So Brave, Young, and Handsome, by Leif Enger

Last year in January I invited six people to choose six titles for me to read during 2014. Well, I didn't manage to get all six read but I'm giving myself until the end of January to finish them. (Does that count? I don't think so but let's just pretend, shall we?) One of the titles suggested was So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger. Amy from Hope is the Word put this book forward for me to read it and I was glad of it because I remember enjoying Enger's other title, Peace Like a River. (I have linked that title to my very confusing, disoriented sounding review which I wrote back in 2006 and now despise. Why is anyone reading this blog? I really have no idea what I was attempting to communicate back then! Let's stop talking about it.) Anyway, that to explain that I needed to read So Brave, Young, and Handsome and now I can happily say that I have done so.

I read this book over a period of two days and found it very entertaining. It's not anything like what I imagined it would be. It was better. To give you an idea of what the story is about, should you not be familiar with this title, it is set in Minnesota in 1915. The main protagonist in the book is a dried up author named Monte Becket. Monte had written a best seller and his publisher is clamoring for another. Monte has been pretending that he is chock full of ideas for other books but that's not the truth of the matter. The guilt of not being able to write something out begins to weigh on him. Unfortunately the words just aren't coming. He is really beginning to out of sorts with life in general when he meets a man by the name of Glendon Hale. Hale has a somewhat murky and mysterious past but Monte is drawn towards the mystery of who Hale is. When Hale asks Becket to travel with him to Mexico, Becket agrees to go along. He figures on having a nice getaway with his pal but his trip is anything but predictable or pleasant. As it turns out, Hale's past is out hunting for him and Becket gets entangled in one huge mess. I won't say anything more than that. If you want to read of their adventures, you are going to have to read the book for yourself!

Should you read the book for yourself? Oh yes! Absolutely! So Brave, Young, and Handsome can be classified as a western, just like Peace Like a River. I wouldn't say that that is a genre that I am drawn to, but it is one I enjoy every now and again. This story is rich with outlaws, inlaws, and everything in between. The scene is set all over the western United States and if you read it, you will find yourself on a very incredible and highly entertaining adventure. What I love about Enger's books is that despite the fact that he deals with some pretty hefty subject matters, he is extremely discrete. These are "clean" books in the sense that he paints a picture without being overly descriptive. There are no sex scenes (although some are alluded to in a manner which suits the characters but does not engage your imagination) and little to no cussing. (I don't recall any although in retrospect it seems sort of strange so maybe I missed something.) It's the wild west with horses, guns, rickety old vehicles, camping under the stars and sharp shooting circus performers. Mostly I found this book to be plain, good fun. I don't feel any hesitations in being able to recommend this story to others.

I wish I had read this book "on time" but I'm glad to have read it at all. Thanks, Amy, for suggesting it to me. I've now read it and passed it along to Jonathan. I think he'll get a kick out of it also.

Little Britches, by Ralph Moody

So here's the thing. The last time my best friend from law school came to visit me, she brought me two books as gifts. I knew she was coming to visit (this past weekend) and I hadn't gotten around to reading either of the books. I decided that this was perfectly horrible (and horribly rude), and so I made time and space in the reading list to pick up one of the titles before her arrival. I went with Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers, by Ralph Moody. When my friend (LT) gave me the book she explained that this was a book that her mother had read aloud to her and her siblings when they were growing up. She mentioned it is a true story told in a very palatable and engaging manner. She also warned me that there was a fair amount of language in it that she had not been aware of as a child and that her mother had cleaned it up a bit during the read aloud. Nevertheless, said LT, this was a memorable book and she very much loved it and therefore was gifting me with a copy. Well, I know LT and I know the books she likes to read and so I knew I'd like it. (This aside from the fact that I just really love LT a super duper lot and would read anything she asked me to. Well, within reason. Heh.)

That all thoroughly explained, I dove into Little Britches. The book is set in 1906-11 and tells the story of Ralph Moody as a boy. Back around the turn of the century, his parents decided to travel from the East Coast to the west where they were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. Upon arrival they realized that they had been misled and as they gazed upon their dilapidated new ranch home, his parents resolved to make a go of it and give it everything that they had to give. Thus the Moody family was established near Littleton, Colorado.

Life out west was hard on the family. Ralph's father, Charlie, had some serious health issues which is why the family had opted to move in the first place. Ralph's parents were in agreement that the best place for Charlie to heal was out west but they had not accounted for the hard labor which went into building and maintaining a ranch. Nevertheless, his father throws his heart into the land and his family and does see improvement in his health situation. In the meantime, Ralph thrives on the land. He discovers he has a passion for horses and has great skill when it comes to riding and training the wild ones. When the story opens, Ralph is a mere six years old but he learns quickly how to play the man in helping his father with life on the ranch and with the family farming efforts. When the book closes, Ralph is 11 and has learned quite a few solid life lessons, to be sure.

My favorite character in this book is Ralph's father, Charlie. That is exactly what Ralph, the author, intended. It is clear that he both loved and respected his father a great deal. I love how old-fashioned this book is in that it has parents speaking honest and forthright to their kids about what it means to be a good man or woman. Charlie doesn't mince words with his son as he disciplines him, corrects him and guides him into manhood. I marked some of my favorite passages.

Ralph had taken a fairly untrained and wild horse off to do a job without his father's permission. Ralph had taken an unnecessary risk and ended up placing himself in quite a bit of danger.

"Son, there is no question that the thing you have done today deserves severe punishment. You might have killed yourself or the horse, but much worse than that, you have injured your own character. A man's character is like his house. If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin. If he tells lies to be able to do the things he shouldn't do but wants to, his character is a sham on the face of the earth."

Now, that's tellin' it like it is! Gotta wonder if kids these days would spend more time focused on improving and keeping their character if adults were able to tell them plainly what is right and what is wrong. Charlie clearly believed that truth existed and that it was his duty to teach truth to his son. I like the man!

Charlie's solid advice and speeches which he gave to his son were not always delivered when Ralph was doing wrong. Charlie watched his son and grew to know his heart. He found teachable moments to instruct Ralph in times when the truth would have the greatest impact on his heart and mind. He was a man who won the heart of his son and loved him deeply, by all accounts of this story.

For example, it was against the law to kill a pheasant (it was never explained why) but Ralph had accidentally caught one in a steel trap. Charlie sent his young son into town with the dead bird to confess to the Sheriff and find out if there was anything that needed to be paid or taken care of in light of the bird's death.

"That night when were milking, he told me it had been a day I should remember. He said it would be good for me, as I grew older, to know that a man always made his troubles less by going to meet them instead of waiting for them to catch up with him, or trying to run away from them."

At another point, Ralph has a conversation with a girl who tells Ralph that people who have to work hard for their living are somewhat stupid. She boasted that her father claimed that the world owed him a living and that Ralph's dad was a fool for working so hard. Ralph told his dad about this conversation.

"Any man who says the world owes him a living is dishonest. The same God that made you and me made this earth. And He planned it so that it would yield every single thing that people on it need. But He was careful to plan it so that it would only yield up its wealth in exchange for the labor of man. Any man who tries to share in that wealth without contributing the work of his brain or his hands is dishonest."

On a different occasion, Ralph was punished unjustly at school and was severely punished in a very unreasonable way. Ralph's dad dealt with the authority figure privately (and Ralph finds this out) but to Ralph he said the following:

"You know, Son, sometimes a fellow has to take a licking for doing the right thing. A licking only lasts a short while, even if it's a hard one, but failing to do the right thing will often make a mark on a man that will last forever."

In other words, Charlie acknowledged to Ralph that he had been wronged. At the same time though he assures him that by doing the right thing even when he is unfairly treated is the most admirable thing and will make a man worth knowing out of him.

Now, Little Britches isn't the Book of Proverbs or anything, but it is chalk full of lessons about what it means to be honest, to put in a good day of work, to earn an honest living, to be trustworthy, and to care for one's family and neighbors. Yes, there is some crude language scattered about. I'll be blunt and tell you what it is so that you know: there is an overuse of the word "damn" and plenty of instances of taking God's name in vain. Ralph points out multiple times that his father was not a swearing man and that he didn't want his children to use swear words. Yet Ralph includes it in the story as used by cowboys and neighbors. If you opt to read this book aloud, it would be remarkably easy to skip over these words or change them for your reading audience. If you are reading it to yourself, then you can consider the language.

As my regulars know, I really do not have a high tolerance for foul language and regret when I find it in a book. I regret that I find it in this book. However, I was fairly warned and as my friend LT says, this is still a book worth reading. I agree with her whole heartily.

The only thing problem I had with Little Britches came at the end. It isn't a happy ending. I cried. And just as I was crying, my sister-in-law (who is living with us for the summer) walked in the room and I had to explain why I was furiously wiping my eyes. I'm a little annoyed with LT for not warning me about The End but I'm pretty sure that by the time you read my thoughts on this book, I'll have spent a perfectly LOVELY weekend with her and her family and will have forgiven her completely. (Heh.)

If you can find a copy of this book, I highly recommend it to you. Also of note is the fact that this is the first book in a series by Moody about his growing up years. I honestly don't know if I'd want to read the others because of the way that this particular book ends. However, I do love the first title and am super glad for the gift of it!

Bowdrie, by Louis L'Amour

Now that I'm sitting down to write up my thoughts on Bowdrie, I can't find my book. It's hidden somewhere in a book stack downstairs. I will unearth it as soon as I hit "publish" no doubt. At any rate, this book has been read.

I was gifted with a copy of Bowdrie this past Christmas. (I hardly like to confess that.) This past week was quite busy and at the conclusion of it was Bookworm1's oral surgery. (The surgery went perfectly well! Thanks for praying and commenting on that!) I wanted a quick, engaging and distracting read and I found it in this book by Louis L'Amour.

This is the second or third book that I've read by L'Amour although I can't for the life of me tell you what the other titles were. I can't say that I read L'Amour because I necessarily love him, but I read him because my friends do. I read him because my grandfather loved him and I read him because my friend Sky does. I read this particular title because of Sky. And just like the last time I read a L'Amour book because of Sky, I enjoyed myself. (Truly, I'm not sure why I don't read L'Amour just for myself. I never have a bad time with him! Dare I say that I even have fun? It's pleasurable reading.)

I get a kick out of L'Amour's westerns (which are the only things I've read by him, although he wrote in other genres as well). Reading a Louis L'Amour book is like watching a John Wayne movie. Sometimes you just want to do it. You can hear the drawl, you see the gun smoke and you want to wear a bandanna to keep the dust out of your eyes. This time I discovered that I even read his stories slow. You cannot read a Texas Drawl quickly. It just cannot be done. You savor every single word. Because you have to.

Bowdrie is one of L'Amour's characters for which he wrote many short stories. Chick Bowdrie is a Texas Ranger who pre-dates Chuck Norris. He can best be described, I think, as a cowboy detective. As a young child, Chick Bowdrie almost because an outlaw when he was recruited by a Texas Ranger who saw potential in young Chick. Chick had ranger skills and so he was encouraged to uphold the law instead of living 'life on the dodge'. In Bowdrie we find him stumbling upon abandoned cabins and dead bodies left and right. He solves murders by following horse tracks and paying attention to how fast other men can draw their weapons. He keeps his mouth shut and his ears open and he holds himself steady when situations start to get out of hand. About the only thing that Bowdrie can't seem to handle well or figure out is women.

"He was no judge of women-folks. It was not like reading trail sign. Women made queer tracks, yet even he could sense that Meg Howells had something on her mind." (Bowdrie Rides a Coyote Trail)

Other than that, Bowdrie is the kind of guy you want around when people are thieving, angry scumbags.

I really like L'Amour's writing style. He can really turn a phrase! I think my favorite line in the whole book was a description that one particular outlaw gave about another:

He was about as pleasant to be around "as an irritated porcupine."

I'm so going to use that.

Apparently there are two collections of Bowdrie stories: Bowdrie and Bowdrie's Law. (If I'm wrong about that, I'm sure someone will let us know in the comment section?) It is my understanding that there are 18 short stories about this character who is a delight and every bit the reading distraction I was looking for last week. I'm glad to have met him and I have no objections to reading more of him. From time to time I rather like a good western. Maybe I'm just in the mood these days.

Recently we went to our first rodeo as a family. Yes, it was even my first rodeo. Despite the fact that I grew up in Texas, I never attended one. Had to do that in Oregon. My opinion? I thought it was fabulous! We got to see some bucking bronco's and some steer wrestling, both of which were very enjoyable.

Here's a picture of Bookworm2 peering through the fencing, watching those cowboys ride:



And here is a picture of one of those bucking broncs:



I'm sure we'll attend more rodeos in the future. We just got our feet wet with this one! I'm also just about sure that I'll be spending more time with good ol' Louis L'Amour. As long as I'm friends with Sky, L'Amour will be in the picture. And so I guess he'll be around a long, long time.

"Bowdrie slapped the dust from his hat. "I'm a Ranger," he said, "and there's always work for a Ranger. Come to one trail's end, and there's always another. I kind of like it that way."

Thank you, Sky, for sharing a part of who you are with me by sending me a copy of Bowdrie. Reading this made me happy because it made me think a lot about you! Love you!