I almost skipped reading "Comanche Moon" because of some critical reviews – and it does have a lot of flaws, which I’ll get into. In the end I decided to read it because it brings back Famous Shoes, the Kickapoo tracker who was practically the best single thing about “Streets of Laredo.” And there is … Continue reading Comanche Moon
I first saw the "Lonesome Dove" miniseries in 1993, about four years after it had first been shown on television. Essentially a six-hour movie, it was widely credited with resurrecting not only the TV miniseries format but also the genre of the Western, which had been thought of as dead for some years. In fact, … Continue reading Unforgiven in Lonesome Dove
Maria didn't believe in hell. If there was a hell it came to you in life."Streets of Laredo," chapter 8 “Streets of Laredo”, the sequel to "Lonesome Dove," is so filled with cruelty and death that paradoxically, it doesn’t feel ultra-realistic; it feels theological and moral – and the environment feels otherworldly. Larry McMurtry once … Continue reading Theology and morality in Laredo
Larry McMurtry published “Streets of Laredo”, his sequel to “Lonesome Dove”, in summer 1993. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution then ran a piece by Michael Skube, who compared “Lonesome Dove” to “Don Quixote”: Living briefly off the luster of its predecessor, a sequel establishes its own grounds as art or it diminishes the work from which … Continue reading McMurtry and Cervantes
A while ago I compiled a list of Bible-and-book quotes in the Little House TV series. I've now done essentially the same thing for the Little House novels. I've included the principal 8 Little House novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder, plus the posthumously published ninth novel, "The First Four Years", and her recently published memoir, … Continue reading Bible quotes in Little House books
Everything we build is matchsticks. That’s how I felt recently, watching the residents of Walnut Grove blow up their beloved town with dynamite in the final episode of the “Little House” TV series. I originally that episode – the two hour movie billed as “The Last Farewell” – close to 40 years ago now, and … Continue reading Matchsticks
This is a first-rate work of history due to the book’s annotations and Wilder’s nonfiction voice. The editor, Pamela Smith Hill, highlights the process of turning nonfiction into fiction. There is also analysis of the relationship between memories and writing. Wilder was something of a stickler for accuracy, especially in comparison with her daughter-and-editor, Rose … Continue reading Pioneer Girl
The first half of this book, covering Laura’s first teaching assignment, is just about the best sustained writing I’ve found in the all the Little House books: it has unity, not just episodes. The second half loses this unity but overall it remains a great book, one of my favorites of the series. It seems … Continue reading These Happy Golden Years
A few weeks ago I posted about how we've been watching "Little House On the Prairie" on a nightly basis since around the time that quarantine began. I knew from watching the series as a child that the episodes often quoted the Bible, but I noticed this time that sometimes the Bible was quoted in … Continue reading Bible and books in “Little House” TV series
On a Saturday morning three years ago, my son offered to write up something if I would type it for him. He was just shy of his eight birthday then so he dictated it to me, and I typed it up without any changes. Jacob often expresses what he's thinking or feeling, or reflecting upon, … Continue reading The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Bible
