Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
BBM and Lonesome Dove
belbbmfan:
I just ordered my copy of Lonesome Dove. It was a bargain, only 8 $!
I'm looking forward to reading.
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: belbbmfan on January 19, 2009, 02:55:44 am ---I just ordered my copy of Lonesome Dove. It was a bargain, only 8 $!
I'm looking forward to reading.
--- End quote ---
Yeehaw! Let us know when it arrives. :)
I'm still reading away! I'm really fascinated by the treatment of the female characters. I can't even imagine life in that kind of environment and society as a woman... it's really quite depressing to think about on many levels. But, McMurtry treats this subject, at least so far, with a good sense of complexity and subtlty. In interviews, he talked about feeling an affinity for the female characters in BBM, and in the case of LD he seems to have an interesting sensitivity to the plight of the female characters too.
Front-Ranger:
One of McMurtry's later works, Telegraph Days, has a young woman as the main character and can be a refreshing experience after reading about the many tragic female roles. It's kind of a comedy as well.
Yes, LM's female characters are legendary as we saw with Terms of Endearment. His females are sometimes just as complex and well developed as Annie Proulx's male characters. Think of what they could produce if they collaborated!! Oh, yes, they already did...on Brokeback Mountain!!!!!
mariez:
--- Quote from: belbbmfan on January 19, 2009, 02:55:44 am ---I just ordered my copy of Lonesome Dove. It was a bargain, only 8 $!
I'm looking forward to reading.
--- End quote ---
And I look forward to hearing your thoughts, Fabienne! I had an extra busy weekend and didn't do as much re-reading of LD as I wanted, but hopefully I'll get some time tonight.
--- Quote from: atz75 on January 19, 2009, 02:16:41 pm ---..In interviews, he talked about feeling an affinity for the female characters in BBM, and in the case of LD he seems to have an interesting sensitivity to the plight of the female characters too.
--- End quote ---
Yes, strong female characters are a hallmark of McMurtry's writing.
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 19, 2009, 02:25:37 pm ---One of McMurtry's later works, Telegraph Days, has a young woman as the main character and can be a refreshing experience after reading about the many tragic female roles. It's kind of a comedy as well.
--- End quote ---
I enjoyed Telegraph Days - refreshing is a good word. McMurtry did a great job getting into the mind of his main character.
Marie
Brown Eyes:
Holy moly! I was up to almost 2:30 am last night totally hooked on LD. I'm at about page 500 and am at quite the page-turning moment. I just finished reading about Gus, Lorena and the whole horrible episode with Blue Duck and his gang. Yikes! Talk about drama.
Leading up to the climax of that episode, I came across a specific passage that seemed very, very evocative of BBM to me. In this case, it's evocative of something that's only in the short story, not the film of BBM.
The sentences I came across in LD (no need for spoiler warning in this case I don't think) are about the eradication of so many buffaloes on the plains due to wasteful over-hunting.
"The thought gave the very emptiness of the plains a different feel. With those millions of animals gone, and the Indians mostly gone in their wake, the great plains were truly empty, unpeopled and ungrazed."
There's other language surrounding this observation, that has a ring to it that reminds me of Proulx's line, "The huge sadness of the northern plains rolled down on him."
The language is obviously not exactly equivalent and the contexts, etc. are hugely different, but still interestingly evocative to me.
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