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Chisholm Trail Series
The Time It Never Rained
" The Time It Never Rained was inspired by actual events, when the longest and most severe drought in living memory pressed ranchers and farmers to the outer limits of courage and endurance."―Elmer Kelton
Rio Seco was too small to afford a professional manager for its one-room Chamber of Commerce.
And Rio Seco, meaning "dry river" in Spanish, symbolizes the biggest enemy of the ranchers and farmers in 1950s Texas, an enemy they can't drought. To cranky Charlie Flagg, an honest, decent rancher, the drought of the early 1950s is a battle that he must fight on his own grounds. Refusing the questionable "assistance" of federal aid programs and their bureaucratic regulations, Charlie and his family struggle to make the ranch survive until the time it rains again― if it ever rains again.
Charlie Flagg, among the strongest of Elmer Kelton's memorable creations, is no pasteboard hero. He is courageous and self-sufficient but as real as his harsh and unforgiving West Texas home country. His battle with an unfathomable foe is the stuff of epics and legends.
Rio Seco was too small to afford a professional manager for its one-room Chamber of Commerce.
And Rio Seco, meaning "dry river" in Spanish, symbolizes the biggest enemy of the ranchers and farmers in 1950s Texas, an enemy they can't drought. To cranky Charlie Flagg, an honest, decent rancher, the drought of the early 1950s is a battle that he must fight on his own grounds. Refusing the questionable "assistance" of federal aid programs and their bureaucratic regulations, Charlie and his family struggle to make the ranch survive until the time it rains again― if it ever rains again.
Charlie Flagg, among the strongest of Elmer Kelton's memorable creations, is no pasteboard hero. He is courageous and self-sufficient but as real as his harsh and unforgiving West Texas home country. His battle with an unfathomable foe is the stuff of epics and legends.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
188 people are currently reading
3527 people want to read
About the author
Elmer Kelton
200 books251 followersElmer Kelton (1926-2009) was award-winning author of more than forty novels, including The Time It Never Rained, Other Men’s Horses, Texas Standoff and Hard Trail to Follow. He grew up on a ranch near Crane, Texas, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas. His first novel, Hot Iron, was published in 1956. Among his awards have been seven Spurs from Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. His novel The Good Old Boys was made into a television film starring Tommy Lee Jones. In addition to his novels, Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist for 42 years. He served in the infantry in World War II. He died in 2009.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/elmerk...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/elmerk...
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December 17, 2022
UPDATE:
Reality emulates fiction; fiction emulates reality:
‘The worst we’ve seen’: Ranchers threatened by historic heat and drought -- New York Times (October 5, 2022)
******
Elmer Kelton wrote in the prologue of The Time It Never Rained:
"Men grumbled, but you learned to live with the dry spells if you stayed in West Texas; there were more dry spells than wet ones. No one expected another drought like that of ’33. And the really big dries like 1918 came once in a lifetime.
“'Why worry?' They said. 'It would rain this fall. It always had.'
“But it didn’t. And many a boy would become a man before the land was green again.”
The novel is set in West Texas during the 50’s when the region endured and barely survived a drought that lasted seven long years. And Kelton was there – not as a rancher, but as an agriculture journalist. He covered the desolation on a daily basis and was intimately acquainted with what it meant for the people who were forced to cope with its devastating manifestations.
As a sideline, Kelton had been writing fiction since the late 40’s and his stories were first published in pulp magazines. When those went out of business, he was able to get his first novel, Hot Iron, published in 1955. Twice he began a novel about the drought but his publisher was not interested. It was too different – too unconventional. Its plot simply did not contain the elements ordinarily found in the Western novels of the day. There was a lot of gray and very little black-and-white. It was a story about change and how people attempted to adapt to it, but not always with success. In other words, there was not enough action; it was too tame as far as the publisher was concerned. One might even say, too literary.
In the early 70’s, after several more of Kelton’s novels were published, he scrapped his first two efforts and began a third draft of a novel about the drought. The Time It Never Rained was the happy result.
Seven of Kelton’s novels have received the Western Writers of America’s prestigious Spur Award and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum has bestowed its coveted Western Heritage Award on him for three of his novels. These are the equivalent of Pulitzer Prizes in the Western book world.
The Western Writers of America eventually named Kelton “the number one Western Writer of all time.” Willa Cather finished a distant second.
Kelton went on to write over forty novels, two published posthumously after his death in 2009, but the most honored is The Time It Never Rained, for it received both the Spur Award and the Western Heritage Award. Kelton never wrote “the Great American Novel,” but some critics have called this book “the Great Texas Novel.”
Kelton’s protagonist is Charlie Flagg, "[who] was past fifty now, a broad shouldered man who still toted his own sacks, dug his own postholes, flanked his own calves." His ranch would have been considered a mid-sized one in West Texas in the 50’s. It consisted of fifteen sections, almost ten thousand acres, but he owned only three of the sections. He leased the others.
Cattle and sheep ranching in West Texas on any size scale at all required many acres even in the best of times. It took four acres to feed just one sheep and twenty to feed one cow. During the dry times, even those ratios would not suffice. Therefore, ten thousand acres was not a large ranch.
Charlie was an ornery cuss. He was also a libertarian at a time when that particular philosophical label was not in vogue. While the other ranchers in the area accept government assistance during the drought, Charlie will have nothing to do with it.
Charlie says that when a man took government assistance "he sold his freedom bit by bit, and was paid for it on the installment plan," and that "the politician promiseth, and the bureaucrat taketh away." "What I can’t do for myself," he says at one point, "I’ll do without."
He uses his grandfather as his role model as he tries to explain to his son why he is unwilling to accept government assistance:
"He went through cruel hard times when there was others takin’ a pauper’s oath so they could get money and food and free seed, but he never would take that oath. He come within an inch of starvin’ to death, and he died a poor man. But he never owed any man a debt he didn’t pay and he never taken a thing off the government."
And what about Charlie? Does he prevail? Rather than disclosing the answer to those questions, I would recommend that everyone read this atypical Western novel and discover the answers for themselves.
And what about today? It would seem that the more things change, the more they remain the same, as indicated by this headline: In 2014, Texas Drought Could Be Worst Ever In Some Areas, Climatologist Says.
Here is a sample of the world according to Charlie Flagg:
"It's as old as mankind...the hope of gettin' somethin' for nothin' or gettin' more out of the pot than you put in it. Nobody's ever made it work yet. Nobody ever will."
"It's a good life, son, but sometimes a damn thin livin'."
"As a way of makin' money, ranchin' is awful highly overrated."
"Only real difference I see between ranchin' and poker is with poker you got some chance."
"A ranch without any cows is like a man walkin' down the street without any pants on. He's just not respectable."
"I reckon we just keep the ewes so we can afford the cows."
"Some people say we ought to let the coyote alone, that we got to have them for the balance of Nature. But most of these people live in the cities, where they threw Nature out years ago. They ain't goin' to give up their automobiles and paved streets and sewer systems to get Nature back, but they're damn sure free with advice on what the other man ought to do."
"I say man has got to be considered a part of Nature's balance, too. You can't raise coyotes and sheep together any more than you can have paved streets and coyotes together. You can't eat a coyote or wear his fur."
"A bad habit or two is good for a man or a beast. Did you ever know a man who didn't have any bad habits? I have, and I always hated the son of a bitch.".
Reality emulates fiction; fiction emulates reality:
‘The worst we’ve seen’: Ranchers threatened by historic heat and drought -- New York Times (October 5, 2022)
******
Elmer Kelton wrote in the prologue of The Time It Never Rained:
"Men grumbled, but you learned to live with the dry spells if you stayed in West Texas; there were more dry spells than wet ones. No one expected another drought like that of ’33. And the really big dries like 1918 came once in a lifetime.
“'Why worry?' They said. 'It would rain this fall. It always had.'
“But it didn’t. And many a boy would become a man before the land was green again.”
The novel is set in West Texas during the 50’s when the region endured and barely survived a drought that lasted seven long years. And Kelton was there – not as a rancher, but as an agriculture journalist. He covered the desolation on a daily basis and was intimately acquainted with what it meant for the people who were forced to cope with its devastating manifestations.
As a sideline, Kelton had been writing fiction since the late 40’s and his stories were first published in pulp magazines. When those went out of business, he was able to get his first novel, Hot Iron, published in 1955. Twice he began a novel about the drought but his publisher was not interested. It was too different – too unconventional. Its plot simply did not contain the elements ordinarily found in the Western novels of the day. There was a lot of gray and very little black-and-white. It was a story about change and how people attempted to adapt to it, but not always with success. In other words, there was not enough action; it was too tame as far as the publisher was concerned. One might even say, too literary.
In the early 70’s, after several more of Kelton’s novels were published, he scrapped his first two efforts and began a third draft of a novel about the drought. The Time It Never Rained was the happy result.
Seven of Kelton’s novels have received the Western Writers of America’s prestigious Spur Award and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum has bestowed its coveted Western Heritage Award on him for three of his novels. These are the equivalent of Pulitzer Prizes in the Western book world.
The Western Writers of America eventually named Kelton “the number one Western Writer of all time.” Willa Cather finished a distant second.
Kelton went on to write over forty novels, two published posthumously after his death in 2009, but the most honored is The Time It Never Rained, for it received both the Spur Award and the Western Heritage Award. Kelton never wrote “the Great American Novel,” but some critics have called this book “the Great Texas Novel.”
Kelton’s protagonist is Charlie Flagg, "[who] was past fifty now, a broad shouldered man who still toted his own sacks, dug his own postholes, flanked his own calves." His ranch would have been considered a mid-sized one in West Texas in the 50’s. It consisted of fifteen sections, almost ten thousand acres, but he owned only three of the sections. He leased the others.
Cattle and sheep ranching in West Texas on any size scale at all required many acres even in the best of times. It took four acres to feed just one sheep and twenty to feed one cow. During the dry times, even those ratios would not suffice. Therefore, ten thousand acres was not a large ranch.
Charlie was an ornery cuss. He was also a libertarian at a time when that particular philosophical label was not in vogue. While the other ranchers in the area accept government assistance during the drought, Charlie will have nothing to do with it.
Charlie says that when a man took government assistance "he sold his freedom bit by bit, and was paid for it on the installment plan," and that "the politician promiseth, and the bureaucrat taketh away." "What I can’t do for myself," he says at one point, "I’ll do without."
He uses his grandfather as his role model as he tries to explain to his son why he is unwilling to accept government assistance:
"He went through cruel hard times when there was others takin’ a pauper’s oath so they could get money and food and free seed, but he never would take that oath. He come within an inch of starvin’ to death, and he died a poor man. But he never owed any man a debt he didn’t pay and he never taken a thing off the government."
And what about Charlie? Does he prevail? Rather than disclosing the answer to those questions, I would recommend that everyone read this atypical Western novel and discover the answers for themselves.
And what about today? It would seem that the more things change, the more they remain the same, as indicated by this headline: In 2014, Texas Drought Could Be Worst Ever In Some Areas, Climatologist Says.
Here is a sample of the world according to Charlie Flagg:
"It's as old as mankind...the hope of gettin' somethin' for nothin' or gettin' more out of the pot than you put in it. Nobody's ever made it work yet. Nobody ever will."
"It's a good life, son, but sometimes a damn thin livin'."
"As a way of makin' money, ranchin' is awful highly overrated."
"Only real difference I see between ranchin' and poker is with poker you got some chance."
"A ranch without any cows is like a man walkin' down the street without any pants on. He's just not respectable."
"I reckon we just keep the ewes so we can afford the cows."
"Some people say we ought to let the coyote alone, that we got to have them for the balance of Nature. But most of these people live in the cities, where they threw Nature out years ago. They ain't goin' to give up their automobiles and paved streets and sewer systems to get Nature back, but they're damn sure free with advice on what the other man ought to do."
"I say man has got to be considered a part of Nature's balance, too. You can't raise coyotes and sheep together any more than you can have paved streets and coyotes together. You can't eat a coyote or wear his fur."
"A bad habit or two is good for a man or a beast. Did you ever know a man who didn't have any bad habits? I have, and I always hated the son of a bitch.".
December 18, 2022
Boy howdy, this was one mighty fine novel. It's West Texas in the 1950's. Cattle and sheep ranchers and dirt farmers. All suffering in the throes of a severe drought, seven years without rain. Tending the land and their animals, most of them are at their breaking point. The small community is dying on the vine.
Charlie Flagg is a man of his word, respectful of tradition, even when he can ill afford it. Salt of the earth, he is the genuine article. Beat with him as he struggles to come to terms with changes that must be made. He does not consider government assistance to be an option, even though most are clinging to it as a lifeline. Another reviewer stated simply that he was a man of principle, and that nails it better than anything I can conjure up.
These folks were made of sterner stuff than me. It's hard to imagine that everything you hold dear is dependent on the weather. And so, you pray for rain. It's bound to rain, it always has.
Charlie Flagg is a man of his word, respectful of tradition, even when he can ill afford it. Salt of the earth, he is the genuine article. Beat with him as he struggles to come to terms with changes that must be made. He does not consider government assistance to be an option, even though most are clinging to it as a lifeline. Another reviewer stated simply that he was a man of principle, and that nails it better than anything I can conjure up.
These folks were made of sterner stuff than me. It's hard to imagine that everything you hold dear is dependent on the weather. And so, you pray for rain. It's bound to rain, it always has.
August 8, 2022
What an apt book to pick up and read when Texas is currently in stage 3 drought right now. It has been such a hot and dry summer and the land is really, really parched. I don’t know when we will get a good, solid rain but soon would be great. The characters in The Time It Never Rained were constantly waiting for rain to come to ease the burdens and hardships that living in a drought brought to their lives. Texas ranchers and farmers work hard to produce livestock and crops when the conditions are ideal, let alone in a harsh climate that sucks away all life. Elmer Kelton knew what he was writing from his own experiences. When a writer writes what he knows and does it in a way that puts the reader in the midst of the struggles and pain, you know you’ve found a winner. I found this in Elmer Kelton, a west Texan with a heart for the region he claimed as home.
Life still depended on two fundamentals: crops planted by the hand of men and grass planted by the hand of God.
Give us rain, they said at Rio Seco, and it makes no difference who is in the White House.
This novel’s central focus is on a seven year drought in west Texas during the 1950’s. Charlie Flagg is the indomitable, principled old rancher who believes in working for himself to survive the drought and absolutely refuses to accept any handouts from the government. He stands alone in this community when others stoop to take government aid. He is the voice of warning to his fellow ranchers and farmers to not get too comfortable taking what the officials were offering.
It divides us into selfish little groups, snarlin’ and snappin’ at each other like hungry dogs, grabbing for what we can get and to hell with everybody else. We beg and fight and prostitute ourselves. We take charity and we give it a sweeter name.
Charlie Flagg’s argument against taking federal aid, regardless of how deserving the rancher is and how well intentioned the government claims to be, is that now he’s lost his self-worth and pride in the things that he took care of himself. Charlie values doing his job independently regardless of the hardships and losses that he faces. He expects that HE will see himself through it because he only knows this to be the right way. He is definitely a man of an older dying generation who just won’t accept defeat.
Kelton explores a progression of Anglo-Mexican relationships in a way that is truly enlightening. We meet Lupe Flores and his family who lives on Charlie’s ranch. Lupe oversees the ranch while his son, Manuel, is learning what is right and wrong. Charlie’s old-time ideals which do not hold Mexicans in high regard are questioned and Charlie himself is conflicted about those ancient beliefs because Charlie actually values Lupe and his family.
Elmer Kelton should be in the list of top writers of Western literature with the likes of Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy. He creates rugged and believable characters and places them in a desperate and uncontrollable situation that seems to have no end. We feel the strain upon them and understand their desire for a way out. We sympathize because this is a scenario that happens all too often in Texas. As I write this last sentence, I watch my weather app and hope for any amount of rain to arrive and quench the thirsty land.
Life still depended on two fundamentals: crops planted by the hand of men and grass planted by the hand of God.
Give us rain, they said at Rio Seco, and it makes no difference who is in the White House.
This novel’s central focus is on a seven year drought in west Texas during the 1950’s. Charlie Flagg is the indomitable, principled old rancher who believes in working for himself to survive the drought and absolutely refuses to accept any handouts from the government. He stands alone in this community when others stoop to take government aid. He is the voice of warning to his fellow ranchers and farmers to not get too comfortable taking what the officials were offering.
It divides us into selfish little groups, snarlin’ and snappin’ at each other like hungry dogs, grabbing for what we can get and to hell with everybody else. We beg and fight and prostitute ourselves. We take charity and we give it a sweeter name.
Charlie Flagg’s argument against taking federal aid, regardless of how deserving the rancher is and how well intentioned the government claims to be, is that now he’s lost his self-worth and pride in the things that he took care of himself. Charlie values doing his job independently regardless of the hardships and losses that he faces. He expects that HE will see himself through it because he only knows this to be the right way. He is definitely a man of an older dying generation who just won’t accept defeat.
Kelton explores a progression of Anglo-Mexican relationships in a way that is truly enlightening. We meet Lupe Flores and his family who lives on Charlie’s ranch. Lupe oversees the ranch while his son, Manuel, is learning what is right and wrong. Charlie’s old-time ideals which do not hold Mexicans in high regard are questioned and Charlie himself is conflicted about those ancient beliefs because Charlie actually values Lupe and his family.
Elmer Kelton should be in the list of top writers of Western literature with the likes of Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy. He creates rugged and believable characters and places them in a desperate and uncontrollable situation that seems to have no end. We feel the strain upon them and understand their desire for a way out. We sympathize because this is a scenario that happens all too often in Texas. As I write this last sentence, I watch my weather app and hope for any amount of rain to arrive and quench the thirsty land.
August 7, 2022
“It was a comforting sight, this country. It was an ageless land where the past was still a living thing and old voices still whispered, where the freshness of the pioneer time had not yet all faded, where a few of the old dreams were not yet dark with tarnish.”
Such is the connection that Charlie Flagg has with his ranch land. It’s a bone deep romanticism but as we come to know Charlie, we learn of his pragmatism, his rugged individualism, and hard-headed independence. Charlie hears the voices from the past. An old Commanche warrior is buried atop a hill on his land underneath a cairn built by August Smidth, the land’s previous owner. Now, Charlie tends the old warrior’s final resting place. Charlie is a warrior, too. He fights the elements and circumstances. He’s a character that most of us can identify with and hope that we have some of his mettle, some of his courage.
“Give us rain, they said at Rio Seco, and it makes no difference who is in the White House.”
Elmer Kelton’s novel is set in the 1950s on a West Texas ranch. Based on the true events of a seven year drought, Kelton explores the culture and attitudes of White ranchmen and farmers as well as that of Mexican workers, a few of them, like Teofilo Garcia, running their own business. Most Mexicans during this time supplied labor for the ranchmen and were limited in work roles due to prevailing prejudices, but somehow Teofilo Garcia saw his way through to running his own sheep shearing outfit. Kelton writes that there were three cultures in Rio Seco, the Anglo, the German, and the Mexican. Whereas the Anglos and Germans had somewhat melded, Mexicans remained apart. In this environment, Lupe and his wife, Rosa, and their children, Manuel, Anita, Candelario, Luisa, and Juan have lived in the little house beside Charlie and his wife, Mary for the last seventeen years. Lupe is Charlie's foreman. Charlie and Mary only have one son, Tom. Tom is currently off on the rodeo circuit, chasing his version of fame and glory.
Charlie’s wife, Mary, was from good German stock, strong and hard working. Living with such a hard-headed man as Charlie must have worn Mary down a little because the best way she had of expressing her resentment is by placing a bowl of turnip greens in front of him. He hated those turnip greens. Mary’s turnips and Tom’s absence find Charlie on his porch at night, comforted by the lights of the Flores house. His lonesome feelings are alleviated by conversation at the Flores kitchen table and watching the children laugh and play. During the day, Lupe’s fifteen year old son, Manuel is a ranch hand shouldering his share of responsibilties. Through years of sharing hard work and difficult times a strong bond has formed between Charlie and the Flores family. They have become his extended family.
Because my daughter-in-law is Mexican, this novel hit a lot of strong emotional notes as I was reading. Kelton was able to play my heart like a stringed instrument through the upheavals and turbulence of circumstances that befell Charlie, the Flores family, and their neighbors. Charlie is a cantankerous man who speaks his mind, but not one to say, “I love you.” He shows his love, speaks it with actions rather than words.
Kelton’s down-home voice drew me in, and his descriptive passages and gritty characters enveloped me in the story. Kelton’s background in journalism plus growing up on a ranch undoubtedly informed his writing. His devotion to the working man’s ethos is a shining beacon throughout. There is reverence for this work ethic in some of the female characters as well. I especially liked Kathy Maudlin who will jump into any task with both feet and is a straight shooter.
The drought is a fearsome element in 1950s Texas, etching lines into the earth and the faces and lives of the ranchers and farmers. "Texas lost nearly 100,000 farms and ranches between 1950 and 1960. Agriculture was forever changed due to hardships imposed by the drought (see link below)" Highly recommended, both as a character study and for the light it sheds on the very real events of this major Texas drought.
An informative link about the 1950s Texas drought:
https://www.npr.org/2012/07/07/155995...
Such is the connection that Charlie Flagg has with his ranch land. It’s a bone deep romanticism but as we come to know Charlie, we learn of his pragmatism, his rugged individualism, and hard-headed independence. Charlie hears the voices from the past. An old Commanche warrior is buried atop a hill on his land underneath a cairn built by August Smidth, the land’s previous owner. Now, Charlie tends the old warrior’s final resting place. Charlie is a warrior, too. He fights the elements and circumstances. He’s a character that most of us can identify with and hope that we have some of his mettle, some of his courage.
“Give us rain, they said at Rio Seco, and it makes no difference who is in the White House.”
Elmer Kelton’s novel is set in the 1950s on a West Texas ranch. Based on the true events of a seven year drought, Kelton explores the culture and attitudes of White ranchmen and farmers as well as that of Mexican workers, a few of them, like Teofilo Garcia, running their own business. Most Mexicans during this time supplied labor for the ranchmen and were limited in work roles due to prevailing prejudices, but somehow Teofilo Garcia saw his way through to running his own sheep shearing outfit. Kelton writes that there were three cultures in Rio Seco, the Anglo, the German, and the Mexican. Whereas the Anglos and Germans had somewhat melded, Mexicans remained apart. In this environment, Lupe and his wife, Rosa, and their children, Manuel, Anita, Candelario, Luisa, and Juan have lived in the little house beside Charlie and his wife, Mary for the last seventeen years. Lupe is Charlie's foreman. Charlie and Mary only have one son, Tom. Tom is currently off on the rodeo circuit, chasing his version of fame and glory.
Charlie’s wife, Mary, was from good German stock, strong and hard working. Living with such a hard-headed man as Charlie must have worn Mary down a little because the best way she had of expressing her resentment is by placing a bowl of turnip greens in front of him. He hated those turnip greens. Mary’s turnips and Tom’s absence find Charlie on his porch at night, comforted by the lights of the Flores house. His lonesome feelings are alleviated by conversation at the Flores kitchen table and watching the children laugh and play. During the day, Lupe’s fifteen year old son, Manuel is a ranch hand shouldering his share of responsibilties. Through years of sharing hard work and difficult times a strong bond has formed between Charlie and the Flores family. They have become his extended family.
Because my daughter-in-law is Mexican, this novel hit a lot of strong emotional notes as I was reading. Kelton was able to play my heart like a stringed instrument through the upheavals and turbulence of circumstances that befell Charlie, the Flores family, and their neighbors. Charlie is a cantankerous man who speaks his mind, but not one to say, “I love you.” He shows his love, speaks it with actions rather than words.
Kelton’s down-home voice drew me in, and his descriptive passages and gritty characters enveloped me in the story. Kelton’s background in journalism plus growing up on a ranch undoubtedly informed his writing. His devotion to the working man’s ethos is a shining beacon throughout. There is reverence for this work ethic in some of the female characters as well. I especially liked Kathy Maudlin who will jump into any task with both feet and is a straight shooter.
The drought is a fearsome element in 1950s Texas, etching lines into the earth and the faces and lives of the ranchers and farmers. "Texas lost nearly 100,000 farms and ranches between 1950 and 1960. Agriculture was forever changed due to hardships imposed by the drought (see link below)" Highly recommended, both as a character study and for the light it sheds on the very real events of this major Texas drought.
An informative link about the 1950s Texas drought:
https://www.npr.org/2012/07/07/155995...
April 16, 2022
“He’s going out of style, but the world will be a poorer place when it loses the last of his kind.
You sympathise with him?
I pity him a little. A man can get awfully lonesome, standing out there all by himself.”
The lead character of this superb novel, Charlie Flagg, is a fifty-something rancher in 1950s West Texas, trying to hold on to his property during a prolonged drought that lasted from 1950-57. Some modern climatologists rate it as the worst drought in the region for 700 years. Charlie has an old-style pioneer mentality. He’s a stiff-necked character who doesn’t like being told what he can and can’t do, especially when the person doing the telling is a representative of the Federal Government. He also believes, fundamentally, that a man must look after himself, and that you lose a little of your self-respect any time you go cap in hand to someone else. This leads him to refuse to participate in federal aid programmes designed to provide relief to the hard-pressed ranchers, programmes which all of his neighbours take part in.
“You’re trying to live in a time that’s dead and gone Charlie.”
As the drought proceeds Charlie’s attitude towards federal aid becomes a central aspect of his life. What starts as just a personal maxim gradually becomes a bigger and bigger issue, setting him apart from his neighbours.
The author explains in an afterword that his father’s family came from West Texas, and at the time the novel is set, he himself was an agricultural journalist based in San Angelo. His knowledge of the area, and of ranching, shine through in the wonderful descriptive writing throughout the book. Most of all he gives us a superlative portrayal of the region’s individualistic and self-reliant inhabitants. I’ve mentioned in other reviews that my opinion of a novel is often swayed by how I find the dialogue between the characters. In this novel, I thought it was just perfect.
On a small hill on Charlie's property, he maintains a cairn that marks the grave of a Comanche warrior who was supposed to have made his last stand there, a clear parallel with Charlie's own life.
The novel also explores the changing relationship between the Anglophone Texans and those of Mexican descent, exemplified by Charlie’s ranch foreman, Lupe Flores, and his son Manuel. Charlie is a decent man, but he adopts an unthinking paternalism towards the “local Mexicans”. Lupe is always deferential to Charlie, whilst Manuel is less inclined to accept the status quo. To some extent the novel also tackles changing gender roles. This is a time and place where people find it disturbing to hear a teenage girl use the word “damn”.
You might say that one or two of the minor characters had a bit of a stock feel to them, but I didn’t mind. I was wholly invested in all the characters and in what happened to them. Charlie in particular is a great creation - a man trying to hold on to his values as the world changes around him.
A perfect novel for my taste.
You sympathise with him?
I pity him a little. A man can get awfully lonesome, standing out there all by himself.”
The lead character of this superb novel, Charlie Flagg, is a fifty-something rancher in 1950s West Texas, trying to hold on to his property during a prolonged drought that lasted from 1950-57. Some modern climatologists rate it as the worst drought in the region for 700 years. Charlie has an old-style pioneer mentality. He’s a stiff-necked character who doesn’t like being told what he can and can’t do, especially when the person doing the telling is a representative of the Federal Government. He also believes, fundamentally, that a man must look after himself, and that you lose a little of your self-respect any time you go cap in hand to someone else. This leads him to refuse to participate in federal aid programmes designed to provide relief to the hard-pressed ranchers, programmes which all of his neighbours take part in.
“You’re trying to live in a time that’s dead and gone Charlie.”
As the drought proceeds Charlie’s attitude towards federal aid becomes a central aspect of his life. What starts as just a personal maxim gradually becomes a bigger and bigger issue, setting him apart from his neighbours.
The author explains in an afterword that his father’s family came from West Texas, and at the time the novel is set, he himself was an agricultural journalist based in San Angelo. His knowledge of the area, and of ranching, shine through in the wonderful descriptive writing throughout the book. Most of all he gives us a superlative portrayal of the region’s individualistic and self-reliant inhabitants. I’ve mentioned in other reviews that my opinion of a novel is often swayed by how I find the dialogue between the characters. In this novel, I thought it was just perfect.
On a small hill on Charlie's property, he maintains a cairn that marks the grave of a Comanche warrior who was supposed to have made his last stand there, a clear parallel with Charlie's own life.
The novel also explores the changing relationship between the Anglophone Texans and those of Mexican descent, exemplified by Charlie’s ranch foreman, Lupe Flores, and his son Manuel. Charlie is a decent man, but he adopts an unthinking paternalism towards the “local Mexicans”. Lupe is always deferential to Charlie, whilst Manuel is less inclined to accept the status quo. To some extent the novel also tackles changing gender roles. This is a time and place where people find it disturbing to hear a teenage girl use the word “damn”.
You might say that one or two of the minor characters had a bit of a stock feel to them, but I didn’t mind. I was wholly invested in all the characters and in what happened to them. Charlie in particular is a great creation - a man trying to hold on to his values as the world changes around him.
A perfect novel for my taste.
July 30, 2022
When I worked at Barnes & Noble, the western section contained 3 shelves of mass market paperbacks. Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, Robert Parker, and Elmer Kelton were the only authors represented. I assumed Kelton was like the others, churning out formula cowboy stories of the old west. Then along came Howard with his review to make me think this might be different, and along came Terry to nominate this book for On the Southern Literary Trail, and boy, did they ever prove me wrong. This was a hell of a book by a damned fine writer, and should be read by everyone interested in quality western literature.
Charlie Flagg is our hero, but not in the ordinary sense. He's old, overweight, and set in his ways. He's having a hard time making his small cattle and sheep ranch in West Texas pay, his son wants no part of it, preferring the rodeo circuit, his wife and he don't communicate much after 30+ years of marriage, and he lives in a dying little town. His ranch hand Lupe and his 15 year old son Manuel are his only real help. Then the worst drought in decades comes along to make things worse. We're not talking a few months with no rain, we're talking years.
Charlie is a hero not because he can do anything about the weather or the bad times, but because he is a man of principles, which he won't turn his back on, and because he endures. He worries about his neighbors, feels pity for the Mexican wetbacks crossing the river illegally to find work, argues with his banker, tries everything he knows to keep his stock fed and save the ranch, only to be ground down again and again. He gets up again and again, and tries something else, because giving up isn't an option. His philosophy is "Live and let live", but he finds that to be difficult, especially if you're dealing with the government. Men like Charlie are a dying breed, times change, life goes on.
This was a beautiful book, a character study of a true dying breed; a man of principle. There aren't a whole lot of those around anymore.
Charlie Flagg is our hero, but not in the ordinary sense. He's old, overweight, and set in his ways. He's having a hard time making his small cattle and sheep ranch in West Texas pay, his son wants no part of it, preferring the rodeo circuit, his wife and he don't communicate much after 30+ years of marriage, and he lives in a dying little town. His ranch hand Lupe and his 15 year old son Manuel are his only real help. Then the worst drought in decades comes along to make things worse. We're not talking a few months with no rain, we're talking years.
Charlie is a hero not because he can do anything about the weather or the bad times, but because he is a man of principles, which he won't turn his back on, and because he endures. He worries about his neighbors, feels pity for the Mexican wetbacks crossing the river illegally to find work, argues with his banker, tries everything he knows to keep his stock fed and save the ranch, only to be ground down again and again. He gets up again and again, and tries something else, because giving up isn't an option. His philosophy is "Live and let live", but he finds that to be difficult, especially if you're dealing with the government. Men like Charlie are a dying breed, times change, life goes on.
This was a beautiful book, a character study of a true dying breed; a man of principle. There aren't a whole lot of those around anymore.
July 31, 2022
A year like this one anything you do is a mistake. Just being a rancher is a mistake. Only real difference I see between ranching and poker is, with poker you got some chance.
This is an age-old story of man against nature, man against man, and man against government; and Elmer Kelton tells it so well that you can feel that he has lived much of it in his own lifetime. There is a drought in West Texas, where Charlie Flagg owns a ranch and leases another large section of land to run cattle and sheep. Drought is not a new experience for Charlie, he has lived through the big drought of 1933, but this drought is to prove different, this one continues beyond the limits of memory and leaves few men standing in its wake.
It was a comforting sight, this country. It was an ageless land where the past was still a living thing and old voices still whispered, where the freshness of the pioneer time had not yet all faded, where a few of the old dreams were not yet dark and tarnish.
Charlie loves this land and he lives in the memories of the old days, when the line between right and wrong was less gray and more black and white. He is a bit of an anachronism, but that is because he still has the honor and dignity of the best of his generation. He pulls his own weight, and he doesn’t want a handout.
His son, Tom, has a young man’s view of life. He wants to make the rodeo circuit. He doesn’t understand his father’s brand of pride and principle, and he certainly fails to have his wisdom.
Tom Flagg said behind him, “I’d testify to anything for a free trip to Washington.” Charlie grumbled, “There’s damn little in this life that ever comes free. One way or another, you pay for what you get.”
Charlie’s hired man is Lupe Flores, who has lived in the house next door to Charlie’s, raised his large family, and managed the ranch, working alongside Charlie for years. Through Lupe, and his son, Manuel, we get a chance to look at Mexican-Anglo relationships and the fight a man like Charlie has between what is expected, which is to look down at the Mexican population, and what he truly feels, which is respect and a knowledge of how much he depends on this good man who works beside him.
To make things worse, the government programs that were promised as help for the farmers and ranchers in the region are proving to be a sand trap in themselves, and those who might have survived otherwise are being pulled down by them.
There was a time when we looked up to Uncle Sam; he was something to be proud of and respect. Now he’s turned into some kind of muddle-brained sugar daddy givin’ out goodies right and left in the hopes everybody is going to love him…It’s divided us into little selfish groups, snarlin’ and snappin’ at each other like hungry dogs, grabbin’ for what we can get and to hell with everybody else.
This book might be labeled as a “western”, but like so many great books, it is more than the label it is slapped with…it is a book about humanity, about struggle and about perseverance; it is a book about survival–it just happens to be set in the West.
My thanks to the Southern Literary Trail for making this our August selection and to Howard, whose remarkable review let me know that regardless of what I had planned, this book was not one I wanted to miss reading.
Howard’s Review
This is an age-old story of man against nature, man against man, and man against government; and Elmer Kelton tells it so well that you can feel that he has lived much of it in his own lifetime. There is a drought in West Texas, where Charlie Flagg owns a ranch and leases another large section of land to run cattle and sheep. Drought is not a new experience for Charlie, he has lived through the big drought of 1933, but this drought is to prove different, this one continues beyond the limits of memory and leaves few men standing in its wake.
It was a comforting sight, this country. It was an ageless land where the past was still a living thing and old voices still whispered, where the freshness of the pioneer time had not yet all faded, where a few of the old dreams were not yet dark and tarnish.
Charlie loves this land and he lives in the memories of the old days, when the line between right and wrong was less gray and more black and white. He is a bit of an anachronism, but that is because he still has the honor and dignity of the best of his generation. He pulls his own weight, and he doesn’t want a handout.
His son, Tom, has a young man’s view of life. He wants to make the rodeo circuit. He doesn’t understand his father’s brand of pride and principle, and he certainly fails to have his wisdom.
Tom Flagg said behind him, “I’d testify to anything for a free trip to Washington.” Charlie grumbled, “There’s damn little in this life that ever comes free. One way or another, you pay for what you get.”
Charlie’s hired man is Lupe Flores, who has lived in the house next door to Charlie’s, raised his large family, and managed the ranch, working alongside Charlie for years. Through Lupe, and his son, Manuel, we get a chance to look at Mexican-Anglo relationships and the fight a man like Charlie has between what is expected, which is to look down at the Mexican population, and what he truly feels, which is respect and a knowledge of how much he depends on this good man who works beside him.
To make things worse, the government programs that were promised as help for the farmers and ranchers in the region are proving to be a sand trap in themselves, and those who might have survived otherwise are being pulled down by them.
There was a time when we looked up to Uncle Sam; he was something to be proud of and respect. Now he’s turned into some kind of muddle-brained sugar daddy givin’ out goodies right and left in the hopes everybody is going to love him…It’s divided us into little selfish groups, snarlin’ and snappin’ at each other like hungry dogs, grabbin’ for what we can get and to hell with everybody else.
This book might be labeled as a “western”, but like so many great books, it is more than the label it is slapped with…it is a book about humanity, about struggle and about perseverance; it is a book about survival–it just happens to be set in the West.
My thanks to the Southern Literary Trail for making this our August selection and to Howard, whose remarkable review let me know that regardless of what I had planned, this book was not one I wanted to miss reading.
Howard’s Review
July 25, 2007
The greatest American novel no one outside of Texas ever heard of.
August 29, 2022
4.5💧💧💧💧💧
Excellent story, excellent audio presentation; very timely as our planet warms, severe droughts continue, and politics rage. Much to consider throughout the finely written pages. Another window on how we got from there to here.
Excellent story, excellent audio presentation; very timely as our planet warms, severe droughts continue, and politics rage. Much to consider throughout the finely written pages. Another window on how we got from there to here.
August 6, 2022
The Time It Never Rained is about the eight year drought in West Texas in the 1950s, and the struggles of Charlie Flagg, a rancher who believes in standing on his own, refusing to take help from the government. Charlie is as inedible a character as John Wayne and like Wayne, I felt a certain amount of nostalgia about him, an example of a dying breed, a member of “the greatest generation.”
I give it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. I especially enjoyed some of the colorful comments made by some of the characters.
Some of the book’s issues still resonate today. As I write this review, West Texas is currently in a D3 drought, which means that ranchers are selling off their stock because they cannot afford to buy enough feed to sustain them. With climate change, they may see more extreme weather. This is a book gives a real close understanding of what ranchers face with drought. It should be more widely read.
I give it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. I especially enjoyed some of the colorful comments made by some of the characters.
Some of the book’s issues still resonate today. As I write this review, West Texas is currently in a D3 drought, which means that ranchers are selling off their stock because they cannot afford to buy enough feed to sustain them. With climate change, they may see more extreme weather. This is a book gives a real close understanding of what ranchers face with drought. It should be more widely read.
August 15, 2022
"You know," he said to Manuel, "they always claim Texans are the biggest liars in the world. I believe they're right. A man has even got to lie to himself to find a reason for stayin' here."
"You lyin' to yourself, Mister Charlie?"
"I'm tellin' myself I can see somethin' green."
Manuel smiled as he looked over the pasture. "One of us needs glasses."
It was the 1950s in West Texas, and Charlie Flagg's ranch had gone without rain for seven years. Charlie was a down-to-earth, overweight, stubborn man who was holding on to his ranch by a thread. It was a losing proposition when the animals could not graze on the dry, brown fields and the ranchers had to buy the feed. Would the rain come in time for Charlie and the other ranchers to save their beloved ranches?
Charlie was an independent thinker with strong principles handed down to him from his father and grandfather. He was self-reliant and refused to take any handouts from the government. The government programs may have been well-meaning, but some of them were so tied up in regulations that they often did as much harm as help.
This Western novel showed the different ways Charlie's neighbors dealt with the drought. Most of them were mortgaged up to their eyeballs, and had the threat of foreclosure hanging over them. The story also told about a changing attitude by some Anglos toward those of Mexican descent. Charlie appreciated Lupe, his loyal hired hand, and liked his warm Mexican-American family.
Author Elmer Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist during the 1950s drought and draws on this experience. He wrote good dialogue, sometimes laced with dry humor. The story of the drought is especially moving considering the volatile weather that has impacted Texas and many other areas.
"You lyin' to yourself, Mister Charlie?"
"I'm tellin' myself I can see somethin' green."
Manuel smiled as he looked over the pasture. "One of us needs glasses."
It was the 1950s in West Texas, and Charlie Flagg's ranch had gone without rain for seven years. Charlie was a down-to-earth, overweight, stubborn man who was holding on to his ranch by a thread. It was a losing proposition when the animals could not graze on the dry, brown fields and the ranchers had to buy the feed. Would the rain come in time for Charlie and the other ranchers to save their beloved ranches?
Charlie was an independent thinker with strong principles handed down to him from his father and grandfather. He was self-reliant and refused to take any handouts from the government. The government programs may have been well-meaning, but some of them were so tied up in regulations that they often did as much harm as help.
This Western novel showed the different ways Charlie's neighbors dealt with the drought. Most of them were mortgaged up to their eyeballs, and had the threat of foreclosure hanging over them. The story also told about a changing attitude by some Anglos toward those of Mexican descent. Charlie appreciated Lupe, his loyal hired hand, and liked his warm Mexican-American family.
Author Elmer Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist during the 1950s drought and draws on this experience. He wrote good dialogue, sometimes laced with dry humor. The story of the drought is especially moving considering the volatile weather that has impacted Texas and many other areas.
March 14, 2019
Selecting talking books for a friend. She's listening to Kelton's Wolf Buffalo book, her first by the author, and she wants more books by him. This one, 'Time It Never Rained,' is top quality. If you haven't read Mr Kelton, this would be a potential starting place ... It deserves the Spur Award it won.
The Wolf and the Buffalo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spur_Award
"Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West."
***
Here's a pasted netswipe from Kirkus
"KIRKUS REVIEW
"Charlie Flagg won't accept government allotments for feed for his dying cattle and sheep; he'd rather lose land and switch to goats (they go anywhere and don't hardly need nothing to eat) out in Rio Seco, Texas, in the worst drought since '13. Events vindicate him as the government in its bureaucratic farm-program confusion does what six years of no rain haven't: Charlie's more prosperous ranching neighbors collapse like playing cards as the endless bank loans and mortgages are called in and the land is taken over by conglomerates and accountants to whom the touch of good soil means nothing -- spelling, you know, the end of that wonderful era of Rugged Individualism. A sentimental parable of hard times bringing out the best (and worst), slow and dry like the empty plains -- a myth about as outdated as the America we used to know and love -- with a bit of contemporary racial reference (gringos vs. greasers) just to keep the young 'uns innerested."
***
From Wiki
"Eight Kelton novels, Buffalo Wagons, The Day the Cowboys Quit, The Time It Never Rained, Eyes of the Hawk, Slaughter, The Far Canyon, Many a River, and The Way of the Coyote, have won Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. Peers in the WWA also named him as the greatest Western writer of all time."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_K...
The Wolf and the Buffalo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spur_Award
"Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West."
***
Here's a pasted netswipe from Kirkus
"KIRKUS REVIEW
"Charlie Flagg won't accept government allotments for feed for his dying cattle and sheep; he'd rather lose land and switch to goats (they go anywhere and don't hardly need nothing to eat) out in Rio Seco, Texas, in the worst drought since '13. Events vindicate him as the government in its bureaucratic farm-program confusion does what six years of no rain haven't: Charlie's more prosperous ranching neighbors collapse like playing cards as the endless bank loans and mortgages are called in and the land is taken over by conglomerates and accountants to whom the touch of good soil means nothing -- spelling, you know, the end of that wonderful era of Rugged Individualism. A sentimental parable of hard times bringing out the best (and worst), slow and dry like the empty plains -- a myth about as outdated as the America we used to know and love -- with a bit of contemporary racial reference (gringos vs. greasers) just to keep the young 'uns innerested."
***
From Wiki
"Eight Kelton novels, Buffalo Wagons, The Day the Cowboys Quit, The Time It Never Rained, Eyes of the Hawk, Slaughter, The Far Canyon, Many a River, and The Way of the Coyote, have won Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. Peers in the WWA also named him as the greatest Western writer of all time."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_K...
May 19, 2025
"The Time It Never Rained "was inspired by actual events, when the longest and most severe drought in living memory pressed ranchers and farmers to the outer limits of courage and endurance."--Elmer Kelton
Elmer Kelton intertwines a story with social and moral issues that are timely for even now. He tends to let things happen in a smooth rhythm of the cultivation of farming life with values of self sufficiency.
The town of 3000 with pale green mesquites, massive gnarled oaks, cottonwoods and pecans trees.
Than there is the old stone bank, a feed store and a courthouse that contains the PMA/Farm Service Agency which tell the farmers how many acres one could sow in cotton and sorghum, (but the courthouse has a sprinkler system and all those trees during a drought!) it is where the stockman and farmers gathered to gossip.
Charlie Flagg is one of the three old cranks! a very stubborn, resillient, but also a very decent man/rancher. He is also overweight, fifty plus but his wife Mary who is the opposite, petite and an outstanding cook and Tom their son is a rodeo star. The family struggle, some harsh decisions have to be made about Lupe or switching to goats, to survive until it rains...assuming it will rain that is.
It is a tale about the community, about family, about the land, about traditions. And about the government and the bank regualtions that destroy the farmers that have hopes for a hard earned successful year.
It leaves one feeling utterly helpless to stop the inevitable.
Self destruction that one can see coming.
Charlie Flagg dooms himself and his family by bringing down the wrath of the government.
“A man does what he feels is right, no matter what it costs him.”
A book like Lonesome Dove spoils one with the character development that takes place in it. Unfortunately it doesnt happen here, but I enjoyed this read and the writing style that Kelton has.
Western novel? it is not. It is about ranchers and their personal lives, interactions with the Mexicans and Chicanos. The economic hardships of life during the dreaded drought.
This book kind of reminds me of a John Steinbeck classic a wonderful read!
Elmer Kelton intertwines a story with social and moral issues that are timely for even now. He tends to let things happen in a smooth rhythm of the cultivation of farming life with values of self sufficiency.
The town of 3000 with pale green mesquites, massive gnarled oaks, cottonwoods and pecans trees.
Than there is the old stone bank, a feed store and a courthouse that contains the PMA/Farm Service Agency which tell the farmers how many acres one could sow in cotton and sorghum, (but the courthouse has a sprinkler system and all those trees during a drought!) it is where the stockman and farmers gathered to gossip.
Charlie Flagg is one of the three old cranks! a very stubborn, resillient, but also a very decent man/rancher. He is also overweight, fifty plus but his wife Mary who is the opposite, petite and an outstanding cook and Tom their son is a rodeo star. The family struggle, some harsh decisions have to be made about Lupe or switching to goats, to survive until it rains...assuming it will rain that is.
It is a tale about the community, about family, about the land, about traditions. And about the government and the bank regualtions that destroy the farmers that have hopes for a hard earned successful year.
It leaves one feeling utterly helpless to stop the inevitable.
Self destruction that one can see coming.
Charlie Flagg dooms himself and his family by bringing down the wrath of the government.
“A man does what he feels is right, no matter what it costs him.”
A book like Lonesome Dove spoils one with the character development that takes place in it. Unfortunately it doesnt happen here, but I enjoyed this read and the writing style that Kelton has.
Western novel? it is not. It is about ranchers and their personal lives, interactions with the Mexicans and Chicanos. The economic hardships of life during the dreaded drought.
This book kind of reminds me of a John Steinbeck classic a wonderful read!
August 3, 2022
This book was chosen as a selection of the month for the On the Southern Literary Trail group. Having just finished listening to the audio version of this fine novel, my only complaint is that it isn't southern. The state of Texas is so large that it spans multiple regions including south Texas and west Texas. This book is definitely the latter. Elmer Kelton focuses on several key issues that are central to western American life: water (or the lack of it), the ranchers' attachment to The Land, relations between Anglo and Hispanics, and a stubborn aversion of having anything to do with the government.
I shouldn't have used the word complaint above as I grew up in Colorado and I felt right at home while listening to Charlie Flagg's explanations for why he did what he did (or didn't do). I could literally picture the faces of many friends and relatives who would have likely said or done the same.
This is my first book by Elmer Kelton and I hope it will not be my last.
My thanks to the late Mike Sullivan, aka Lawyer, and all the folks at the On the Southern Literary Trail group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
I shouldn't have used the word complaint above as I grew up in Colorado and I felt right at home while listening to Charlie Flagg's explanations for why he did what he did (or didn't do). I could literally picture the faces of many friends and relatives who would have likely said or done the same.
This is my first book by Elmer Kelton and I hope it will not be my last.
My thanks to the late Mike Sullivan, aka Lawyer, and all the folks at the On the Southern Literary Trail group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
September 14, 2022
Charlie Flagg, no character exactly like him. Once I got to know Charlie Flagg, I kept the picture of a white flag waving in my mind for some reason, maybe the whole play of Flagg and flag. But then I see a boot stomping the hell out of that flag. Not just any boot, but Charlie Flagg's boot. As a fellow GR friend said, this is a slow burn. I am so pleased with my first Elmer Kelton book that I've added more to my TBR/wishlist. I knew from the first few pages this was my type of book with my type of protagonist. Some great supporting characters as well.
Note: My book version cover wasn't available on GR, but my cover has a lone man's face up close and that was Charlie Flagg in my mind as well as Elmer Kelton.
Note: My book version cover wasn't available on GR, but my cover has a lone man's face up close and that was Charlie Flagg in my mind as well as Elmer Kelton.
July 3, 2020
Solid ‘man against the elements’ ( and the modern world) story. Enjoyed the tale somewhat and loved the writing style, but was never convinced by this crabby farmer with a heart of gold. I am always taken by stories about people who stick by their principles through difficult times, and this was certainly one of those stories. And then , I started to imagine the 2020 version of someone who refuses to wear a mask during a pandemic despite the horrors happening around him, and how his friends wore masks not because they believed in them but just because everyone was wearing them. Maybe I am being unfair here. Solid story worth a read.
August 25, 2010
listening to this one. I'm not a western fan but this is a great story. am on 4 th cd of 11
Finish and must say I will go on to read more of Kelton. This was a great listen with George Guidall who I just love to listen to. It was a tragic tail but not one that made you want to cry more one that made you want to think and to relish how we got to be a great nation. I would recommend the audio book very highly. it was hard to put down
Finish and must say I will go on to read more of Kelton. This was a great listen with George Guidall who I just love to listen to. It was a tragic tail but not one that made you want to cry more one that made you want to think and to relish how we got to be a great nation. I would recommend the audio book very highly. it was hard to put down
June 2, 2025
Simply wonderful!
Read
September 14, 2016I have this sweet situation going on where my partner has spent the last year reading only books I’ve recommended to him. As most book nerds can attest to, living with someone who takes every book suggestion you give them is a dream come true! So when he finally asked me to read something he loved I knew I owed it to him, but I’ll be damned if I wanted to do it. It took me a bit to get into it but once I did I was blown away by how touching and funny and lovely it was. Westerns aren’t typically on my genre radar but this one was paced perfectly, with really impressive character development, and lots of surprisingly funny bits. I was sorry to see it end.
— Tracy Shapley
from The Best Books We Read In July 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/01/riot-r...
— Tracy Shapley
from The Best Books We Read In July 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/01/riot-r...
June 23, 2022
Author Elmer Kelton is best known for his Wild West ‘powder burners’ however he is equally adept at authentic historical fiction. In ‘The Time it Never Rained’ he depicts the great drought of the early 1950s through the cranky, stubborn, resourceful, West Texas rancher Charlie Flagg, his family and small town community.
Kelton is best when dealing with the ranch life and the handling of the livestock, and various characters and the tasks on the range. You’ll certainly feel dusty and thirsty upon your horse reading this tale, however the story occasionally dips into a soap opera. I’ve noticed this about other great historical writers, Michener and Stegner for example, had this problem too, they are great with the past, bring them to contemporary times, and it reads like the script for a made for TV movie.
One of major themes is how government programs, meant to help, actually hinder the recovery, and in fact punish the community trying to makes its way through hard times. Though this tale was written over 70 yrs ago, 1953-1973, it certainly rings true with government programs today.
I was born in Texas on a rainy day during this drought in the 1950s. I’ll consider it a good omen !
This book is part of the Chisholm Trail Series, books by various authors on the time period. I certainly am going to look into reading the others to go with this good read.
Kelton is best when dealing with the ranch life and the handling of the livestock, and various characters and the tasks on the range. You’ll certainly feel dusty and thirsty upon your horse reading this tale, however the story occasionally dips into a soap opera. I’ve noticed this about other great historical writers, Michener and Stegner for example, had this problem too, they are great with the past, bring them to contemporary times, and it reads like the script for a made for TV movie.
One of major themes is how government programs, meant to help, actually hinder the recovery, and in fact punish the community trying to makes its way through hard times. Though this tale was written over 70 yrs ago, 1953-1973, it certainly rings true with government programs today.
I was born in Texas on a rainy day during this drought in the 1950s. I’ll consider it a good omen !
This book is part of the Chisholm Trail Series, books by various authors on the time period. I certainly am going to look into reading the others to go with this good read.
March 19, 2012
An incredibly sobering book. I could never live up to the example of Charlie Flagg, yet his character should give us all something to think about. I think this may have been Kelton's finest writing. He captures in a few words some incredibly deep struggles and realities. He doesn't force the politics of the time (and more overwhelmingly of today) on the reader, but shows the reader through stark reality the unintended consequences of a government's misguided good intentions. It helped me understand the independence of the rancher and the necessity for being so, and yet, he shows the strength derived from neighbors' friendship and generosity and the strength derived from helping each other. Those who understand the Western way of life will relate.
April 3, 2010
Elmer Kelton is too often pigeon holed as a Western writer, cowboy writer, Texas regional writer. This book should rank with Faulkner's work as the local made universal. It is one of the very best works of fiction from which a reader can gain a valuable and usable insight into the dynamics of humankind and the natural environment. (Entirely unlike the Utopian, romantic, and idealistic stuff of so much environmental writing.) Great story, great insight.
July 8, 2018
In my youth I went through a phase when I read westerns all the time, it was all I read for a couple of years.......Max Brand, Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour but I never remember reading a Kelton book. I came across a list of great western novels and this popped up so I grabbed a copy from the library.
While not a traditional western genre book this was a marvelous story about a small to middlin' ranch owner in Texas during the fifties. I read reviews about nothing happening in the story and they are correct there isn't much in the way of a storyline, just a book about Charlie Flagg. A rancher who has a stubborn streak a mile long and a belief system that has carried him through hard times. A belief system that centers on his own independence and ability to build something by himself. What makes Charlie a great character is not so much his strengths but his obvious flaws, flaws that make him a more "real" person. Plenty of hardship as the Flagg family deals with an extended drought, immigration(Charlie has a somewhat surprising but believable view) and government subsidies.
I am a bit ashamed by the fact that I never read/remembered Kelton before but after reading this book he more than earns his reputation as one of the greatest western writers of our time. I'll be trying some of his "genre" westerns in the very near future.
If you're looking for a gunslinger book, this ain't it. But if you're looking for a well written character study this should fit the bill.
9/10
While not a traditional western genre book this was a marvelous story about a small to middlin' ranch owner in Texas during the fifties. I read reviews about nothing happening in the story and they are correct there isn't much in the way of a storyline, just a book about Charlie Flagg. A rancher who has a stubborn streak a mile long and a belief system that has carried him through hard times. A belief system that centers on his own independence and ability to build something by himself. What makes Charlie a great character is not so much his strengths but his obvious flaws, flaws that make him a more "real" person. Plenty of hardship as the Flagg family deals with an extended drought, immigration(Charlie has a somewhat surprising but believable view) and government subsidies.
I am a bit ashamed by the fact that I never read/remembered Kelton before but after reading this book he more than earns his reputation as one of the greatest western writers of our time. I'll be trying some of his "genre" westerns in the very near future.
If you're looking for a gunslinger book, this ain't it. But if you're looking for a well written character study this should fit the bill.
9/10
September 21, 2011
I enjoyed this book more than all those Louis L'Amour books, including the one I had gone to the Western section to buy when I came out with this one. I don't know if it's Kelton or not, but this was a great book. Great characters, memorable setting and problems. I thought it was well-developed for what is often a formulaic genre.
I enjoyed the main character, particularly his stubborn refusal to buy into a government aid program. His insistence seems to have died with him somewhere decades ago. But I loved it.
The insights about farming during a drought were fascinating, like all the men using oversized blowtorches to burn the needles off prickly pear cactus so the cows would have something to eat. There were so many interesting things....
But it hit so close to home just now, while I personally weigh buying hay against selling horses, and wonder how much more I can run the sprinkler before the acquifer drops lower than my well. Sometimes the book was depressing, but pretty dern timely!
***
I've lived in the country nearly two years. I got here just in time for a drought old timers say is the worst since 1955. Lately my 88-year-old friend says this one is worse than '55.
When I saw Kelton's book, a novel set against the realities of the 1955 drought--which lasted some nine years in West Texas--I knew I had to read it.
I enjoyed the main character, particularly his stubborn refusal to buy into a government aid program. His insistence seems to have died with him somewhere decades ago. But I loved it.
The insights about farming during a drought were fascinating, like all the men using oversized blowtorches to burn the needles off prickly pear cactus so the cows would have something to eat. There were so many interesting things....
But it hit so close to home just now, while I personally weigh buying hay against selling horses, and wonder how much more I can run the sprinkler before the acquifer drops lower than my well. Sometimes the book was depressing, but pretty dern timely!
***
I've lived in the country nearly two years. I got here just in time for a drought old timers say is the worst since 1955. Lately my 88-year-old friend says this one is worse than '55.
When I saw Kelton's book, a novel set against the realities of the 1955 drought--which lasted some nine years in West Texas--I knew I had to read it.
December 15, 2024
Wow, can’t believe this sat atop my bookshelf for almost 2 years.
It’s one of those books that moved me as I was reading it, one of those that stays with you for days and weeks after you’ve read the last paragraph.
It’s a very human story with mostly likable characters. Elmer Kelton is an incredible writer and I feel it’s too bad he wasn’t more widely known like fellow Texan Larry McMurtry.
If this is your first Elmer Kelton book, it won’t be your last.
It’s one of those books that moved me as I was reading it, one of those that stays with you for days and weeks after you’ve read the last paragraph.
It’s a very human story with mostly likable characters. Elmer Kelton is an incredible writer and I feel it’s too bad he wasn’t more widely known like fellow Texan Larry McMurtry.
If this is your first Elmer Kelton book, it won’t be your last.
September 5, 2022
“This land was no longer something apart from him, it was part of him like his arms and legs. His sweat and his blood were soaked into it. Like an old tree, his roots went too deeply into their ground for him to ever be transplanted…A man had to make his try, and when that didn’t work he had to try something else. Try and keep trying. Endure and try again.”
Based on the historical Texas drouth in the 1950s, Elmer Kelton’s The Time It Never Rained is a realistic and powerful portrayal of a protagonist (Charlie Flagg) and others trying to make it and survive amid external circumstances and forces that seemingly are stripping them of both their livelihoods and their resources. I felt like Kelton’s book and story was so similar to The Grapes of Wrath thematically, as Charlie and the other farmers’ plight is very indicative of the Joads’ plight in Steinbeck’s novel. In The Time It Never Rained, Charlie has to contend with not only Mother Nature, but the government.
I think one of the first things that stood out about Kelton’s novel is his well-drawn and realistic characters. Charlie Flagg is like that stubborn, tough as nails uncle who is unwilling to bend and give in, but is a person of conviction and principles. He does not want a free handout from the government and sticks to his guns throughout. The other characters were also very well drawn, and I thought that Manuel Flores was one of more interesting characters, as we see a coming of age throughout the novel.
As stated earlier, Kelton’s work is heartfelt and he makes it very personal for the reader, and I think this is why we can readily get invested and care about their stories, particularly when they must deal with devastation and heartbreak in particular moments.
The Time It Never Rained was a powerful read about the struggle and fight to survive despite setback after setback. I’m glad this book was brought to my attention and look forward to more reads from Kelton in the future.
Based on the historical Texas drouth in the 1950s, Elmer Kelton’s The Time It Never Rained is a realistic and powerful portrayal of a protagonist (Charlie Flagg) and others trying to make it and survive amid external circumstances and forces that seemingly are stripping them of both their livelihoods and their resources. I felt like Kelton’s book and story was so similar to The Grapes of Wrath thematically, as Charlie and the other farmers’ plight is very indicative of the Joads’ plight in Steinbeck’s novel. In The Time It Never Rained, Charlie has to contend with not only Mother Nature, but the government.
I think one of the first things that stood out about Kelton’s novel is his well-drawn and realistic characters. Charlie Flagg is like that stubborn, tough as nails uncle who is unwilling to bend and give in, but is a person of conviction and principles. He does not want a free handout from the government and sticks to his guns throughout. The other characters were also very well drawn, and I thought that Manuel Flores was one of more interesting characters, as we see a coming of age throughout the novel.
As stated earlier, Kelton’s work is heartfelt and he makes it very personal for the reader, and I think this is why we can readily get invested and care about their stories, particularly when they must deal with devastation and heartbreak in particular moments.
The Time It Never Rained was a powerful read about the struggle and fight to survive despite setback after setback. I’m glad this book was brought to my attention and look forward to more reads from Kelton in the future.
August 22, 2022
Charlie Flagg is a Texas rancher from a bygone era in 1950 when a devastating drought threatens to destroy everything that the farmers and ranchers of Rio Seco and their families and hired hands have worked all of their lives for.
Westerns are not my usual thing but when the glowing reviews started coming in and Charlie Flagg was revealed to be one of Kelton’s most memorable characters and a GR friend compared the book to “ Stoner “ a favorite character study of mine, I could not resist.
I really LOVED this book which was the August choice for On The Southern Literary Trail club.
5 stars
Westerns are not my usual thing but when the glowing reviews started coming in and Charlie Flagg was revealed to be one of Kelton’s most memorable characters and a GR friend compared the book to “ Stoner “ a favorite character study of mine, I could not resist.
I really LOVED this book which was the August choice for On The Southern Literary Trail club.
5 stars
July 11, 2019
This excellent review of Elmer Kelton's work pushed The Time it Never Rained to the top of my fiction reading list: https://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpa... Plus it fits perfectly with a non-fiction book I just started Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman: Conservation Heroes of the American Heartland
April 29, 2015
I read this book at the end of last year, and finished it in only a few days.
It was easy to imagine what living through such a dire situation would be like from Elmer Kelton's great descriptive use of words.
He also managed to create characters that you cared about. Which, for me, is also important in the enjoyment of a good novel.
It's a book that would be good to read again after a while.
All in all a great read.
Thoroughly recommended.
It was easy to imagine what living through such a dire situation would be like from Elmer Kelton's great descriptive use of words.
He also managed to create characters that you cared about. Which, for me, is also important in the enjoyment of a good novel.
It's a book that would be good to read again after a while.
All in all a great read.
Thoroughly recommended.
August 9, 2025
The Time it Never Rained is only the second Western I’ve ever read—Lonesome Dove being the first, over twenty years ago. The hero, Charles Flagg, is a man of unwavering principles, and he never turns his back on them. This book is difficult to sum up in a short review; it’s thoughtful and richly told.
One passage in particular resonated with me, especially in light of today’s political and cultural climate:
There was a time when we looked up to Uncle Sam; he was something to be proud of and respect. Now he’s turned into some kind of muddle-brained sugar daddy givin’ out goodies right and left in the hopes everybody is going to love him… It’s divided us into little selfish groups, snarlin’ and snappin’ at each other like hungry dogs, grabbin’ for what we can get and to hell with everybody else.
It’s a story that stays with you long after the last page.
One passage in particular resonated with me, especially in light of today’s political and cultural climate:
There was a time when we looked up to Uncle Sam; he was something to be proud of and respect. Now he’s turned into some kind of muddle-brained sugar daddy givin’ out goodies right and left in the hopes everybody is going to love him… It’s divided us into little selfish groups, snarlin’ and snappin’ at each other like hungry dogs, grabbin’ for what we can get and to hell with everybody else.
It’s a story that stays with you long after the last page.
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