Western

This was a book club selection. I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise. This was written in 1914 and it was a little difficult to get around the stereotypes of that time. With some eye rolling on my part I did finish it and really enjoyed the landscape and story. There were editorial gaps in his stories timeline and possibilities of the characters abilities to get things done in the time allotted. ( )

One of the Top Six in his Top Ten. ( )

Rather than a story of the old west (like most of Zane Grey's work), this has a setting contemporary to when it was written -- 1914. Thus, the cowboys sometimes play golf and drive cars. Nevertheless, it is the West, with plenty of rugged old time cowboys, magnificent horses, and rough characters who pose real dangers, especially to the easterners who come to visit. The heart of the story is the attraction between Madeline Hammond (a transplanted easterner) and Gene Stewart, the cowboy who secretly loves her. This is more than a conventional tale of helpless women being rescued by stalwart men. In fact, in a role reversal unexpected for its time frame, it is the intrepid Madeline who rescues Gene from certain death, though ingenuity, dogged persistence, and bravery, at great risk to herself. The danger in this tale is not posed by Indians (not in 1914) but a band of renegade Mexican criminals (referred to by a now- archaic epithet, not offensive at the time) who are taking advantage of the political unrest in their own country.

One notable feature of this book is an extended passage that compares pale- skinned unathletic men of the effete east -- men of a "race" destined for metaphorical "extinction" (Grey's terms) -- with the strong and brave men of the rugged West (pages 250 - 251). The comparison (presented as Madeline Hammond's own revelation as she makes her choice of men) is both stark and vivid. It beautifully encapsulates a distinction that I have never seen so explicitly drawn elsewhere in the author's work. The passage is worth noting (and for scholars, worth quoting), as a perfect articulation of the romantic myth of the Old West that Zane Grey did so much to invent. ( )

later the words "a romance" was added to the title (circa 1942). well it should be. call me a fuddy-duddy, but i still thrill to the non-physical descriptions of romance mr. grey gives us with the hero gene stewart and heroine margaret "majesty" hammond. it makes me eager to tackle another grey novel. ( )