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Sin Killer (The Berrybender Narratives #1)
From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry comes the first leg of an epic journey through the early American frontier, introducing a pioneer family the likes of which you will never forget.It is 1830, and the Berrybender family -- rich, aristocratic, English, and hopelessly out of place -- is on its way up the Missouri River to see the untamed West as it begins to o...more
ebook, 368 pages
Published
June 1st 2010
by Simon & Schuster
(first published 2002)
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We have one brief moment on this planet, and we spend most of it sad and alone, wondering if anyone likes us or remembers who we are; or preparing ourselves to meet the day, to put on our professional faces and walk into our work environments and have the gumption to pretend like we know what we're talking about. We are shamelessly nostalgic for past selves, past moments of our lives where we felt so assured that life was an ever-widening tree-lined avenue, and that the avenue led to contentedne...more
Larry McMurtry reinvented the Western novel. With his debut, “Horsemen Pass By” to his Pulitzer Prize winning “Lonesome Dove,” McMurtry broke from the conventional Western made popular by Zane Gray in the early twentieth century and Louis L’Amour in the mid-twentieth century and portrayed the West—whether historical or modern—with more grit and grim.
McMurtry’s speciality is character development. And perhaps no Western character is more beloved than “Lonesome Dove’s” Augustus McCree. McMurtry kn...more
McMurtry’s speciality is character development. And perhaps no Western character is more beloved than “Lonesome Dove’s” Augustus McCree. McMurtry kn...more
Someone on the dust jacket said the Berrybender novels turn the western epic (Lonesome Dove) on its comedic ear. These books are farcical at times, but you can't help loving the crazy circus of characters. Every side-show freak of the Old West (real or dime novel version) is here, relishing in all their crazed glory.
But McMurtry writes affectionately about these people. They may be freaks, but they're his freaks and he loves them. You will too.
By the end of the fourth book, I found myself repea...more
But McMurtry writes affectionately about these people. They may be freaks, but they're his freaks and he loves them. You will too.
By the end of the fourth book, I found myself repea...more
McMurtry certainly knows how to create vivid characters. This book is filled with them, a lot of them in fact, and I thought I'd have a hard time keeping everyone straight, but that turned out not to be an issue. The writing is good, the pace is brisk, and the atmosphere and plot are all entertaining.
While the characters are indeed vivid, they're also the aspect of the book that held it back from being even better. Nearly every character is selfish and out only for themselves, and even worse, f...more
While the characters are indeed vivid, they're also the aspect of the book that held it back from being even better. Nearly every character is selfish and out only for themselves, and even worse, f...more
Another enjoyable epic from McMurtry. This is the first of 4 novels in the Berrybender Narratives. This novel takes place on or near the Missouri River in 1832 and provide an account of the aristocratic Berrybender family from England as they make a journey into the American West. Along the way, the eldest daughter falls for and marries a shy frontiersman, Jim Snow or the Sin Killer, must to the chagrin of her father. Many other perils happen to the family including capture of three of the women...more
This isn't the greatest book in the world, it certainly has its faults, but compared to certain other books I've experienced recently it seems fantastic. Comparing the writing skills of McMurtry to, say, those of Dan Brown or Stieg Larsson is like comparing fine champagne to that 'wine product' stuff they sell in corner delis. McMurtry just knows how to craft a character, how to set a scene, how to use dynamic, vivid, colorful language - he is simply a very talented writer. I was pleasantly carr...more
This was a good listen, but I have to admit I admire McMurtry's LONESOME DOVE series much much better. I can't remember ever wanting to reach inside the book and smack any of the characters as much as I wanted to smack some of the Berrybender family around. Lord Berrybender was the worst. As a wealthy member of the English aristocracy, he was used to having everything in his whim made so and quickly. One part that had me laughing as much as wanting to smack upside the back of his head with a cas...more
Jun 17, 2011
Chad
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
western
I enjoyed this book and the crazy English Berrybender family’s travels up the Missouri river in the 1830s. Larry McMurtry’s use of real events and people in his novels are always fun and entertaining. I was disappointed in how the book ended as it just stopped and the reader/listener is forced to obtain a copy of the second novel in this series (The Wandering Hill) to keep going. The ending is not a cliffhanger or wrap-up or anything else, it just ends. You will chuckle at the situations that th...more
If you love drama, suspense, and the wild west, then you’ll probably love the Sin Killer. The Berrybenders are a wealthy and very, very flawed family. They are dysfunctional and can hardly be civil to one another, but the banter and arguments only add to the story. McMurty did a really good job of illustrating what the west was like in the 1830s i.e. he made it believable and added more to his story than a romance, if it can even be called that.
This was my first Western and first McMurty novel,...more
This was my first Western and first McMurty novel,...more
This is a strange book. It's a bawdy, English manor comedy that takes place on a river boat going up the Missouri in 1830, with the European gentry murdering and being murdered and dismembered left and right, much to the consternation of their American guides. Imagine a P.G. Wodehouse story transplanted into a western--Jeeves and Wooster versus restless natives--and you'll have the right idea. The level of absurdity removes most of the tension as it's difficult to care for characters who care so...more
This is the first in a series, and I'm ashamed to say I haven't read them all, but not because I didn't love this book. Unlike most of the known universe I'm not a big fan of McMurtry's westerns. I know, I know. But I love his contemporary books, like Texasville and Dwayne's Depressed, and Some Can Whistle. This is the first of his historicals I've really liked. Perhaps because it's about the time and place I wrote my master's thesis on in graduate school: the West, which was the Louisiana Terri...more
A fun and interesting little book, but not quite what I'd come to expect from McMurtry after reading Lonesome Dove and its accompanying books. The characters have become even more caricatures, to the point where they are mostly silly and a bit annoying at times. They lack the depth and complex flavor the characters in his most famous series. The plot is a little hectic, but easy enough to follow and certainly is enough to drive the story itself. Also, it was an incredibly easy read. With the hug...more
This is a really stupid name. But I enjoyed it so much. It's in the vein of the last McMurtry I read about Marie Antoinnete whatshername ( I can't remember anything). It's mostly very funny & you'll earn a lot about the early west. I enjoyed it so much & the reader was great, the guy who played Doc Ock. But the ending was so abrupt, I thought I had lost one of the CDs. I'm thinking of those giant doorstop books by guys like Michener & Wouk, it could have gone on for volumes, but I gu...more
I have to admit that I came so close to not finishing this book several times. It really took me a while to get into it. I didn't think I liked any of the characters and I especially couldn't get into the relationship between Jim Snow and Tazman (sp?) Berrybender. But I hung in there and without noticing exactly when, I was hooked. I only gave this a 4-star rating because of my initial reaction. By the end of Sin Killer, I couldn't wait to start "The Wandering Hill."
The first book of the series written in 2005. The Berrybenders books are about this English family who immigrates to the Western US through St Louis. They pick up a wagon there and travel along the trail in the 1850's along with a cow and all their English possessions and a cook and a servent and even a gorgeous young thing who just cannot stand the plains and the campfires where they would cook their dinner meal along the Oregon Trail. McMurtry's humor is contagious.
The first of four novels in The Berrybender Narratives. In 1832 the
Berrybenders, a wealthy, aristocratic English family come to America
to tour the western frontier via river boat. This is the story of their
interaction with both the terrain and the characters that they meet
along the way. Interesting concept but I didn't feel that all of the
characters came across as real. This is no Lonesome Dove.
Berrybenders, a wealthy, aristocratic English family come to America
to tour the western frontier via river boat. This is the story of their
interaction with both the terrain and the characters that they meet
along the way. Interesting concept but I didn't feel that all of the
characters came across as real. This is no Lonesome Dove.
First in a quadrilogy, this is a tale of a wealthy English family, full of characters, making their way across the American plains in the 1830s. Classic McMurtry, with a dysfunctional cast of entertaining misfits coming face to face with Indians, mountain men, and historical figures. I've held off reading this until all four books were out because I rightly thought I would be impatient for the next.
I enjoyed this series. McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is in my top five favourite books of all time and, while this series can't compare, it's still good historical fiction/ Western to appeal to me -- with just the right amount of dark humour. Could have been/should have been one big book (like Dove) but releasing these four skinny ones over a period of four years probably made him a lot more money.
So surprising! I've never liked Westerns per say, so it was random I ever picked up this series ... however, I LOVED it! It was really interesting because you have this harsh, barbaric, unforgiving environment juxtaposed with a very civilized English family, which is more the life we can relate to in the modern day. That dichotomy made me, a modern reader, much more sympathetic to the horrors they encountered. Their perspective was much like the modern reader's, accustomed to everyday convenienc...more
McMurtry is my favorite novelist, and this story pulls you in like all of his others. He, or at least his characters, seem in Sin Killer to be rather obsessed with "fornicating," as he states it. It gets rather tiresome to read such, but the story is still good. The characters, as usual for McMurtry, are interesting and you wish the savages would dispatch a few of them more quickly. In short, this is a good read, not a great one.
An enjoyable read about the journey of an aristocratic British family and its entourage, guides, and fellow travelers on the Missouri river. Larry McMurtry has the touch -- able to convey an authentic sense of the west and create characters in three dimensions. This is the first of 4 books about the travels of the Berrybenders in the wild west of the 1830's. Having finished the second,I'm on to the third . . . my appetite for the saga yet to flag.
The Berrybenders are a unique family and McMurtrey does a terrific job of blending their adventures with real-life historical figures.
The author's imagination and creativity are to be envied, and I always get a giggle out of some goofy statement or action by one of the characters.
The whole series is well worth the read.
The author's imagination and creativity are to be envied, and I always get a giggle out of some goofy statement or action by one of the characters.
The whole series is well worth the read.
Set in 1832, a noble English family is traveling the Missouri River. The Berrybenders have a lot of colorful characters, including the eldest daughter who leaves the family and falls in love with Jim Snow, the sin killer--an Indian killer raised by natives. I like McMurtry, but found the book to be very uneven--I didn't finish it.
This was a book on tape, and it kept putting me to sleep--not a good thing when you're driving! Altogether, I found the characters disagreeable and had a hard time caring about them. I couldn't wait until we arrived at our destination and I didn't have to listen to it anymore. (My husband/travel companion found it mildly interesting.)
for a book which could not make up its mind whether it wanted to be a parody or an homage to the great westerns, it still was a page-turner. At several times, tears were running down my cheeks, either from laughing with the absurd humor or the callous manner in which some characters were killed off. Looking forward to other installments
A great read. This book is the first in a 4-part series detailing the misadventures of the Berrybender family (English noblefolk) on the early American west. While the Berrybenders are fictional, events and minor character are real, and McMurtry gives life to these forgotten folk.
Another one I couldn’t finish. I think McMurtry is off and on. Some I love (Lonesome Dove, Last Picture Show) and some I detest (Comanche Moon). What was this—a comedy, drama? Most characters were buffoons; none were interesting enough to follow. I’m not wasting any more time on this review and would rather stick pins in my eyes than read three more (3!!!) incarnations.
Quite entertaining . . . . the first of a series of four . . . . it loves one hanging, so one is definitely eager to continue with the series to see what's going to happen next . . . . I hope the remaining books that follow in the series will be equally entertaining.
Book one of Larry McMurtry's tetralogy chronicling the adventures of the Berrybenders--an English family discovering America in 1830. I will read the other two. This is my first book in a while which goes into exploring the early American frontier--good for a change!
This has to be the most stupid book I have every read all the way through. I couldn't tell if the author was trying to be serious or if the whole book was just a bad joke. Needles to say, I would not recommend it. The book is going into my "free-to-anyone" pile!
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Among many other accolades he was the co-winner of an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Brokeback Mountain in 2006.
Larry McMurty was born in Wichita Falls Texas in 1936. His first published book Horseman, Pass By was adapted into the film "Hud".
McMurty went on to publish many more novels, a number of which went on to become movies as well as a TV mini-series.
More about Larry McMurtry...
Larry McMurty was born in Wichita Falls Texas in 1936. His first published book Horseman, Pass By was adapted into the film "Hud".
McMurty went on to publish many more novels, a number of which went on to become movies as well as a TV mini-series.
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