July - September: The Old West

19th Century North America: The Old West



http://www.librarything.com/tag/American+West,+historical+fiction

http://www.librarything.com/tag/19th+century,+American+West

I am little surprised to see The Last of the Mohicans tagged 19th century. As I remember it, it is set before the Revolution?

>2 MissWatson: You are correct, Birgit. The time of the story is 1757. However, someone may have tagged it 19th century as that's when it was first published. (1826).

I would like to finish my last Laura Ingalls Wilder book. I read them when I was about ten, then about aged thirty, and now!

>3 Tess_W: Thanks Tess, I didn't think of that!

I'm going to do some reread of Twain using Tom Sawyer (Norton Critical Editions) and Huckleberry Finn (Norton Critical Editions) – I've never read the NCEs for these two – and then get on to the rest of Mark Twain: Mississippi Writings (Library of America) for a first-read of Life on the Mississippi and Pudd'nhead Wilson to get in one for the Big Fat Book challenge and to do a little ROOTing.

Then I'll see what else I have time for, considering some of my current health issues.

A re-read of Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read when I was about 10, then again and 30, and now 30 years later they are as good as ever. This particular book is one of my favorites in the series. 307 pages 5 stars

A re-read of about 30 years. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura is married in this book and her and Almanzo move to his claim.

I am also rereading the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. I think I have 3 or 4 more to go.

ETA: And I'm loving them!

>6 CurrerBell: I just noticed I have a lot of Louise Erdrich in TBR. When I'm done my Twain read/reread I might get to some of her. (ETA: All I've ever read thus far is The Plague of Doves.)

A further ETA: I'm not sure Louise Erdrich counts for the OLD (19th century) West. I do have others though.

I don't have anything remotely American Old West on the shelves. Would Canadian west also count?

>11 Familyhistorian: Technically, she made the heading "19th Century North America: The Old West" (if you look above the photo she included in >1 majkia:. :-) ) I'll just leave that there.

And maybe you already have something in mind for Canadian, but I think both The Sisters Brothers would fit (oh! Canadian author, but set in the US), and The Outlander by Gil Adamson.

ETA: Oh, I am mistaken on "The Outlander". Looks like it's set in 1903.

>12 LibraryCin: >13 LibraryCin: Thanks. I actually want to read something from my shelves because I have so many unread books there that I try to use RTT to get me to pull something I already own. The Salt of the Earth: The story of the homesteaders in Western Canada seems to fit the bill. It strays into the 20th century but has its basis in the 19th.

>14 Familyhistorian: I "get" that. I use my own tbr, as well, and do my best to find things that will fit! Hope you enjoy your book!

>14 Familyhistorian:
>15 LibraryCin:

I also use only my tbr as I have almost 600 unread books (paper and ebooks). I can usually find something "close" enough to suit my needs. If not, the second recourse is the library...where I can now borrow ebooks so I don't need to get them back on time and pay a fee!

>16 Tess_W: Ha, I wish I only had 600 unread books!

>17 Familyhistorian: When I started here in 2014 I had over 1000.....but between reading and trying to cut down on buying, I've whittled that to almost half. My goal is to be at 500 by the end of this year.

>16 Tess_W: >17 Familyhistorian: Yeah, I use my "virtual" tbr - I don't own them all! But, I also have over 600 + a few extras that I own (and some saved in my email) that aren't listed here.

>18 Tess_W: Wow! That's pretty impressive that you've gotten it down so much!

I just finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Norton Critical Edition), obviously a reread of the underlying novel but it's a first-read for me of the NCE with its supplementary materials.

Does Tom Sawyer count? (And ditto Huckleberry Finn, which I'm currently rereading for the underlying novel and a first-read for the NCE.) Or are TS and HF insufficiently "Western"? Missouri is west of the Mississippi River.

>20 CurrerBell: you make your own rules here! If it's good enough for you, that's what counts. For some time period last year I was a year into the new century......I counted it!

>21 Tess_W: "...a very good picture of society in a small mid-Western river town (for St. Petersburg is more Western than Southern)." T.S. Eliot, Introduction to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Taking "Old Possum" as my authority, I'll stretch it and include the two Twain classics (along with some other Twain reading I'm planning for this quarter, and at least Roughing It is definitely "Old West").

I read The U. P. Trail by Zane Grey which was a lively adventure story whose main character was a military surveyor attached to the party that did the original survey work for the upcoming Union Pacific Railway. Zane Grey writes with great emotion so his work often comes across quite melodramatic and a little over-done. One thing I really liked about this book was although the heroine was constantly being put in a victim role, she pretty much always got herself out of trouble and didn't have to rely on a man to come along and save her.

I thought I'd posted that I'd just finished Walter Van Tilburg Clark's The Ox-Bow Incident but I don't see such a post here. I may have written it out but then, getting sleepy, not clicked the right button. Anyway, Ox-Bow is definitely "Old West" even if Twain's two classics (>22 CurrerBell:) might not be.

Just started The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Old West. Although from a quick perusal most info is review, there are some sections on the Mormons and The Sand Creek Massacre that will be new for me.

I absolutely love The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!

I ended up reading a true western, Rider of Lost Creek featuring one of L'Amour's gunslinging heroes, Lance Kilkenny. It was almost like watching a western because you could tell the good guys from the bad and the hero rides off into the sunset.

Just finished reading Effigy by Alissa York. Inspired by the real events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, the story is set on a Mormon ranch in 19th century Utah. York's story is a complicated weave of the hard scrabble of western settlement, the harm inflicted through religious righteousness, and the impact of settlement on the lives of the original people of the land. Dense topics are wound through this story that, at is center, is a story of a polygamous family. Overall, a well researched and beautifully written story that, while complicated and at times dense with information (the rancher's fourth wife is a taxidermist while his second wife raises silkworms), gives a very evocative experience of 19th century Utah ranch life.

I picked a western from my shelves which I have owned for decades, literally: Zwei Männer aus Texas by Lee Hoffman.

October through December thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/296277

My Old West reads were:

…..Bad News for Outlaws, Vaunda McHeaux Nelson (19th century black US Marshal)
…..East of Eden, John Steinbeck (1890s-1910s California)
…..The Last Woman Standing, Thelma Adams (19th century, Tombstone, Arizona)