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

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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.

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