 3rd story building
•	Getting speared by an Indian
•	Getting shot and then burned
•	Slit throat or stabbed

*almost forgot, Suicide by fire

Just finished the book yesterday. Had done a google search for best western stories and this guy popped up.

Thought it was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book of that size and was thinking that it would become a chore, but I was very wrong. The whole way through I was invested and found myself constantly reaching for it when I had free time.

It makes me want to watch the show, although I’d be a little worried it wouldn’t hold a candle to the book. Also, will probably dive into the spin off books.

Can someone tell me if the streets of ladero follows the cattle ranch in Montana as well as the original hat creek outfit or something else?

…if Luke wasn’t the one who shot at Elmira and Big Zwey …. who did?

I am reading the “Streets of Laredo” and wondered if there was a story of how Pea and Lori got together. What was his age in relation to Gus and Call?

In the show, the ending involves an interview with a reporter. Call says something like "a man of vision? Yeah, a hell of a vision" as he imagines all the deaths caused by his expedition.

The book ends with a line about how much Xavier loved Lorie.

So what's your favorite ending? And how did you feel about them adding that scene to the show?

I am planning on Lonesome Dove for the first time and was going in blind until I accidentally saw a Reddit post that says Gus dies. Have I ruined the book for myself? Will the book be as impactful now knowing? Am I doomed to a life without the joy of spoiler-free Lonesome Dove?

I just finished LD. Wow. Some of the things I'm left thinking:

1. Clara, Call and Gus are three of the most complex characters I've ever read. Clara is sooo hard to figure out, and yet she never felt random. I believed her motivations.

2. I love the ending. To me, ambiguity feels like life. I do wish the audiobook hadn't suddenly jumped from the interesting last sentence to some crappy upbeat country song.

3. Speaking of the last lines, why did the book end on that bit about how the saloon had been burned dow over Lorena? I guess to me it felt like a way to bring it all back to how our fears and desires drive us to do crazy things (Call starting the drive to Montana in the first place, etc).

4. Newt's change into being bitter and closed off to love makes it clear how Call became Call. It's a vicious cycle of father-to-son neglect.

Really makes you think.

I’ve been listening and immersing myself in these characters the past few months. I very much liked Will Patton reading Dead Man’s Walk. He captured the characters voices well and his enunciations often made me laugh out loud. I listened to Comanche Moon, then Streets of Laredo, then lastly Lonesome Dove. Lonesome Dove was read by Lee Horsley and I very much enjoyed his voice too, especially when Gus was speaking. Although, I was a bit thrown off at the very end of the audiobook because the last sentence was read, then immediately there was a drumbeat and music started to play, almost like it was a punch line! I was ready to hear Call maybe anguish or grit his teeth about the trouble that woman caused. I also picked up the book by L. McMurtry called The Last Kind Words Saloon which features Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. I then watched Wyatt Earp Cowboy War on Netflix and have been finding the history all very interesting! Does anyone have any recommendations for further reading?

It seems even the most diehard Dove fan dislikes this book.

Its dark, brutal and depressing. Most of the surving characters from Dove are absent or dead and the book focuses alot on Call . I loved it. While grim i loved how well it explored its character of Call and kept exploring the idea of aging.

I don't even like western stories - I only came to this book, because everyone was banging on about it on YouTube and I was looking for a good story with great characters.

Damn, it is so well written!! I know I am only 40 pages in but I couldn't find a word that was a filler and to be frank, not a whole lot happened so far.

I am so happy I bought this book!

That's it, I don't have much else to say yet. I will savour this door-stopper of a 📖...

Hello! I've just now joined this sub, although I've "lurked" here for some time now. I've been encouraged to see how many people love LD both as a masterpiece of literature and a great mini-series.

I have lost count of the number of times I've read the book, but guess what I just downloaded to my Kindle?

Sort of borrowing Gus's words, "It's gonna be a hell of a party!"

I really liked Jake and hated that they hung him, but I understood why. I liked Jake, and Deets, and Gus, so I was batting a 1000 the first time I watched it. Whats yall's opinions on Jake.

...or by the suddenty of it. Basically disappointed with having no closures all around. I might be writing this on hot head because I just finished it, but still. It might be personal preferance to require closures in the book from my side, but also I think it's a necessity.
I know there is a sequel for it, but it happens way later, also isn't really praised and as I know, doesn't touch upon on some of the key characters.
Just wanted to write, I apologize as probably many would disagree.