Big Country, Volume 4: Stories of Louis L'Amour
by Louis L'Amour
On This Page
Description
Louis L'Amour said the West was no place for the frightened or the mean. It was a "big country needing big men and women to live in it." The two stories in this collection provide a good sample of the kinds of people he had in mind."Ride, You Tonto Raiders"
Matt Sabre is a young and experienced gunfighter—but not a trouble seeker. However, when Billy Curtin calls him a liar and goes for his gun, Matt has no choice but to draw and fire. To his surprise, the dying man gives him $5,000 and show more begs him to take the money to his wife, who is alone in defending the family ranch in the Mogollons. A combination of guilt, regret, and wanting to do the right thing leads Matt Sabre to make that ride.
"War Party"
A boy on the brink of manhood, a resourceful frontier woman who has beauty as well as fortitude, and a strong male character who is single and therefore marriageable come together in this powerful, romantic, and strangely compelling vision of the American West. This is a tale of gunfighters, travelers, homesteaders, and adventurers, of men and women making tough decisions and fighting battles that could kill—or open up a bold new future on the American frontier.
. show less
Tags
Member Reviews
This collection of short stories have some things in common, yet they all tell a different story. All have good guys and bad guys. Often there is a damsel, but she isn’t always in distress. Louis L’Amour often writes strong female characters into his stories. Most often, the good guy ends up with a girl, but not always. But one thing does seem constant: the good guys win, even when they get hurt. Well written and very entertaining, these western tales hold up well, even into the 21st century.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
871+ Works 99,762 Members
Born in Jamestown, North Dakota on March 22, 1908, Louis L'Amour's adventurous life could have been the subject of one of his novels. Striking out on his own in 1923, at age 15, L'Amour began a peripatetic existence, taking whatever jobs were available, from skinning dead cattle to being a sailor. L'Amour knew early in life that he wanted to be a show more writer, and the experiences of those years serve as background for some of his later fiction. During the 1930s he published short stories and poetry; his career was interrupted by army service in World War II. After the war, L'Amour began writing for western pulp magazines and wrote several books in the Hopalong Cassidy series using the pseudonym Tex Burns. His first novel, Westward the Tide (1950), serves as an example of L'Amour's frontier fiction, for it is an action-packed adventure story containing the themes and motifs that he uses throughout his career. His fascination with history and his belief in the inevitability of manifest destiny are clear. Also present and typical of L'Amour's work are the strong, capable, beautiful heroine who is immediately attracted to the equally capable hero; a clear moral split between good and evil; reflections on the Native Americans, whose land and ways of life are being disrupted; and a happy ending. Although his work is somewhat less violent than that of other western writers, L'Amour's novels all contain their fair share of action, usually in the form of gunfights or fistfights. L'Amour's major contribution to the western genre is his attempt to create, in 40 or more books, the stories of three families whose histories intertwine as the generations advance across the American frontier. The novels of the Irish Chantry, English Sackett, and French Talon families are L'Amour's most ambitious project, and sadly were left unfinished at his death. Although L'Amour did not complete all of the novels, enough of the series exists to demonstrate his vision. L'Amour's strongest attribute is his ability to tell a compelling story; readers do not mind if the story is similar to one they have read before, for in the telling, L'Amour adds enough small twists of plot and detail to make it worth the reader's while. L'Amour fans also enjoy the bits of information he includes about everything from wilderness survival skills to finding the right person to marry. These lessons give readers the sense that they are getting their money's worth, that there is more to a L'Amour novel than sheer escapism. With over 200 million copies of his books in print worldwide, L'Amour must be counted as one of the most influential writers of westerns in this century. He died from lung cancer on June 10, 1988. (Bowker Author Biography) Louis L'Amour, truly America's favorite storyteller, was the first fiction writer ever to receive the Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress in honor of his life's work, & was also awarded the Medal of Freedom. There are over 260 million copies of his books in print worldwide. (Publisher Provided) show less
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 5
- Popularity
- 3,432,790
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.33)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
