Although it wsa obvious that some stories were written earlier in his career than others, most of the writing is masterful. One of the reasons I enjoy short stories is because I'm not kept till the wee hours of the morning reading through the suspenseful, action-packed core of a novel. No such luck with L'Amour- I craved his writing. I drank it up night after night, and it filled me with warmth and pleasure.
L'Amour's knowledge of Indians, locations, and the frontier life never ceased to amaze me. The lack of sex and infusion of morals and stories of great men delighted me. Here's an excerpt of Caprock Rancher:
The money we important for reasons beyond what it could buy. Pa was always holding on about the value of a good nname, and for the first time I was faced up to what it could mean. Pa was a respected man, but if we showed up without that money a lot of folks were going to remember that I'd been swaggering it around town with Doc Sites, Kid reese, and that outfit. Some of them were going to say things about us loosing that money, and Pa would take the blame as well as me.
We Tuckers never had much but an honest reputation... This herd we had just sold in Kansas was... the first thing Pa had to show for twenty years of hard work . . . and the first many of our neighbors had to show. If we'd got through to the ranch with that money we'd have had an edge on the future.
I guess it was my fault.
The coming-of-age story of this young Tucker was a delight to read. Trap of Gold made me more nervous than any reading I've done in a long time - several times I had to pause to still my nerves. The Listening Hills made me cry. The Gift of Cochise made my heart swell with joy at the goodness of men and women, white and Indian, who lived the codes they chose to live by.
After reading this collection I feel delighted and strengthened.
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