From the Bookshelf of Reading List Completists…

Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)

Larry McMurtry

Start date: July 1, 2020

Finish date: September 30, 2020

Discussion: Lonesome Dove - July-Sept 2020

Why we're reading this: July-September 2020 Completist Big Read Selection
[close] July-September 2020 Completist Big Read Selection

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 3 topics — 18 comments total

Lonesome Dove - July-Sept 2020

Review - Lonesome Dove
By Matthew , Assistant List Master · 7 posts · 17 views

last updated Nov 18, 2020 03:58AM

General Discussion - Lonesome Dove
By Matthew , Assistant List Master · 9 posts · 20 views

last updated Aug 10, 2020 09:46AM

showing 2 of 2 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jul 31, 2018 Sue K H rated it it was amazing

Shelves: pulitzers-to-read, slt-read, 000-classics-grp-read, pulitzer-s-fiction, favorites

5+ stars. This book wasn't really on my radar until the Great American Read and it didn't really appeal to me with its Hallmarkish sounding title, but I tried it and am so glad I did. It's an all-time favorite. I love westerns and adventure stories and this one was epic. I think even people who don't like westerns could like this one. The book blurb has "Love story" as it's first words. It's not a 'love story" in the romance sense. Most of the romantic love involved is either unrequited or frust ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2013 Jason rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own

McMurty displayed an amazing talent for character building, but what McMurty giveth McMurty will taketh away. This book walked the line between surprising and believable very well. It really never let up either which is surprising considering this really is a bit of an epic with a hodge-podge crew of characters. Wonderful book; made me a fan of the Western genre, yet I'm not sure I want to read any other at this point because I will be comparing it to this one and I fear that can only lead to di ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jul 04, 2020 Eileen rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2020-ng-group-challenge, classics, 2020, western

This took me some time to get into, partly because I was trying to adjust to the recording of the book. Lee Horsley is pretty good at the narrator, but the editing is such that you hear his breathing very easily. It wasn't the worse thing in the world, but it was definitely distracting. But I persisted because I didn't have access to the physical copy and I was starting to get drawn into the story. Which says something because Westerns are definitely not my usual cup of tea. This story was defin ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Oct 29, 2020 Liane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzer

I loved this book. Finished it weeks ago and the story and characters have stayed with me. Definitely want to read more of this storyline.
Characters were so vibrant, larger than life, but still believable given the era. Not a page dragged. Just fantastic.

6 likes · Like · see review

Jan 09, 2010 Melissa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1980s, audiobook, 2020s

This is still one of my favorite novels. Hands down.

The audio version narrated by Lee Horsely is THE ABSOLUTE WORST. He had one voice for everyone except Gus. And the only difference between Gus and everyone else is that Gus YELLS all his dialogue. I mean really yells! First of all, clearly, he didn’t watch the miniseries lol. Call is the one who speaks loudly in monotone. Gus is funny but understated. I just could not get very far with this one.

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2021 Christine PNW rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have feelings.

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2012 Mmars rated it liked it

Another 3.5. If you like sagas and westerns, you'll like Lonesome Dove. I read this when the TV mini-series was on and everyone was talking about it. I read the book instead. Perhaps that's why I think of it more as popular reading than as great literature. I always try not to let an author's decision in story line influence my rating of the book. But in this case I felt the killing off of several main characters affected the book's value. Doing so alienated me from the characters. As the book w ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 27, 2013 Naga Sravika Bodapati rated it it was amazing

It's a lengthy read..I spent three sleepless nights and countless hours in the day turning page after page..and I am finally breathing a sigh of relief glad that it's finished. Not that I didn't like it..the plot is wonderful and emotions all genuine but after a bout of sadness,death and loss..it gets too familiar to strike a chord. A very strong point in favour of the book besides its flawless story line is its perfect portrayal of the characters..after a point they stop being just characters f ...more

1 like · Like · see review