Two Great Westerns

 

Angela and I are in a really fun online book club in which, each month, we read one of Louis L'Amour's Sackett novels and another unrelated Western, then discuss them. But a visiting relative will mean we'll be missing an upcoming meeting. Though we're happy to have that visitor here, I'm bummed about missing the meeting. The books this time around are two of the best Westerns I've ever read. 

These were L'Amour's Sackett (1961) and Wild Times (1979), by Brian Garfield. And, by golly, if I can't talk about them at the book club, I'm gonna talk about 'em here.

{Update: My brother hadn't yet adjusted to the time change on Book Club Night and fell asleep early. So I got to attend the meeting anyways. But since I'd already written this post, I'm leaving it up.}

In terms of plot, the novels are very different. Sackett is about Tell Sackett, who is working to improve himself by teaching himself to read properly while working a hidden mine for gold, helping to establish a new town and facing off against the vengeful Bigelow brothers. The action takes place over the course of a few months.

Wild Times is the life story of an expert sharpshooter named Hugh Cardiff. Hugh is a crack shot--perhaps the best in the American West--who becomes the hero of a series of dime novels and the star of a less-than-realistic play about his adventures. He eventually opens his own Wild West show. But along the way, he has a number of real adventures, suffering loss and romantic heartache while also making a number of life-long friends. The action takes place over six decades, starting with the Civil War and ending in the 1920s.

Both books, though, have similar themes running through them. In each case, these themes give strength to the plots and additional life to the characters. In both stories, the importance of being educated is stressed. Themes of honesty and loyalty to one's friends are there, along with the benefits of having these traits. Also, the protagonists in both novels work for what they have and clearly earn their eventual success. 

Also, by coincidence, the best scenes in both novels parallel each other. In Wild Times, Hugh makes an epic journey through a desert, nearly dying along the way, in order to carry an injured friend to safety.  In Sackett, Tell makes an epic journey over a snow-covered mountain, nearly dying along the way, in order to carry an injured man (in this case, an enemy) to safety. 

So I've just read two books that stress the importance of family and friends. But then, because of visiting family, I thought I would miss hanging out with Book Club Friends. But then I was able to attend the book club anyways because my brother fell asleep early after a trip across four time zones. It's complicated, but it's probably easier than hauling a wounded man across a heat-seared desert or a snow-covered mountain. So I suppose I can't complain.