Hondo

Received Hondo but not the version pictured. I was looking for a specific version. Oh well.

Novel or novelization? That is the question one has to ask oneself. Did Louis L'Amour write it or did he follow James Edward Grant's screenplay? The back cover of the original publication--which I have--has a John Wayne quote, "The best novel I have ever read" and that's quite a feat considering the book wasn't "written" until after the movie was made. But either way, this was the beginning of one of the longest and most successful publishing ventures ever---Louis L'Amour, a phenomenon in the literary business. And without a doubt is one of his best works. The short story upon which the movie and this book is based, The Gift of Cochise, is probably better in the real scheme of things but then short stories have to be judged quite differently than longer works. And as with most novelists, Louis L'Amour's early works are his best with a few exceptions. I recommend you read the book and watch the movie and decide which you like better.

As my Louis L'Amour library grows I find that there are stories there that rank among some of the best American fiction readers can find. Okay, I can just hear you. "Louis L'Amour! Isn't he just the leading purveyor of Western pulp fiction that there is? Not a serious author after all!" Not hardly! Let's face it, L'Amour's Western stories rank right up there with those of Larry McMurtry, Vardis Fisher and Zane Grey. And HONDO is one of L'Amour's best ever! My book includes an endorsement by John Wayne, the star of the movie based on L'Amour's classic. I won't say that it's my absolute L'Amour favorite. But it ranks right up there with other favorites of mine like HAUNTED MESA and LAST OF THE BREED. Over fifty years old and still a great book! THE HORSEMAN

It is perhaps one of those fortunate turns of kismet that Bantam's Louis L'Amour's Legacy Editions series should be launched at roughly the same time as the premiere of "Deadwood," HBO's new original western series. It is doubtful that it was planned that way, given that such matters are usually scheduled a year or so in advance. However, the interest in "Deadwood," a graphic and gritty presentation that is not your daddy's "Bonanza," will hopefully rekindle interest in the Western genre in general and L'Amour in particular.While L'Amour's name is known and revered to fans of the Western genre, he was in the somewhat unenviable position of having his work better known than he was to the general public. This was due primarily to the adaptation of his fine novels to epic films, such as How The West Was Won, The Shadow Riders and, of course, Hondo.L'Amour's HONDO is inexorably intertwined with John Wayne, who played the lead role of Hondo Lane in the 1953 film. It is hard to believe that the book of the same name was L'Amour's first full-length novel. L'Amour had confined himself to the magazine market up until then, honing his craft by refusing to sacrifice quality at the expense of quantity, writing for reliable publications such as Argosy (recently and brilliantly revived) and creating word paintings on a huge, adventurous canvas. The quality of HONDO demonstrates this for all time. Though over fifty years has passed since its publication, L'Amour's prose sparkles and shines with a brilliance that transcends time, place and fashion.Hondo is a mystery man, a loner, whose background is only roughly sketched throughout the novel in a passage here, a sentence there. He is a dispatch rider for General Crook, traveling through an Arizona desert that he knows as well as his own name. In his lifetime, he has lived among the Apache and the white man, usually uncomfortably. Hondo is a legend among both, a roughhewed individual who will live in peace if he is permitted but who will kill without hesitation if he is attacked or disturbed. As the novel begins the Apache are leaving the reservation, beginning a rebellion that will ultimately lead to their inevitable destruction.Hondo is on his way back to General Crook to bring him word of the uprising when he stumbles across a small ranch in the desert worked and defended by Angie Lowe and Johnny, her young son. Angie Lowe has been deserted by her husband but is not about to desert the land and small ranch that her father left to her. Lowe and Hondo find themselves attracted to each other following their brief meeting, and after Hondo completes his mission he is compelled to return to Lowe in an attempt to persuade her to leave the ranch in the face of the deadly Apache uprising. Vittorio, the chief of the Apaches, is also aware of Lowe, and respects her courage and that of Johnny. He desires to bring them into his tribe of Apache warriors. While he respects Hondo as well, there are those in his tribe who do n

The best Western novel I have ever read. -John Wayne Hey look, I'm not about to argue with the Duke. Louis L'Amour is probably the best-selling Western writer of all time and Hondo his first big, and perhaps his best, novel. It is reminiscent of Shane (see Orrin's review) and Riders of the Purple Sage (see Orrin's review), but with Apaches on the warpath taking the place of hostile cattle ranchers or intolerant Mormons. Hondo Lane is the gun fighter, Army dispatch rider, hero who, along with his feral but loyal dog Sam, meets Angie Lowe and her young son Johnny who are homesteading in Apache territory in late 1800's Arizona. Angie has been abandoned by her low down snake of a husband, but refuses to leave her land. Hondo must ride back to the Fort to warn the Cavalry that the Apache chief Vittoro is on the move, but then returns to help defend woman and child. If the story does not quite reach the lofty literary heights of Shane--perhaps because the focus is so much on what Hondo needs from Angie and Johnny, as opposed to the way in which Shane was the object of the Starrett family's affection--it is still quite enjoyable. Three elements that really stand out and offer a contrast to the easy caricature of the genre are the respectful portrayal of the Apaches, the centrality of the romance angle to the story and the blithe depiction of the difficulty and brutality of frontier life. Even in so formulaic a tale as this one, the American Western demonstrates a level of maturity and nuance that critics seem bent on denying. With the possible exception of the romance novel, there is perhaps no other genre of fiction which the critics and academia take less seriously than the Western. But consider the fact that by the time of his death L'Amour had sold over 200 million books and among his avid legion of readers were two of the most decent men ever to become U.S. Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. It seems to me that the failure of the intelligentsia to reckon with Western reflects poorly on themselves, rather than on the literature. L'Amour says at one point: No man knows the hour of his ending, nor can he choose the place or the manner of his going. To each it is given to die proudly, to die well, and this is, indeed, the final measure of the man. It is easy, too easy, to dismiss the ethos of the Western as a kind of macho posturing. But those lines and the general "code of the West", however much it may be a fictional construct, reflect a concern with reputation which, when observed, has had a salutary effect on men. In an excellent essay on "The Greatness of George Washington" (Virginia Quarterly Review, Volume 68, Number 2) historian Gordon S. Wood traces Washington's greatness and his stature among his peers to what our generation would perceive as an overweening concern for his own reputation. But this same zealous regard for his own name and place in history motivated Washington to lead a life o

Hello, folks, I'm James Drury. I used to play the Virginian on television. I say this only to add a little authority to this review. If you haven't read Louis L'Amour, and particularly this book, you ought to build up the fire, sit down on your couch, and kick back. You are in for a treat. John Wayne brought Hondo to life, but he couldn't have done it without this book to build from. Wayne said this was his favorite Western novel, and in the world of Westerns we all trust the Duke! Make sure you read this book if you get the chance, and if you haven't read L'Amour and you take a liking to him you might also want to try Elmore Leonard, Elmer Kelton, Mike Blakely or Kirby Jonas.

Hondo: only Louis L'Amour could have written it; and only the Duke could have played him. The greatest Western writer and the greatest Western star, combine for the greatest Western ever.