Guns of the Timberlands

A Western with all the tropes. I like this one because the plot is a little different. A rancher is trying to protect his land from a rogue businessman who wants to log off all the timber. There's some environmental sensibility which one doesn't expect in a Western, as the rancher is aware that cutting all the trees would ruin the land for the future. The businessman doesn't care about the future, but is only interested in short-term profit. As always, L'Amour is good at description and he treats the women in his stories with respect.

Few could claim to have read all of Louis L’Amour’s more than 120 books but I’ve read a fair number, including the entire Sackett series, a couple of the Hopalong Cassidy novels, and other of his individual novels. It is with this background that I say “Guns of the Timberland” ranks with “Last of the Breed” as the most enjoyable.

The writing and plot are pretty much what you would expect. If you’re looking for an innovative plot or a focus on exquisite language – keep looking. This book offers you the predictable western plot. The valiant hero makes a desperate stand against almost insurmountable odds while the breathtakingly beautiful damsel gradually changes from bitter (or at least indifferent) enemy to soon to be show more wife. The story gets off to a slow start as L’Amour focuses on setting up the situation. His reliance on “telling” instead of “showing” contributes to the rather flat first third of the book.

However, there is one feature I found to be a refreshing departure from L’Amour’s formulaic approach. In the Sackett novels in particular, a member of the Sackett clan becomes entangled in a desperate situation. Once the situation is established, L’Amour introduces additional Sacketts in distant locations who learns of the difficulty. They immediately depart to offer assistance, and are depicted periodically as riding to the rescue. By the time they arrive, however, the original Sackett has singlehandedly emerged victorious. The introduction of strong supporting characters that eventually turn out to be irrelevant was always a great disappointment.

In “Guns of the Timberland” L’Amour reverses the formula. He introduces several strong characters, but his depictions are sketchy because me “tells” us they are strong instead of demonstrating their strengths through any action. In the end, however, many of them have a minor part in the final confrontation. I enjoyed the opportunity to see these characters pay at least a minor part. show less

I’m only just getting into westerns and when a family member that reads a lot of them was moving, he gave me a couple of bags full. I’ve been slowly working my way through them by reading one a month and so far this is one of the better ones I’ve read.

With it being such a short book, I don’t know what I can really say about it. Unlike my last L’Amour novel, the length didn’t bother me because this one didn’t take place over years. The characters were interesting, I enjoyed the plot and the writing was great.

I’m still not loving westerns but every month they seem to get a bit better and now I’m starting to look forward to the next one.

A stranger arrives in a small western town with a score of lumberjacks on payroll and the intent to cut down a growth of virgin timber before the government can stop him.

While a little slow to start, I felt this is one of the author's better stories.

B

A very enjoyable western, good guy vs. bad guy, underdog wins out but not without a lot of blood, sweat and tears. A great "escape" tale!
Clay Bell had spent the last six years fighting Indians, rustlers, and the wilderness itself to make the B-Bar ranch the prize of the Deep Creek Range. But Jud Devitt, a ruthless speculator from the east, now threatens everything Clay has worked so hard to accomplish. Devitt has a contract with the Mexican Central to deliver railroad ties and wants to harvest timber off the government land where Clay grazes his cattle. Backing Devitt are corrupt judges, shady politicians, a crooked banker, and fifty of the toughest lumberjacks in the county. But this time, Devitt is doing his dirty dealing against the show more wrong man.
The recording I listened to, read by Jason Culp, was well done--He did a good job of dramatizing the story and it was a pleasant listen. show less

Became interested in Westerns, decided to try L'Amour. Wasn't bad. Wasn't exactly riveting but I did enjoy it to a degree. Follows the formula. Would not be opposed to reading more L'Amour if the mood strikes.