Walter Van Tilburg Clark (1909–1971)

Clark's words about his tale --

The book was written in 1937 and '38, when the whole world was getting increasingly worried about Hitler and the Nazis, and emotionally it stemmed from my part of this worrying. A number of the reviewers commented on the parallel when the book came out in 1940, saw it as something approaching an allegory of the unscrupulous and brutal Nazi methods, and as a warning against the dangers of temporizing and of hoping to oppose such a force with reason, argument, show more and the democratic approach. They did not see, however, or at least I don't remember that any of them mentioned it (and that did scare me), although it was certainly obvious, the whole substance and surface of the story, that it was a kind of American Naziism that I was talking about. I had the parallel in mind, all right, but what I was most afraid of was not the German Nazis, or even the Bund, but that ever-present element in any society which can always be led to act the same way, to use authoritarian methods to oppose authoritarian methods.
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A peeling back of the baseness, absurdity, and horror of mob justice framed in the comforting setting of the Wild West. The slow build with abundant chances for a changed course - even though we can see the inevitable murders ahead. Those who speak against are considered crazy or worse, weak. As if fear wasn't a prerequisite of bravery. While those who are complicit via their conflicted silence are the significant majority, who if forced to act alone or lead would not find the drive or justification. Peer pressure in its ugliest, most terrifying form.

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Most men are more afraid of being thought cowards than of anything else, and a lot more afraid of being thought physical cowards than moral ones. There are a lot of loud arguments to cover moral cowardice, but even an animal will know if you're scared. [...] he was going to find that it was the small but present "we," not the big, misty "we," that shaped men's deeds, no matter what shaped their explanations. show less

An absolutely devastating story. Clark vividly and convincingly captures the laconic, muscular masculinity of the raw American west while deftly layering it with philosophical meditations and prose that is sometimes surprisingly dazzling. It's the best of all worlds. I knew it was good when I had to set it aside for five minutes so I could rail against the characters.

I won't pretend that this is a novel for everyone because, frankly, it isn't. And it's certainly possible that if I had read this during any other time of my life I wouldn't be rating it so highly. But, to indulge in something of a nascent spirituality, I believe art and, for me, literature, has a way of finding you when you need it.

I've been going through something of a personal transformation as of late. Love found and lost again, gone with the morning mist. A new dawn came and I was left show more holding the bag. Such as it was. But like a balm, protagonist Tim Hazard's trials and travails, his rejections as a lover, as a son, as an artist, rang true for me like a village of a thousand bells. For the last few weeks I've been reading this book obsessively, following Clark's prose through all its meanderings and ponderings, never getting bored but only comforted and excited as he continued to delineate the world of Reno with a Terrence Malick level of detail and dedication.

This is a work of man and nature, of man in combat with the world and himself, with art as the mistress to set him, and by extension the rest of us, free. It's a novel of defeat, failure, and the putting together again of a self in way that doesn't reconcile the Steppenwolf's in each of us (an inhuman notion) but rather accepting the filth and the dirt and the pain as integral to the human condition, and the shadow from which is cast the light of truth and beauty, joy and love.

Again, this book isn't for everyone. It isn't beach reading. And the plot itself wanders and loses itself more than once. But who gives a damn? I don't. I am thankful to this book for existing. And I am better and stronger and wiser for reading it. You might not react the same, of course. But if you've been in pain and need assurance of the light in the darkness, the knowledge that personal reincarnation, rebirth into a better state of life, is not only possible, but wonderful in all its vicissitudes, then give this a chance. It just might surprise you. show less

Often mistaken as 'a western', Clark's 1940 masterpiece is far from it. Although loosely disguised as a a western, it is really an in-depth study of the dichotomy between justice and vengeance. It also takes a hard look at mob rule and why people are so reluctant to behave as individuals at a time where much of the world was in the thrall of charismatic tyrants.

Now that I've thoroughly bored you with my literary critique of this excellent book, forget everything I said and just read it. You show more will be entertained and will come away from it a better person. Sorry, no gunfighters, though.

My thanks to the folks at the Catching up on Classics group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books. show less