It's not that people were more tolerant 100 years ago, as 271 Horses says, it's just that they didn't know as much about what was going on around them.
I googled "Paris, Texas," by Ry Cooder, and "Bill" by Tin Hat trio. "Bill" is the "mood music" for part 1; "Paris, Texas," for part 2.
Only got a sample of "Bill." It's played by a low fiddle or viola, in slow waltz tempo--it can't make up its mind whether it's major or minor, but every four phrases or so, it seems to resolve itself. Sounds deeply felt, sounds old.
I heard all of "Paris, Texas." (It's in a cult film by the same name, by Wim Wenders, of all people). It's played by a solo guitar, and BOY, is it sad, desolate.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS, though I personally don't think so.
A few comments, which i hope are not spoilers. We've all seen Brokeback Mountain, and heard Ennis's brief story about Rich and Earl.
First, the story begins before the 19th century does. It is truly an education about the forbears and the times of the "roots" of both Rich and Earl. As the story progresses, we learn a lot about horseflesh, cattle driving, sheephearding, small towns, desert, woods, rocks, and the men and women of the west between 1825 and 1953, and how they lived and worked, especially those whose work kept them constantly moving, like Rich and Earl, during the first half of it.
The two men are quite different from each other, and this makes the love story all the sweeter. I have to confess to going back to re-read the first half, after reading the whole stiory twice. You will not find pages and pages of NC17 stuff...just enough.
Unfortunately, probably the very best chapter (people may disagree) is 6B in part 2, which has red flags set up all around it to warn away the squeemish, or otherwise disinclined to read of violence. He (271 Horses) goes into the motives of all the killers, which stretch back over time...and don't assume, from what I've said, that it's a premeditated lynching. Things..fall into place, like many complicated decisions. And for anyone who watches horror flicks, the action in the chazpter shouldn't be too overwhelming--except, of course that we have grown to love the victim(s). O.K. It's pretty bad, but it's so greatly crafted; he must have slaved over it...
I hope I haven't said too much. "Roots" also refers to something besides people--as you might expect, where things grow, and have stopped growing (for the most part).
What's the mater? never read a short novel before?
This is a dogwood tree, which is about the right longitude (which shows you the above and below marks), but the wrong latitude (which shows you the side-by-sdiemarks) for the first part of the story.
