As usual, I am lagging behind on Lonesome Dove. But, at last the team has started off on their journey. I'm actually beginning Chapter 46 and I'm feeling a lot of apprehension. The trip didn't start off too well with the attack of the water moccasins. And now Jake has run off and left Lorena, not to mention the odious things that happened when Woodrow and Gus tried to get a whiskey at a bar they had fond memories of. Lorena is a very simpatico character who has seemed to be a zombie up until now but she's starting to examine her feelings and wake up to new possibilities. I still enjoy the banter between the Cap'n and Gus, but there is something missing...hopefully the love and passion between them will show itself later. McMurtry does a wonderful job describing the confusion and tumult of a young person's brain when talking about the young hands who have signed on to the cattle drive. He also describes the horses, cattle, and pigs well.
Sure enough... the drama is just beginning!
I love the way McMurtry describes the animals and the ways the guys worked with the animals too. Some of the details of everyday work were really interesting to me when I read LD.
McMurtry also has an interesting writing rhythm... going from descriptions of very mundane/ everyday type subjects to extremely high drama with the turn of a page. Certain turns of events were truly unexpected to me throughout the book.
And, yes, I think it takes a while to get a sense of the relationship between Call and Gus. In the beginning of LD, I recall it was a lot of them bantering and picking on each other and bickering a bit. I think it's meant to give a sense of a long established relationship where each party feels comfortable ribbing the other... or like an old married couple that bickers, but is very comfortable together. I mean by the time LD starts, they've already known each other for decades. In Dead Man's Walk, I'm learning about 19-year old Call and Gus. It's interesting to see how their personalies seemed as much younger men. I tend to see Call as an Ennis-type and Gus as a Jack-type. Call is always very reserved with his emotions and Gus is gregarious and social. Call, to me, is much more difficult to understand than Gus. Gus, to me, becomes increasingly likeable as the story goes on and Call remains an enigma.
**not really a spoiler... but could possibly seem that way**It's not until the end where the reader necessarily understands the strength of Call's emotions for Gus and his level of devotion. In my understanding of the two of them, I don't know if I'd call their relationship "passionate"... somehow I think things like "trust" and "devotion" and "companionship" might fit their relationship better.