Better than 5 ⭐️
My friend sent me this book for my 60th birthday citing it as one of her two favourite books (the other was To Kill A Mockingbird which she was sure I’d read. Correct!) My friend said she hoped I’d give it a go despite being a 950 page western.
People, this book was EPIC! I absolutely loved it. The characters were so vivid and the writing was beautiful. While I was reading I couldn’t wait to see what happened next and the fate of the central characters.
The book won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction and really is a masterpiece. I can definitely see myself reading this again, in fact the minute I finished it I wanted to go back to the start because I was so invested in the story and characters.
I have to know what happened to these characters before and after this book although my friend warned me the other novels in the tetralogy pale in comparison. I’ve also lined up the mini series starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones to watch. My friend says it’s very faithful to the book.
It took me awhile to get through this but I absolutely LOVED it.
My one regret is that I’m not able to share this with my late father and his brother, my late uncle. They were western fans and I’m sure they would have loved it as much as me.
Without doubt one of the best books I have ever read.
Thank you Bonnie for sending me this book. ( )

Where has this book been all my life? Oh, it's been sitting on my shelf for about 20 years. Why the long wait? 964 pages! This is the story of a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. One is able to find everybody in this story you would expect from a 19th century western: Texas rangers, cowboys, Native Americans, crooks, whores (author's word--not mine!;), and bandits. This is also a great love story. A love of friends and a love of a lifetime demonstrated in a selfless manner. It is worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. This is book 1/4 in this tetralogy; although not the first chronologically. ( )

One big, fat book but a good and easy read. I read this book years ago, sometime after the movie came out. I really enjoyed it, but I enjoyed the movie better...the reason for the 4 star instead of 5. And yes, I was in love with Robert Duvall AND Tommy Lee Jones... ( )

I read this quite a while ago, just after the mini-series was televised. My recollection is that it was just as intense, gripping, and enjoyable as the show. ( )

Took me a while to get through, like a long cross country ride. I was along for the journey, content on getting there when I got there. It was a beautiful journey, and an instant favorite of mine.

Throughout the journey I kept coming back to all the characters we met along the way, how their lives were so intensely changed by the chance encounters. Every single one of them felt all too real, as if I was there riding alongside the Hat Creek Cattle Company.

( )