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Caleb Holcomb #1
Shortgrass Song
Shortgrass Song is the saga of young Caleb Holcomb as he makes his way through life in an epic as big as Texas itself. Caleb's adventures take him through Civil War battles, buffalo hunts, Indian wars and barroom shoot-outs. On his way he meets:
Snake Woman--the Comanche slave woman who kidnaps him as a child in an attempt to regain her rightful place in the tribe.
Kicking Dog--the renegade Arapaho who rampages through the West scalping victims from Texas to Montana.
Marisol--the Mexican beauty who bears Caleb's children and wins his love.
Snake Woman--the Comanche slave woman who kidnaps him as a child in an attempt to regain her rightful place in the tribe.
Kicking Dog--the renegade Arapaho who rampages through the West scalping victims from Texas to Montana.
Marisol--the Mexican beauty who bears Caleb's children and wins his love.
608 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 20, 2020
One of the 20 or so books I rescued from the local transfer station last Saturday. The trailer that holds all the to-be-claimed/rescued stuff has been closed for months due to Covid-19. On my own I had forbidden myself to take away any more books from the place. In fact I forbade myself to even go inside, lest my book acquisition compulsion overtake me. I have a LOT of books ... just sayin'
This is a pretty snazzy-new hardbound and I picked it up because I like westerns. Not only did I pick it up, but I started reading it right away. I'm somewhat less than satisfied with "Midnight's Children" so I'm alternating with this book. As one might expect this one is "easier" to read, the author not being inappropriately smitten by his own prose and imagination as Mr. Rushdie seems to be. The story is pretty straightforward and familiar enough if you've read enough books about the Southwest. I begins in south-central Colorado with a pioneer family settling a bit north of present day Colorado Springs, called Colorado City back in 1860. Monument is the present-day town location. The Civil War has kicked in and the Battle of Glorieta Pass(down by Santa Fe) has just concluded. Life is hard and suggestions of other stories crop up: Lonesome Dove, Comanche Moon, The Son, Blood Meridian etc. as well as more boilerplate westerns by the likes of Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey and many others. The prose and the story are fine. It's not ambitious literature but I think the author is trying to stick with reality and trying to present a realistic picture of things. The evil Col. Chivington has already made an appearance. Somehow, some way, the story will be moving south to west Texas, which is separated from SE Colorado by only the thickness of the Oklahoma panhandle.
- On a kwazy koincidents note, this book features a description of how a vaquero manages to lose a finger trying to corral a huge fighting bull. In "Midnight's Children" there is an equally vivid description of how Saleem gets one of HIS fingers ripped off(gross!), and ... in the book I just finished, "The Big Bamboo" there are scenes with Japanese yakuza thugs, who all seem to have at least one of THEIR fingers missing. Weird ...
Moving along as Caleb has flown the coop and is on his own heading NORTH(away from Texas). After a stop near Central City and a misfire(sheep?!?!) at South Park he's getting up towards Wyoming Territory, where he meets an old mountain man. A meeting reminiscent of a similar event in "Jeremiah Johnson." Still a pretty good story ...
Finished last night by staying up a bit late. At the end we get the look-back from 1860 to the late 1880's. There is a definite "the good old unspoiled West is gone - spoiled by white development. This is a theme in plenty of the westerns I've read. The coming of the telephone to the Holcomb ranch is heavily symbolic. Caleb's many interesting adventures serve to highlight different aspects of SW(Colorado, New Mexico and Texas) culture during those times: ranching, Indian warfare, buffalo hunting to the point of extinction, survival in the high country(like The Big Sky)Hispanic culture, outlaws, gunplay, white atrocities(an account of the Sand Creek Massacre is included). The last big gunplay was very well described. The baddies go down, but at a cost. This scene is reminiscent of Lorrie's rescue by Gus in Lonesome Dove. For all of that the writing is only serviceable, and the whole singing cowboy shtick was a bit much. The author himself is a singing cowboy ... Other books cited earlier are better-written. Still., the author deserves credit for research and authenticity and for keeping the plot moving along. The characters seemed a bit wooden and cliched, but again, Mr. Blakey's effort is appreciated. Some authors just have the talent to make the stories more interesting. BTW ... the author has written a LOT of westerns. This was either the first or one of the first. Western writers do tend to write a lot of 'em.
- that long song/poem - a bit much
- The Cartwrights had Hop Sing, Ab Holcomb had Lee Fong(another cliche')
- Caleb's big secret vis a vis Snake Woman and Buffalo Head/Buster is dealt with rather abruptly.
- Scenes set at Ft. Griffin - maybe the Judge and the Kid were there at the same time ...
- As nasty as the Comanche could be, they were only defending their homeland and livelihood(buffalo hunting). Eventually they have to yield to the destruction of their very way of life. Too many greedy/needy white people.
- Gloria - "comely and buxom" = cliche'
- the obvious melodrama and religious shout-outs get to be a bit much also.
- 3.25* rounds to 3*
This is a pretty snazzy-new hardbound and I picked it up because I like westerns. Not only did I pick it up, but I started reading it right away. I'm somewhat less than satisfied with "Midnight's Children" so I'm alternating with this book. As one might expect this one is "easier" to read, the author not being inappropriately smitten by his own prose and imagination as Mr. Rushdie seems to be. The story is pretty straightforward and familiar enough if you've read enough books about the Southwest. I begins in south-central Colorado with a pioneer family settling a bit north of present day Colorado Springs, called Colorado City back in 1860. Monument is the present-day town location. The Civil War has kicked in and the Battle of Glorieta Pass(down by Santa Fe) has just concluded. Life is hard and suggestions of other stories crop up: Lonesome Dove, Comanche Moon, The Son, Blood Meridian etc. as well as more boilerplate westerns by the likes of Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey and many others. The prose and the story are fine. It's not ambitious literature but I think the author is trying to stick with reality and trying to present a realistic picture of things. The evil Col. Chivington has already made an appearance. Somehow, some way, the story will be moving south to west Texas, which is separated from SE Colorado by only the thickness of the Oklahoma panhandle.
- On a kwazy koincidents note, this book features a description of how a vaquero manages to lose a finger trying to corral a huge fighting bull. In "Midnight's Children" there is an equally vivid description of how Saleem gets one of HIS fingers ripped off(gross!), and ... in the book I just finished, "The Big Bamboo" there are scenes with Japanese yakuza thugs, who all seem to have at least one of THEIR fingers missing. Weird ...
Moving along as Caleb has flown the coop and is on his own heading NORTH(away from Texas). After a stop near Central City and a misfire(sheep?!?!) at South Park he's getting up towards Wyoming Territory, where he meets an old mountain man. A meeting reminiscent of a similar event in "Jeremiah Johnson." Still a pretty good story ...
Finished last night by staying up a bit late. At the end we get the look-back from 1860 to the late 1880's. There is a definite "the good old unspoiled West is gone - spoiled by white development. This is a theme in plenty of the westerns I've read. The coming of the telephone to the Holcomb ranch is heavily symbolic. Caleb's many interesting adventures serve to highlight different aspects of SW(Colorado, New Mexico and Texas) culture during those times: ranching, Indian warfare, buffalo hunting to the point of extinction, survival in the high country(like The Big Sky)Hispanic culture, outlaws, gunplay, white atrocities(an account of the Sand Creek Massacre is included). The last big gunplay was very well described. The baddies go down, but at a cost. This scene is reminiscent of Lorrie's rescue by Gus in Lonesome Dove. For all of that the writing is only serviceable, and the whole singing cowboy shtick was a bit much. The author himself is a singing cowboy ... Other books cited earlier are better-written. Still., the author deserves credit for research and authenticity and for keeping the plot moving along. The characters seemed a bit wooden and cliched, but again, Mr. Blakey's effort is appreciated. Some authors just have the talent to make the stories more interesting. BTW ... the author has written a LOT of westerns. This was either the first or one of the first. Western writers do tend to write a lot of 'em.
- that long song/poem - a bit much
- The Cartwrights had Hop Sing, Ab Holcomb had Lee Fong(another cliche')
- Caleb's big secret vis a vis Snake Woman and Buffalo Head/Buster is dealt with rather abruptly.
- Scenes set at Ft. Griffin - maybe the Judge and the Kid were there at the same time ...
- As nasty as the Comanche could be, they were only defending their homeland and livelihood(buffalo hunting). Eventually they have to yield to the destruction of their very way of life. Too many greedy/needy white people.
- Gloria - "comely and buxom" = cliche'
- the obvious melodrama and religious shout-outs get to be a bit much also.
- 3.25* rounds to 3*
June 30, 2019
Epic and full of great characters and lots of action.
February 4, 2020
Character-driven western tale exploring the life of Caleb Holcomb, and those close to him. Interesting take on the western hero in Caleb, who does the normal western hero stuff but spends most of his time as a traveling musician. Lots of tension between his impulse to wander and 'live life' versus his feelings that he should settle and achieve something with his life. Good action spaced through out, but it is episodic. That's probably the biggest complaint here, the book is a study of the man's first thirty years, so it does sprawl and wander a little plot-wise. All-in-all a good read for fans of the genre.
July 4, 2017
While I'm not a big fan of the western genre, I picked this one and its sequel up at my library because they sounded like they might be decent reads. I was glad I did because Blakely weaves a good tale full of interesting characters. There were a couple of little spots that dragged a bit, but nothing that ruined the story, as the plot flowed well. Blakely's prose was beautiful and it was cool how he didn't focus solely on Caleb, but shifted the story around to feature the other characters like Buster and Ab. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel next.
December 29, 2012
Have you ever read a book that will forever remain engrained in your memory? One that you enjoyed so much that in some ways you hated to see it end? This is one of those books I will never forget! I have read many great westerns by Lamour and Kelton, but this was my first book I have read by Mike Blakely. I can understand now why he earned a spur award for this book, it is a sweeping epic that takes you through the eyes of a father, mother, and 3 sons during an era when the west was being tamed and in some ways destroyed by the advancement of the white man. Myself I could envision of how it all happened as the story unfolded in my eyes. I read this 600 page book and it was painted in a fashion on the pages that told the story for me like paint on a canvas. Whether you are in love of the western genre or a history buff, or perhaps one to curl up with a good book in the cold of winter. This is an epic story that you should read in your lifetime and one that will leave you breathless as the book comes to an end. The Holcombs will help you along the way in the book and help you embarq on a journey like you have never read before! The book only left only a couple of flaws that I might have changed, but that was in my mind and not Mr. Blakely's. Again that was in my mind, so as not to split hairs I gave the book the 5 that it richely deserved.
December 5, 2013
I read this book as favor to a an acquaintance of mine. She loves western themed books. I don't.
After reading Short Grass Song, I still do not like westerns; not even this one. However, I do think that Mr. Blakely is a talented writer and great story teller. He utilizes an extensive vocabulary and sentence structure in such a skillful manner that the story flows smoothly; making it an easy read.
If someone does enjoy this genre, I am pretty sure that they would give this book at least a 3-star rating and, quite possibly four stars.
After reading Short Grass Song, I still do not like westerns; not even this one. However, I do think that Mr. Blakely is a talented writer and great story teller. He utilizes an extensive vocabulary and sentence structure in such a skillful manner that the story flows smoothly; making it an easy read.
If someone does enjoy this genre, I am pretty sure that they would give this book at least a 3-star rating and, quite possibly four stars.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews