Larry McMurtry has died
washingtonpost.com
Larry McMurtry has died
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Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#2Never heard of "Lonesome Dove", or that he was the author behind the movie Brokeback Mountain.
I grew up in Italy, lived abroad for a few years in my adult life (northern Europe and Singapore), and spent 2012 to 2020 in San Francisco (I'm now back to Italy).
Despite 8+ years of living in the US, I occasionally stumble on articles like this, and am very happy to discover yet another piece of American culture that I completely missed, mostly because I didn't grow up there nor attended school there.
It's easy for Europeans to dismiss the US as a young Country with little history; but the truth is, the US has had a rather interesting history in the past several decades, and the intensity and variety of it makes it possibly deeper than what happened in a relatively sleepy Europe.
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#3Never heard of "Lonesome Dove", or that he was the author behind the movie Brokeback Mountain. I grew up in Italy, lived abroad for a few years in my adult life (northern Europe and Singapore), and spent 2012 to 2020 in San Francisco (I'm now back to Italy). Despite 8+ years of living in the US, I occasionally stumble on articles like this, and am very happy to discover yet another piece of American culture that I co…
If you have any interest whatsoever in Westerns as a genre you should read Lonesome Dove. It's about 850 pages but I'd be surprised if it took you more than a week to read. For the longest time I had no interest in reading it because, of all the things, the title put me off (I thought it would be a romance of some sort).
His uncles were cowboys toward the end of the cowboy days, and when they were young, they'd heard stories from the old-timers about how things used to be. Those uncles told Larry those stories and he eventually incorporated that knowledge into his westerns, and it really shows. One thing I find fascinating about Lonesome Dove is that, as the article says, he intended it to deconstruct some of the myths of the West and show what a hard life it was, but everyone who reads it falls in love with the world and the characters.
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#4Never heard of "Lonesome Dove", or that he was the author behind the movie Brokeback Mountain. I grew up in Italy, lived abroad for a few years in my adult life (northern Europe and Singapore), and spent 2012 to 2020 in San Francisco (I'm now back to Italy). Despite 8+ years of living in the US, I occasionally stumble on articles like this, and am very happy to discover yet another piece of American culture that I co…
Try somewhat off-beat American novels:
1. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurty
2. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers
3. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
They are great novels, and sadly, are less known than they should be. If you are into movies, there are great ones like "Paris, Texas" by the German director Wim Wenders, or "A River Runs Through It" by Robert Redford.
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#5What a loss to literature but McMurtry's legacy lives on.
If anyone is looking for novels of his try out the Thalia trilogy Larry wrote. It bleeds Texan vibes in a very human, realistic fashion. And if you're into film there's a movie based on the last book The Last Picture Show in which McMurtry was also involved with the screen play. They filmed it in Archer City, the town he grew up in and heavily inspired the novel.
R.I.P. Larry!
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#6Never heard of "Lonesome Dove", or that he was the author behind the movie Brokeback Mountain. I grew up in Italy, lived abroad for a few years in my adult life (northern Europe and Singapore), and spent 2012 to 2020 in San Francisco (I'm now back to Italy). Despite 8+ years of living in the US, I occasionally stumble on articles like this, and am very happy to discover yet another piece of American culture that I co…
Try somewhat off-beat American novels: 1. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurty 2. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers 3. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole They are great novels, and sadly, are less known than they should be. If you are into movies, there are great ones like "Paris, Texas" by the German director Wim Wenders, or "A River Runs Through It" by Robert Redford.
I would add:
0. 'McTeague' by Frank Norris.
1. All The Kings Men, Robert Penn Warren.
2. Most novels by Sinclair Lewis.
3. Novels of John O Hara
4. Sister Carrie, Theodore Dresier.
5. Little Big Man by Thomas Berger.
6. Last of the Mohicans by Fenimore Cooper.
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#7My grandfather was born in Nocona, TX. He was food-insecure growing up, a survivor of the Dust Bowl, paratrooper in WWII and Korea, and avid watcher of Western TV series like Gunsmoke and Bonanza.
My grandmother was born in Wilson, OK. I guess she watched the cowboy series because that's what he watched. She was a quiet lady until her later years.
I think living in Texas, they didn't romanticize the old West too much but did appreciate it. Some of my remaining relatives have a farm with about 30 longhorn cattle.
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#8What a loss to literature but McMurtry's legacy lives on. If anyone is looking for novels of his try out the Thalia trilogy Larry wrote. It bleeds Texan vibes in a very human, realistic fashion. And if you're into film there's a movie based on the last book The Last Picture Show in which McMurtry was also involved with the screen play. They filmed it in Archer City, the town he grew up in and heavily inspired the nov…
If you are ever passing through that area, McMurtry had a book store in Archer City called Booked Up. It's a fun little place.
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#9Never heard of "Lonesome Dove", or that he was the author behind the movie Brokeback Mountain. I grew up in Italy, lived abroad for a few years in my adult life (northern Europe and Singapore), and spent 2012 to 2020 in San Francisco (I'm now back to Italy). Despite 8+ years of living in the US, I occasionally stumble on articles like this, and am very happy to discover yet another piece of American culture that I co…
If you have any interest whatsoever in Westerns as a genre you should read Lonesome Dove . It's about 850 pages but I'd be surprised if it took you more than a week to read. For the longest time I had no interest in reading it because, of all the things, the title put me off (I thought it would be a romance of some sort). His uncles were cowboys toward the end of the cowboy days, and when they were young, they'd hear…
I’ll also recommend the work of his son, James McMurtry. He’s an outstanding songwriter.
See for example:
Choctaw Bingo: https://youtu.be/Nggqe-L9ZQ8
Copper Canteen: https://youtu.be/IM_BjzDCDXs
Painting by Numbers: https://youtu.be/kca5E3xk8II
Lights of Cheyenne: https://youtu.be/TbSmMeJN8tc
Cutter: https://youtu.be/1jGEedvJMDU
Charlemagne’s Home Town: https://youtu.be/AkCNldGIbio
Re: Larry McMurtry has died
#10Never heard of "Lonesome Dove", or that he was the author behind the movie Brokeback Mountain. I grew up in Italy, lived abroad for a few years in my adult life (northern Europe and Singapore), and spent 2012 to 2020 in San Francisco (I'm now back to Italy). Despite 8+ years of living in the US, I occasionally stumble on articles like this, and am very happy to discover yet another piece of American culture that I co…
"Brokeback Mountain" is based on a short story/novella by Annie Proulx:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brokeback_Mountain_(short_stor...
McMurtry adapted it for the screen, however.