Book Club: Discuss/find out about a Classic Tale Set in Wyoming: The Virginian

[Front-Ranger]

I was just rereading that paragraph this morning, CLarissa!! I identified a lot with the narrator who listened politely to one racy story, and then walked out when a second one started!

I'm goin to have to do some research on the word drummer, but I think it refers to traveling salesmen, who crisscrossed the country "drumming" up sales and customers.

I must confess that I have gotten the chapter numbers out of order. Chapter Two is called "When You Call Me That, Smile!" and Chapter Three is called "Steve Treats." Before I go on to Chapter Four, I will do some remedial discussing.

[Front-Ranger]

I looked drummer up in an old Webster's Dictionary from 1935 and it meant commercial traveller.

In Chapter Two we meet up with Trampas, who I have a feeling we'll be seeing again. The Virginian, Trampas, and other cowpokes are playing cards and Trampas calls for TV to bid, calling him an SOB just as Steve did. But instead of overlooking it, TV draws his gun and lays it on the table, saying "When you call me that, smile." Thus the narrator learns that "the letter means nothing until the spirit gives it life."

The author also shows this because the writing doesn't just lay on the page, it leaps up and demonstrates vividly, all the time in cahoots with the reader's imagination. This is an example of writing that doesn't just hope to be a screenplay someday. Maybe if we feel like it after reading the book, we can discuss how we would go about turning the Virginian into a movie (no fair peeking at the four versions that are out there already--altho we could pick one and critique it too!)

[Front-Ranger]

After-BBM I'm always asking myself who is an Ennis and who is a Jack. So, is the Virginian more of an Ennis or a Jack? Although he looks more like Jack, with his black hair, his personality seems to be more like Ennis. He is rather taciturn, but when he does speak, he gets his point across. There are two things that endear me to TV right away and remind me of Ennis. First, his sense of humor. Movie Ennis, anyway, had quite a sense of humor, especially when it came to harmonicas.

Also, Ennis and TV are very curious about people in their own shy way. I remember how Ennis regarded Jack at the bar after they first met and how, almost painfully, he divulged information about himself so that he could learn more about Jack. In the same way, the Virginian always finds a way to get at the meat of the matter, or learn the real meaning of a story, or take the measure of a person without prying.

[Front-Ranger]

The beginning of Chapter Four contains a wonderful vignette in the general store. The narrator drowsily wakes, not suddenly because he's sleeping on the dry goods counter of the store (there being no available beds in the town) and there's little call for dry goods that early in the mornin. (Dry goods is chiefly quilts and fabrics in those parts.)

"...when each horseman had made his purchase, he would trail his spurs over the floor, and presently the sound of his horse's hooves would be the last of him." I could just hear the booming echo of the boots on the wooden floor, the jingling of change and spurs, the voices, and all the other sounds as they gradually came alive as the narrator gained consciousness!

A very short but vivid description occurs here of the label of the can of devilled ham, with a "sultry scarlet" depiction of the devil. The cowpunchers were also buying cans of tomatoes too, not because they loved sauce on their meat, but because it was used instead of water to travel this dry country.

[Front-Ranger]

I am in a bit of a hurry to get to one of my favorite chapters (Em'ly), so I'm skipping over parts of the story about the narrator's time in Medicine Bow, particularly parts about the proprietress of the eating house, who has a crush on TV.

Ridin out from the town on the first leg of their journey, the two men come upon a cabin where two young men live with their many animals. These two men have what would later be called a little cow and calf operation. They also have a coyote and a tame elk, which tries to push the narrator off his chair during dinner. Afterwards, one of the men talks with the Virginian until late, while the other "played gayly on a concertina." Could this have been Earl and Rich? At any rate, two men or any amount of men living together was nothing to remark on in Wyoming, since it's a hard country not suitable for any but the strongest of women.

[Ellemeno]

Hey Everyone reading this book, I'm not sure what to do - I want to read what you all are writing about the chapters, but I only want to read it AFTER I myself have read the chapter you are referring to.  I'm not sure how to do that.  I guess I should try to just get ahead at least a couple of chapters.  Do we have a time table, i.e. read through chapter 6 by this date, through chapter 9 by that date?  That would help me know if I have gone far enough to read this thread or not.

Or do I need to lighten up?

[Front-Ranger]

That is a good point, Clar. I really should put in the header the chapter number if I'm going to talk about a particular chapter, and also put in spoiler warnings. What I would like to do is get agreement from fellow readers before going on to the next chapter. So, I won't go past Chapter Four until we're all in agreement. There's a lot that I want to say about the book in general that will keep me occupied for a while.

Daniel's post earlier reminds me to say that you don't necessarily need to be reading the book to participate. I welcome anybody to jump in with other works, thoughts, parallels to Brokeback Mountain, or personal experiences that are relevant. And poems, lyrics, the whole works!! If this thread or other Book Club thread merit it, I would love it if they would earn a mention on the banner/front page too! (hint, hint)

[Front-Ranger]

We see in The Virginian the development of the concept of "nature's nobleman" and its move to a Western setting. This is an outgrowth of other novels popular at the time, some mentioned in John Nesbitt's post above. This new hero is exalted not because of rank, blood, or birth but because of his intrinsic goodness. Also, there is some feeling that association with the earth, nature, animals, and unspoiled wilderness contributes to his nobility.

The cowboy as nature's nobleman is often eloquent and wise. He is fair and administers frontier justice. He is strong, a sharp shooter, beloved by all animals especially horses, and ever respectful and worshipful of women.

Contrast this to Brokeback Mountain, where Annie Proulx takes great pains to show that the protagonists are not nature's noblemen. In fact, the first sentence reads, "They were raised on small, poor ranches in opposite corners of the state...both high-school drop-out country boys with no prospects, brought up to hard work and privation, both rough-mannered, rough-spoken, inured to the stoic life." Jack is far from a sharp-shooter and provokes fits of crow-hopping in his horse, and both of them are indifferent to women, Ennis treating his wife so poorly that she divorces him. In spite of this, we can see echoes of The Virginian in both Jack and Ennis.

[Front-Ranger]

I had fun this afternoon looking up the various versions of the Virginian as depicted in motion pictures and on TV. I finally decided that the picture of The Virginian on my book is James Drury, who starred on the TV series. Also, I read about Doug McClure, who played Trampas in the series. The Trampas in the book is a scoundrel, but he is much changed in the TV series.

[Meryl]

Lee, I'm enjoying your observations about The Virginian.  I happened to see the book last week when I was hunting for something to take on my train trip and picked it up.  I just finished the Em'ly story and am now up to Chapter 7.

The version I have is a Barnes & Noble Classic with an intro by John G. Cawelti.  There are plenty of footnotes and comments, too, which are very helpful.  A "drummer," for example, is defined as a traveling salesman, but the word was also slang for thief.

It's taken me a while to get used to Wister's style, which feels kind of self-conscious and even prim to me.  I have to remind myself that this was one of the very first accounts of the cowboy life, and Wister was trying to make sure he described everything meticulously to what he knew would be a refined audience.  Despite Wister's descriptions, I haven't got a clear picture of the Virginian yet, and I find his depiction of the southern accent more distracting than helpful.  What I enjoy the most is his descriptions of the landscape, the sun and the pure air and how you could see things so clearly even at quite a distance.