Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Monte Walsh
Book Review: Monte Walsh, an American Icon, a hero for us all.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Monte Walsh" was given to me by my father. An old faded yellow, dog eared, and missing the last three pages copy he had long since memorized verbatim. He said that I must read this book if I love horses and westerns movies. I was not disappointed.I couldn't put this page turner down. The detailed descriptions of Monte's journey from young cow"boy" to worn and weathered cattle"man" are fantastic. As a lover of the mythic cowboy and avid horseback rider, it was like I was riding along side Monte every hoofprint and bucking ride of the way. He has become my new hero, a real man's man, yet gentle, sensitive, and immensely caring, a man who's main concerns are simple: knowing what you're good at and pursuing it to an expertise level, the value of good friends, and always being honest and living with integrity.
As a big fan of the Western movie genre, my favorite films are True Grit, The Shootist, The Searchers, Hondo, Red River, The Cowboys, Shane, and Will Penny. Now I'll have to add Monte Walsh to this list. All these movies had heros where that were part of the mythic west and in one way or another ride off into the sunset leaving modernity to fend for itself. And I must add, at a loss for they're not being here.
I will also add to my list of memorable cowboy expressions: "It's a horse, ain't it?" No matter what the problem is , it's still a horse, and one that can be ridden. Not conquered, but mastered. And I loved the relationship that Monte had with his horses, more mutual respect than anything else.
And his inseparable relationship with his best friend Chet, there gentle jibes and finishing of each other's sentences and thoughts. We should all have friends like Chet and Monte.
Incidentally, my father read me the last 3 pages over the phone from another copy he recently found at the library. And that was the best part of them all. What a great story! Truly the best man with a horse ever.
So swing into the saddle and rope a copy of this book. I promise that you won't be bucked off.
Be well.
Book Review: Monte Walsh: the prototype for Lonesome Dove
Summary: 5 Stars
Monte Walsh is a classic Western, maybe the best ever written, and deserves to be read even by those who are not normally taken by the genre. It is a beautifully crafted period piece, describing the West and its cowboys during a time when it was in transition to modernity. But at its heart, it really is about those simple yet enduring themes: friendship, honor and duty. From Shaefer's elegant descriptions of the land, to his careful, humorous, and at times poignant portrayals of his characters, the book is a beautifully crafted masterpiece. Each chapter can stand on its own (as, in fact, they originally did) as a beautiful short story (I read Christmas Eve at the Slash Y on every Christmas Eve to get me in the spirit of the season) but taken as part of a whole they have greater power. I read Lonesome Dove 20 years after I first read Monte Walsh, and I was struck by many similarities between the books. I can't help but wonder if McMurtry had previously read Monte Walsh at some point in his life, and like many who have read it, been greatly influenced by it. Monte Walsh's epitaph read "a good man with a horse". I don't know what is Jack Schaefer's , but by writing a classic like Monte Walsh I think Jackie Robinson's epitaph would not be inappropriate, "a life is important only in the way it effects other lives". The code that Jack Shaefer wrote for living a good, honest life is a timeless gift to all who are lucky enough to read this book.Book Review: Monte and Chet and me and you
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel sets out the panorama of the Old West as it very likely happened. The dust, the sweat, the harshness of life on the range. Schaefer chronicles the love that arises between compatible personalities sharing common dangers, hard work, love of animals and a philosophy of living. Only one who appreciated the difficulty of man's struggle on earth could so strikingly portray its physicalness: the rawhide hardness of the men, all gristle and bone and gritty determination and lack of self-pity.Schaefer acknowledges the 'ifness' of life in that epoch, its randomness and fragility, by titling the first chapter "A Beginning" and the last "An Ending." He tells a moving tale in a series of vignettes -- every one of which could have been very different. That it wasn't owes to the personalities he gave his main characters.
Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins, in Army terminology, were buddies. They live out the rituals of the cowboy life, when fighting and rough living and carousing were considered part of being a real man. Uncomplaining acceptance of danger, a sense of honor, a refusal to whine about Fate, characterized the cowboy code. Don't talk; DO. Fun was its own reward, the capstone to grueling days and nights on the trail in dust and blizzard and driving rain. A man's word was his bond. Respect was hard-won, reflected in hard tests and the respect of other hard-bitten men.
Schaefer's unusual word usage conveys the uniqueness of the brief era from the 1870s thru the coming of the automobile, when the term "cowboy" described a way of life. The odd employment of the reflexive "this" directs the reader's attention to details that would otherwise go unnoticed. Such devices draw the reader into the action as witness to a life of unremitting toil leavened only by the natural grace, humor and goodness of the men who lived it.
Among the many excellences of this book, one comes to appreciate the immensity of the North American landmass, measured here by the yardstick of men on horseback. The dangers of the cowboy life appear as just part of the landscape. Schaefer shows how we unconsciously identify people by visual cues: The square-built man, the desk man, the slope-shouldered man. He captures the ache of hard-won skills becoming irrelevant as technology changes the human condition. People belong to the age in which they live. They couldn't fit into another age with the skills and insights gleaned from their own era. In this sense, the human drama is endlessly unique and interesting.
In a foreword, Schaefer compares the significance of the lives of Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins, who went different ways as they aged. Schaefer avers that he and Chet respect more the success Monte achieved than that Chet achieved, hence the book rightly is named for Monte rather than Chet. For all his talent, Schaefer missed what matters here: At story's end you have real affection and respect for Chet Rollins, but you love Monte Walsh. He was a part of the Old West in a way Chet was not. Chet, manifesting the defining characteristic of mankind as a species, would change the world around him; Monte would only move in it, as cows and horses and wolves moved in it and storms raged across it. You love Monte the way you love cows and horses and wolves and the elements.
This is one of a rare few books I wished would never end. Monte Walsh may be the only character of my reading experience whose life I wish I could have lived.
Book Review: Pure and simple, this is simply the BEST of it's kind.
Summary: 5 Stars
Like so many other reviewers, my copy of this marvelous book is tattered, dog-earred and just plain worn-out! When real cowboys and ranch-hands give this book the "thumbs-up," then you know that you've got something REALLY special going on. Jack Schaefer has woven his vignettes of Monte Walsh's life into a superb compilation of the "real" cowboy life, full of bumps and bruises, growing pains, life lessons, cantankerous behavior and bonds that last longer than a mere lifetime. Monte's and Chet's story is a true love story, but not the kind that today's society so often thinks of---this is the love that two men, buddies for life, have for one another, and the absolute devotion that they have for the other is remarkably told here. Filled with truly memorable characters and events, this is a must-read for anyone seeking to learn what it truly means to be called a cowboy. Honest, gritty, hilarious, and heartbreaking, Monte Walsh is simply the best of the best. Once you've read it, you'll find yourself reading it again and again through the years. Just try it and you'll see for yourself!Book Review: Simply the best book of its type ever written!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Monte Walsh" is definitely a repeat-reader. I have revisited the Slash Y ranch 6 times since 1990 (which was when I started keeping records). The book always leaves me with a peaceful, easy feeling, taking me to a place and time when life was both more challenging and yet simpler. Those were the days when the highest praise was "He was a good man with a horse." Schaefer's writing style is unique and infectious. I find myself picking up the language and phrases he uses. ("Shucks, it's a horse, ain't it?") The novel consists of a series of short stories, each centering on Monte Walsh, but not connected in traditional novel style. The author captures both the toughness and wildness of the traditional cowboy lifestyle, but also display the unique emotional make-up of the cowboys, their loyalty to one another and to the brand, and their boyish sentimentality and enthusiasm. I pull out my worn and dog-eared copy of "Monte Walsh" whenver I need total relaxation and escape. If I hadn't just re-read it last month, I'd pull it off the shelf now and read it again.