Book #21: Lonesome Dove

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I decided to read a book that was a bestseller the year I was born. So I googled "Bestselling Books in 1985." This one was on every list and had rave reviews across the board - goodreads, amazon, etc. Multiple people said it was the best book they've ever read. I've never read a true Western, so I decided to take the plunge. I had no idea when I started that it's been made into a movie/TV miniseries. But everyone else I've mentioned it to is familiar with the show. I also wasn't aware how incredibly long the book is. 945 pages!

Maybe I shouldn't have gone into it with such high expectations, but I wasn't that impressed. I think it's just not my kind of book. It got so tedious at times. They're on this country-wide cattle drive and everything possible happens to them. Snake and bear attacks. Stampedes. Storms. Indians (that's when the book got particularly gruesome). And I'm pretty sure it referred to whores at least 500 times in the 945 pages. There was plenty of sex, although it was more crude than explicit.

It was kind of depressing. I hate how half the characters died. I told my mom, "I guess the book will end once all the characters are dead." And it felt unfinished (which hardly seems possible in such a long book). Things didn't wrap up as nicely as I like. I know there's a sequel, but I won't be reading it.

I started watching the mini-series on Netflix last night. It was actually kind of fun to watch after so recently reading the book. I was surprised how closely the movie stuck to the book. It had the same opening scene and some of the dialogue is word for word from the book. I've only watched the first episode, but I'm looking forward to watching the rest.