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

[Front-Ranger]

Description of Em'ly:

"Feathers on her breast there were none. These had been entirely worn off by her habit of sitting upon potatoes and other rough abnormal objects. And this lent to her appearance an air of being altogether decollete, singularly at variance with her otherwise prudish ensemble."

Em'ly reminds me a little of Alma, and in some ways serves the same purpose in the story.

[Kd5000]

O/T

So is Front-Ranger the facilitator...  Do you have a list of future books to read. I might be late in joining this book group as I'm in the middle of several books right now.  The Middle Sea ( a history of the Mediterranean), Capote's Christmas stories,


I've been in two bookgroups, never one  on- line. The first group just read gay man's fiction. They had books six months in advance picked out.  I got tired of reading the same genre.  Plus the ones I liked such as THE BLACKWATER LIGHTSHIP, they thought were so low-brow.

The other  bookgroup was more mainstream.  I suggested THE DA VINCI CODE when it first came out.  Never forget the lady who said "I thought books like this went out with Chariots of the Gods."  My next selection was SOLARIS.  Controversial selection as I thought the astronaut got a second chance to redeem himself for walking out on his unstable wife. Other readers thought he needed to get over it. One person said it read like Frankenstein.  I invited a few ppl over to watch the 1972 Russian film version at my residence. The person who compared the book to Frankenstein wasn't invited. 

[Front-Ranger]

Yes, I guess U would call me the facilitator, Karl! Altho I haven't been involved in a book club before so have no idea how to proceed. We are talking about next books to discuss over here:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=1059.msg130991#msg130991

Please give us your thoughts! I am especially interested in "buddy" stories, coming-of-age stories, and novels or short stories that have been made into movies.

There is another thread here where we are talking about comparing Brokeback Mountain to other movies. There has been a little about comparison to Hitchcock's work, and I have also compared it to...Solaris! I just watched the Russian version and rewatched the new version with George Clooney a couple of weeks ago.

[Front-Ranger]

More pics of The Virginian. Here is Bill Pullman in the TNT version of last year:



Frankly, he just doesn't ring my bells. He would make a nice dad, but not the Virginian.

Now here is Gary Cooper as TV. He rings my bells, a little anyway:



Here's another photo of someone I imagine would make a nice Virginian, if I can't have Jake:



Stay tuned, I have more!!

[Front-Ranger]

Another shot of Gary Cooper as the Virginian:



And of my mystery man (if you don't know who this is, you've been living under a rock for 20 years!):



And here's another candidate, what do you think?

[Front-Ranger]

I'm starting to get rather distracted by this display of fine masculinity, so I think it is time to get back to our discussion of more paltry...um poultry matters. It seems that our young Virginian is quite taken with the pullet Em'ly even though she is (1) ugly as sin (2) a poor layer and (3) plainly crazy. At first, he is slow to warm to Em'ly, and is surprised to hear that she even has a name. When informed by Tenderfoot that he had named her himself, TV grows thoughtful. TF asks if Em'ly has ever laid an egg before and TV answers that he has never "troubled his haid" over poultry. But about an hour later, he pipes up, "I rechon this hyeh lonesome country ain't been healthy for Em'ly to live in." TF points out that there are lots of other chickens to keep her company, and TV has to concede the point. He continues musing about her like a dog with a bone:

"'Well,' he said musingly, and then his mind took one of those particular turns that made me love him. 'Taylor ought to see her. She'd be just the schoolmarm for Bear Creek!'"

TV finally decides that maybe Em'ly was hatched after a big thunderstorm, because he'd seen cases where eggs were shook by thunder and wouldn't hatch. He surmised that Em'ly survived the thunderous vibrations, but was forever 'touched in the head.'

[Front-Ranger]

Continuing with Chapter Six:

Em'ly next tries to highjack some of the other chicken's chicks. That episode led to an all-out war between Em'ly and the mother hens, which unnerved the Virginian completely. "He went speechless, by himself, back to the bunkhouse, and sat on his bed, while I took the abandoned bantams back to their own circle," the narrator writes.

Em'ly next raised a litter of puppies whose mother neglected them. After they got too big to boss around, Tenderfoot gathers some smooth stones for Em'ly to sit on. But the Virginian doesn't think that's fair. He takes up the stones to toss them away, and is surprised to find them warm to the touch. Then, he slips his hand in another hen's nest and pulls out an egg just for Em'ly.

[Front-Ranger]

Finishing up Chapter Six:

I'm not going to tell you how Em'ly met her demise. You'll have to read that for yourself. Suffice it to say that it was a strange and upsetting experience for Tenderfoot and Virginian alike. Shortly after Em'ly is gone and buried, it's time for Tenderfoot to leave Judge Henry's ranch, and he bids TV goodbye, saying, "Don't forget Em'ly."

"I'm not likely to," answers TV, "she is just one of them parables."

The chapter finishes: "...he had now and for a long while dropped the 'suh' and all other barriers between us. We were thorough friends, and had exchanged many confidences both of the flesh and of the spirit."

After a short period to reflect on all this, let's go on to Chapter 7 and beyond, where the Virginian takes Tenderfoot on a hunting trip.

[Front-Ranger]

Woo-hooo! Over 250 views for this thread already!! (I think it had something to do with the pics  )

[Front-Ranger]

Speaking of pics, here is Owen Wister, author of the book: