SUZANNE HAYESMICHELLE COOKGAIL COLLETTE

Historical Fiction and Westerns

Port of Louisbourg 1744 by Lewis Parker  

Historical Fiction

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfmPgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTA0011510

 HISTORICAL FICTION - DEFINITION

Joyce G. Saricks gives a working definition for Historical Fiction as "a novel set in the past, before the author's lifetime or experience".  This is a good definition for library staff however, when the general public ask for suggestions in this genre, they often just want history in fiction form.   Saricks calls Historical Fiction a "painless way of learning history".     

 She admits that readers of this genre will have their own definition.       A man in priest's clothing detached himself from the group and came toward Philip's cage.... "Which one of you is the prior of Kingsbridge?"  The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

HISTORICAL FICTION - CHARACTERISTICS  

~ Frame of accurate historical detail of setting, characters and events.~ Mood or tone can vary from humorous to serious.~ Story lines may emphasizehistorical events, time periods, real or fictional characters or social issues.~ Characters lives are shaped by the historical times.~ Pace is usually leisurely because of rich detail.~  Authentic language and style may or may not be used. 

          

HISTORICAL FICTION - FRAME/SETTING >Historical Fiction and Westerns are both Landscape genres.  The detailed setting is all important.  Readers of historical fiction want the time and place to come alive with accurate description of the "geography,customs, beliefs, culture, society, habits," characters and events. >Authors that realize this place historical notes at the end of the novel to show the accuracy of the details.  End notes point the way to further non-fiction reading.

      In Poland's deepest autumn, a tall young man in an expensive overcoat...(and) Hakendreuz(swastika) emerged from a fashionable apartment building... Schindler's Listby Thomas Keneally

 HISTORICAL FICTION - TONE/MOOD

The tone or mood set in this genre is important as well.  Patrons may or may not realize that they are drawn by this appeal factor to the genre.   

The reader may be gripped by anticipation as in The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill or the sense of determination and endurance in Antonine Maillet's Pelagie.  The tone may be introspective, dark, "moody, psychological, melancholy,  edgy, upbeat, hopeful, or evocative".

The reader's mood may determine his/her selection.

HISTORICAL FICTION - STORY LINE          In this genre the story line is important in its role of showing the history of the characters or events. One of many character centered story lines is The Lady Elizabeth (Elizabeth I) by Alison Weir.   An event centered novel is found in Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett set in medieval England.   

        All of a sudden we had enough picks and axes and shovels and hammers and gold pans to go into the grubstaking business ourselves. The Man from the Creeks by Robert Kroetsch

HISTORICAL FICTION - CHARACTERIZATION         

 Accuracy is again all important in the characters of Historical Fiction.   Readers need to feel that the real or fictional characters would have behaved and spoken (no modern wordage) in a way that suited the setting. If the accuracy is not there then the result may be unwanted humor and "distrust of the author's research".

HISTORICAL FICTION - PACING            Novels in this genre unfold rich detail especially in the beginning , which makes for a leisurely pace. The pace may or may not move more quickly  later in these novels, which tend to be over 300 pages. 

It is the author's ability to create immediacy or enjoyable description that  cause a "meadering" pace to be  accepted.  The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd is an example.   

   The deer started.  She trembled for a moment, then listened.  A grey-black spring night still lay like a blanket over the sky.  Along the edge of the wood... The Forest by EdwardRutherfurd

HISTORICAL FICTION - STYLE/LANGUAGE        Readers may or may not prefer language "authentic to the time".  Many readers just prefer that it does not distract from the story.Authors may use:~ "thy, thine, thou" etc. ~a dialect~formal language~cadence (melodic phrases). The style (format) may be diary or memoir, such as The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette: A Novel by Carrolly Erickson.

"He be back, honey chile..." The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

HISTORICAL FICTION - KEY AUTHORS

Saricks lists the following as key authors of the Historical Fiction genre: Edward RutherfurdPhilippa GregoryJohn JakesJeff ShaaraSusan Vreeland Classic Authors: James Michener, Mary Renault, Irving Stone, Anya Seton, Jean Plaidy, Howard Fast  (The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, pages 298-299)

HISTORICAL FICTION - AUTHOR PROFILE

Picture from:  http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com

  Edward Rutherfurd is considered a modern James Michener, a title of which he is proud. Rutherfurd writes multi-generational sagas about fictional characters with historically acurate details and settings.

His first published novel, Sarum , was an instant international bestseller. Five subsequent novels have also reached bestseller status.

His books have been translated into 20 languages.

Rutherfurd’s most recent publication, New York, won the Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction in 2010. 

Edward Rutherfurd was born, Francis Edward Wintle  in 1948 Salisbury, (Sarum) England.

Stonehenge, cathedrals, houses dating from medieval times to the 18th century were Rutherfurd's play area, school and earliest memories. Free to roam until suppertime, he and his friends bicycled all over the county. 

Rutherfurd's first ambition was to be a tennis player, but he lacked the necessary talent so began to look elsewhere for a career.

This took him to the history department of Cambridge, but he was unprepared for the entrance exam and was turned down. So he studied hard and worked with a tutor. The next year he took exams in English and was accepted.

"Follow a career where what you do comes naturally. At least you'll be happy; and you'll never succeed at anything else because you won't be

good enough."  -Edward Rutherfurd

At this time he began talking about becoming a writer. It was his father who said "Since you like history, you should look at Michener's work. His research is magnificent."

After Cambridge he began work on a novel set in the Roman Empire, but discovered he wasn’t ready to handle the difficulty of writing a book.He entered the Book Trade and worked as a traveling salesman but eventually left to write. He began work on a novel about Maya even traveling to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize to do research. But again the project was put aside.

For a while he turned to play writing for stage and radio, but his work did not sell. So, it was back to the Book Trade. In effect he ran a small publishing house, a job he really enjoyed.

"Success is fine, but so far as I can see,it's what people do when they fail

that really matters." - Edward Rutherfurd

At around thirty years of age Rutherfurd was transferred to New York.  After two years, the business was going badly. He worked under an American boss for a while, but the business started to fold.  Thinking he couldn’t make it as a writer and looking to a future in the book business, Rutherfurd went to Stanford Business School.Surprisingly, it was while writing case studies for his business courses that Rutherfurd decided to write again. So after graduating at age thirty-six he began thinking about a new writing project. At the Frick Museum in New York he was suddenly inspired to return to his roots in Sarum. It took three and half years to complete his first novel, Sarum. It headed straight for the bestseller list in Britain and North America.

He has published six more books, has two children, and still enjoys the theatre and tennis.

Information for biography came from The Official Website: http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com

For more information see the above website and/or

The Official Facebook Page: [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Edward RutherfurdPage/282042051882]It's December, so here is an example of Rutherfurd's essay writing entitled "My Best Christmas": http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/rutherfurd-best-christmas.html    

Many years ago, the head of the history department at my school was lecturing the pre-university class. Suddenly the door of the classroom burst open and the junior history master rushed in.

"You bastard!" he screamed. "You've been sleeping with my wife."

Within moments there was chaos. Blackboard dusters - the old wooden-backed ones - were flying. The two men were wrestling on the floor.

And then, suddenly, it stopped. The two men stood up, turned to the twenty-two very frightened boys, and told them: "Write down what happened." Unsurprisingly, they got twenty-two conflicting accounts.

"Now," said the head of the department, "what do you make of your primary sources?"

It is thanks to this lesson that I know that absolute historical truth does not exist, except in the mind of God - and of course, in the imagination of the historical novelist! -Edward Rutherfurd, http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/the-history-boys.html

FEATURED WRITING OF EDWARD RUTHERFURD  Set in the magical landscape of Stonehenge and the cathedral city of Salisbury, Sarum is an epic story of five families - the Wilsons, the Masons, the Roman family of Porteus, the Saxon Shockleys and the Norman Godfreys - through the turbulent course of English history from the Ice Age to the present day. Sarum is the story of English ancestral roots.

The family saga sweeps across millennia of settlement. Hwll the hunter, fleeing the rising seas at the end of the last Ice Age, finds refuge on Sarum's high ground. Nooma the stone mason builds Stonehenge for the astronomer priests and witnesses a human sacrifice; thirty-two centuries later, his descendant Oswald Mason builds Salisbury cathedral with its soaring spire, and falls into each of the seven deadly sins. Roman roads, the Celtic hillfort of Old Sarum, a Saxon convent, a Norman castle, a medieval market town, a Tudor country house, Georgian townhouses, Victorian cottages - all appear and live on in perpetuity in Sarum's echoing landscape.

http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/sarum.html

BOOKS BY EDWARD RUTHERFURDSarum (1987)

Russka (1991)

London (1997)

The Forest (2000)

Dublin: Foundation (2004)titled The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga in North America

Ireland: Awakening (2006) titled The Rebels of Ireland: The Dublin Saga in North America

New York (September 2009)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Rutherfurd

EDWARD RUTHERFURD READ ALIKES

James MichenerEdward Rutherfurd and James Michener write thoroughly researched historical sagas that follow the lives of a few families over the history of a chosen locale. Their sagas include informative dips into geology and geography as well as anthropology, politics, and economics. Examples are Hawaii and Poland-- Katherine Johnson on NoveList  Morgan LlywelynLike Edward Rutherfurd, Morgan Llywelyn writes Historical Fiction, focusing on the British Isles and particularly Ireland. Both authors focus on individuals whose destinies are shaped by larger historical events,as in Llywelyn's most recent novel Brendan. Llywelyn's characterization tends to be more in-depth. -- Gillian Speace on NoveList 

EDWARD RUTHERFORD READ ALIKES

Anna Lee WaldoWaldo's assiduous research, strong plotting, and multiplicity of well-rendered characters will appeal to lovers of meaty historical epics like Rutherfurd's. Although hers are not multi-period Sagas, his fans will appreciate the broad sweep of her storytelling and vibrant geographical settings as in Circle of Stones-- Katherine Johnson on NoveList 

William MartinA good bet for readers who enjoy Rutherfurd's style but enjoy a non-European setting. He has brought Massachusetts' long and turbulent history to life in a number of novels, each of which can stand alone. The more recent Harvard Yard adds a touch of mystery by having antiquarian bookseller Peter Fallon investigate a legend about a lost Shakespearean manuscript. -- Sarah Johnson on NoveList 

  

HISTORICAL FICTION TO PURCHASE• Pillars of the Earth Audio CD by Ken Follett

       This novel of Ken Follett is highly readable.  The length of the book         may discourage some readers, so the audio book would be         preferable.  The medieval setting, characters and story line         would remain a favorite with most patrons. 

• Roots by Alex Haley  Slavery and discrimination from the 1760s to present day is described through detailed settings, characters and story line.  This is an important historical fiction novel that encouraged many to seek out their genealogy. 

  

Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road  is the story of two Cree friends, Xavier and Elijah, who leave their pristine northern country to end up in the horrific trenches of World War I. Loosely based on the real life of a famous Canadian sniper, the story is told from two first-person views: those of Xavier and his old aunt and only living relative, Niska. The story of the war is told in flashbacks on this journey as Xavier recovers from morphine addiction.  Boyden is a natural storyteller. Both the Native tales of the north and the grim accounts of the war in France and Belgium have the ring of truth. Eventually, Elijah seems to feed on the death all around him while Xavier begins to question the sanity of the war and his friend's growing madness. Not for the squeamish reader, this is a powerful novel that takes a new angle on a popular subject.-Mark Frutkin on Amazon.ca

HISTORICAL FICTION TO PURCHASE

HISTORICAL FICTION TO PURCHASE Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell's epic novel of love and war won the Pulitzer Prize and went on to give rise to two authorized sequels and one of the most popular and celebrated movies of all time. Many novels have been written about the Civil War and its aftermath. None take us into the burning fields and cities of the American South as Gone With the Wind does, creating haunting scenes and thrilling portraits of characters so vivid that we remember their words and feel their fear and hunger for the rest of our lives. In the two main characters, the white-shouldered, irresistible Scarlett and the flashy, contemptuous Rhett, Margaret Mitchell not only conveyed a timeless story of survival under the harshest of circumstances, she also created two of the most famous lovers in the English-speaking world since Romeo and Juliet. - Amazon.com   

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. It was first produced as a record-breaking play in an adaptation by Julia Neilson and Fred Terry.

The novel was published soon after the play's opening and was an immediate success. Orczy gained a following of readers in England and throughout the world. With the demand high, she wrote a number of sequels over the next 35 years.

The success of The Scarlet Pimpernel, in novel and play form, allowed Orczy and her husband to live out their "lives in luxury and comfort. The play was performed to great acclaim in France, Italy, Germany and Spain, while the novel was translated into 16 languages.

- Amazon.com

                         Available for download on a Kindle for $0.00

HISTORICAL FICTION TO PURCHASE

SUBGENRES OF HISTORICAL FICTION

• Prehistoric Epics, Ancient Civilizations, and Precontact Native Americans

– Settings drawn from archaeological and anthropological research–“provide a sense of lost wonders and setting that seem more exotic than those in eras with well-documented history”

Keeper of the Stone - Margaret Allen

SUBGENRES OF HISTORICAL FICTION

• Sagas –Series spanning decades or centuries–Offer opportunity for character development, allowing reader to connect to people/families–Often involve romance and/or adventure

The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough • Asia, Africa and the Antipodes

Shogun - James Clavell

SUBGENRES OF HISTORICAL FICTION

• The America’s –Focus on ‘new frontiers’; moving to a new land that is not yet ‘civilized’–Focus on North America and Australia

      North America to 1800

Redcoat – Bernard Cornell (Philadelphia, during the American Revolution)   Nineteenth Century

Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

SUBGENRES OF HISTORICAL FICTION

• Classics (of Historical Fiction)Three Musketeers – Alexander DumaThe Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore

Cooper • Epics

–Focused on a specific geographical location–Covers centuries or millennia

The Covenant – James Michener          

The Cowboy Camp by Rita McWhorter A panoramic landscape from the Delaware Mountains in Culberson County in West Texas. Guadalupe Peak is seen in the background.  The foreground features working cowboys resting in camp at the end of the day.  

Westerns

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Western_art/cowboy_camp.htm

 WESTERNS - DEFINITION Saricks defines Westerns as novels set in the western United States that  "depict the image and feel" of the times from the end of the  Civil War to the start of the 20th century. Historical accuracy is not as important as the  adventure element.   

 

 WESTERN - CHARACTERISTICS

               ~ Frame of vivid landscape description in the west U.S.,from the Civil War to 1900, but often a sense of timelessness. ~ The traditional hero is a loner, using brain rather than brawn to right wrongs, before he moves on. ~ Plots may be complex or simple. Themes may include survivingthe landscape, lawlessness & the rising of the west.                                ~ Tone is often elegiac & nostalgic.                                 ~ Often fast paced action.                                          ~ Dialogue of rich jargon.

 WESTERNS - FRAME> Landscape is the frame to the point that it becomes a character.   > The landscape is a paradox since it is dangerous but beautiful.  The west seems open to infinite possibilities. The terrain and men that live there are shown as larger than life. This adds a heroic and mythic dimension to the story.  > The frame of the West in the late 1800s seems specific.However, there is a lack of further details.  This vagueness adds to the timelessness of these novels.  

WESTERNS - TONE/MOOD

   Tone in Westerns is usually one of nostalgia for that place and time that will never come again.  An elegiac mood is often set for these knights of the west. There may be undertones of  anything from humor to darkness. Today's Westerns may have more gritty violence such as in Tombstone by Matt Braun.   

WESTERNS - STORY LINE  Western storylines may often follow a formula, but they usually involve serious issues.   Morality and justice "directs the story line" as the hero restoresorder. The possibility of death is ever present from the land, animals and people. After a ritual gunfight the hero may even die,which is uncommon in other genres.   "No, the bad luck comes on the people who arewith me, but never on me."  Luck by Max Brand 

WESTERNS - CHARACTERIZATION

Characterization is a major element of Westerns.  The classic lone hero is almost mythic as he fights for justice, then moves on. Real historical figures such as Buffalo Bill Cody may be featured (This Old Bill). The heros in modern westerns are idealizedbut may have "human frailties". Secondary characters include sidekicks, often stereotypical Indians or women.  "Call me Shane."  Shane by Jack Schaefer   

 WESTERNS - PACING

                  The action in Westerns "increases the speed at which we read" these smaller books. The novels themselves are "not necessarily fast-paced". Saricks states that the "creation of mythic elements in The characters, description, and plot may slow the pacing". In traditional Westerns the dialogue may be spare and the pace fast.          

WESTERNS - STYLE/LANGUAGE

The language expected in a Western is spare but colorful.Jargon regarding "weapons and horses" is used. The description of the rugged landscape may belyrical at times. Style or format is straightforward, traditionally. "Short stories are popular" and recentlygraphic novel Westerns have been published.   "The battle lines, according to the scouts, were drawnand a fight appeared certain."  Standing Elk by Craig Dressler

WESTERNS: KEY AUTHORS

Saricks lists the following as key authors of the Western genre:Don Coldsmith, Steven Overholser Larry McMurtry (Literary Fiction), Loren D. Estleman (Mystery), Robert B. Parker (Mystery), Elmore Leonard (Crime Thrillers) Classic Authors: Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, Max Brand, Will Henry  Jack Schaefer's  "Shane" and Owen Wister's "The Virginian" -known for these single titles, but influential in the formation and popularity of the genre   (The Reader's Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction pages 322, 323)

WESTERNS - AUTHOR PROFILEA name that comes almost immediately to mind when considering the Western genre is Louis L'Amour.  He has earned the following recognition for his work:Western Writers of America's Golden Spur Award  North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award Hondo and Flint are voted places in the 25 best Western Novels of all time Western Writer's of America's Golden Saddleman Award His books have been translated into over fifteen foreign languages and are sold in English in almost a dozen countries.  

Born Louis La Moore in Jamestown, North Dakota on March 22, 1908, Louis had many life experiences that provided inspiration for his writing. As a child he had contact with cowboys and soldiers. When he was 15 a faltering economy caused his family to leave the Upper Northwest. From there he worked many jobs includeing: skinning cattle in Texas, baling hay in New Mexico, working in mines in Arizona, California and Nevada and working in saw mills and lumber yards in Oregon and Washington. He also had a career as a boxer  For a time he hoboed around the US. He circled the globe as a merchant seaman on steamships, visiting England, Japan, China, Borneo, Arabia, Egypt, Panama and the Dutch East Indies.    Louis loved books and learning. Throughout his life he made good use of the local library and sometimes went without food so he could purchase books for his own collection. He more than made up for his Grade 10 education with personal study.

Louis always wanted to be writer and began with poetry, which didn't pay very well. He switched to writing for magazines selling his first short story "Anything for a Pal" to a pulp magazine called True Gang Life. He wrote in many genres, but at first was best known for his Adventure stories. In 1942, just months away from his 35th birthday, Louis joined the US Army. He returned to the US to a changed market. Editors were looking for Mysteries and Westerns. Because of his his previous experiences a friend in the publishing business encouraged Louis to write Westerns.  Read Louis's first published short story:"Anything for a Pal" at  http://www.louislamour.com/firstchapt/anything4pal   

 Louis' popularity began to increase with the 1953 release of Hondo. This film starring none other than John Wayne was based on the short story "Gift of Cochise" (collected in War Party).  Saricks says, "Even though he died in 1988, Louis L'Amour remains one of the most popular Western writers, with good reason: his adventure-filled Westerns still thrill readers."(The Readers' AdvisoryGuide to Genre Fiction,  p.322) Since his death Bantam Books has continued to release the work of Louis L'Amour.  Over one hundred million copies of his books have been sold.Many of his collections of short stories have become hardcover best sellers.picture from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045883/picture

ONE DAY I WAS SPEEDING ALONG AT THE TYPEWRITER, AND MY DAUGHTER - WHO WAS A CHILD AT THE TIME - ASKED ME, "DADDY, WHY ARE YOU WRITING SO FAST?" AND I REPLIED, "BECAUSE I WANT TO SEE HOW THE STORY TURNS OUT!" . . . LOUIS L'AMOUR

Information for biography and quote came from the official website: http://www.louislamour.com/ Check it out for lots more information!Picture from:

www.novelhouse.com/Louis_LAmour.htm

.

FEATURED WRITING OF LOUIS L'AMOUR Hondo "Two men. One woman. A land that demanded courage--or death...  He was a man etched by the desert's howling winds, a big, broad-shouldered man who knew the ways of the Apache and ways of staying alive. She was a woman raising a young son on her own on a remote Arizona ranch. And between Hondo Lane and Angie Lowe was the warrior Vittoro, whose people were preparing to rise against the white men. Now the pioneer woman, the gunman, and the Apache warrior are caught in a drama of love, war, and honor. " from: http://www.louislamour.com/novels/hondo.htm

picture from: http://www.fictiondb.com/author/louis-lamour~hondo~91343~b.htm 

OTHER WORKS BY LOUIS L'AMOUR

Hopalong Cassidy seriesOriginally published under the pseudonym "Tex Burns".• The Riders of High Rock• The Rustlers of West Fork• The Trail to Seven Pines• Trouble Shooter

Bibliography taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_L'Amour

Sackett seriesIn fictional story order (not the order written).• Sackett’s Land• To the Far Blue Mountains  • The Warrior’s Path • Jubal Sackett

and 13 more...  Collections of short stories• War Party (1975)• The Strong Shall Live (1980)• Yondering (1980; revised edition 1989)• Buckskin Run (1981)• Bowdrie (1983)

and many more...

LOUIS L'AMOUR READ ALIKES 

Lee ChildFans of Louis L'Amour who are willing to break into another genre shouldn't overlook Lee Child. Looking for compelling tales of justice featuring a loner hero, descriptive landscapes, and gunplay used only as a last resort? Child's Jack Reacher will fit the bill. The first in the series is Killing Floor -- Shauna Griffin on NoveList 

Lyle BrandtReaders who enjoy L'Amour's fast-paced Western stories books for adults about revenge and outlaws may also enjoy Brandt. Try Justice Gun -- NoveList     

Nancy E. TurnerIf you like fast-paced Western stories books for adults featuring frontier and pioneer life, you might like both L'Amour and Turner. Try Sarah's quilt: the novel of Sarah Agnes Prine and the Arizona territories, 1906.- NoveList Douglas Clyde JonesDouglas C. Jones' Westerns combine historical accuracy with strong storytelling, though Jones rarely ventures further west than Arkansas. His stories of settling the West are filled with action and adventure and a touch of humour, and are marked by respect for Native Americans and their traditions. Try Shadow of the Moon.-- Shauna Griffin on NoveList 

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•Native Americans –conflicts between indigenous groups and the ‘invading’ culture

Panther in the Sky – James Alexander Thom •Indian Captives

–individuals captured and often adopted into the tribes, and those who search for them

Dances with Wolves – Michael Blake

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•Merchants and Teamsters–stories of  suppliers to the West

Canyon Passage – Ernest Haycox

•Wagons West and Early Settlement–settlers who travelled to the ‘untamed’ West

Northwest Passage – David Thompson

•Mines and Mining–stories of gold and silver fortune seekers

The Empty Land – Louis L’Amour      

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•Army in the West –military presence that resulted from ex-soldiers remaining in the West after the Civil War

The Unwritten Order – John Edward

•Law and Lawmen –maintaining the law in the chaotic ‘Wild West‘

Death of a Gunfighter – Lewis B. Patten Ames

•Bad Men and Good–‘bad’ men with a good side, and vice versa

Shane – Jack Shaefer

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•Hired Man on HorsebackThe Log of a Cowboy – Andy Adams

 •Cattle Drives

–cattle drive adventure storiesLonesome Dove – Larry McMurty

 •Cattle Kingdom

–adventures of building a cattle empire The Sea of Grass – Conrad Richter

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•Range Wars–Battle to keep the West ‘unfenced’/free range

The Homesteaders – Richard Clarke

•Sheepmen –Adventures of building an empire raising sheep

To the Last Man – Zane Grey

•Railroads–the development of the railroad into the West

U.P. Trail – Zane Grey

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•Land Rush –Homesteaders  drawn in by the offer of ‘free land’

Too Long at the Dance – Mike Blakely •Buffalo Runners

–Stories of buffalo huntsBuffalo Wagons – Elmer Kelton

•Unromanticized –showing the ‘ugly underbelly’ of the West

Deadwood – Pete Dexter

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•Comedy and ParodyThe Apple Dumpling Gang – Jack Bickham

•Coming of AgeThe Dark Island – Robert J. Conley

•Celebrity Characters The Saga of Billy the Kid – Walter Noble Burns  

•Picaresque–‘roguish protagonist’, frequently humourous

Little Big Man – Thomas Berger 

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•African Americans in the West–stories of cowboys, ex-soldiers and former slaves

Buffalo Soldiers – Tom Willard

•Mormons –religious groups who travelled West

The Wedding Dress – Marian Wells

•Romance The Valiant Woman – Jeanne Williams

•Singular Woman–strong, independent women in the West

All God’s Children – Tom Eidson

SUBGENRES OF WESTERNS

•The West Still Lives–cultural diversity and changes in the 20th century

All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy

•Eccentric Variations–branch into other genres (fantasy, horror…)

Cyber Way – Alan Dean Foster

•Sagas and SeriesSacket Family Series – Louis L’Amour Rivers West Series – Charles R. Pike

WESTERN TITLES FOR PURCHASESet in the late 19th century, The Last Crossing, Guy Vanderhaeghe's novel is the story of Charles and Addington who travel the prairies of the U.S. and Canada in search of sensitive Simon, who has disappeared. The small troupe is led by Jerry Potts. The heart of the plot involves the love that Charles feels for Lucy Stoveall, a country woman who accompanies them, secretly intent on avenging her sister's murder. However, the most intriguing character is Custis Straw, a Bible-reading, heavy-drinking Civil War veteran who also loves Lucy. Though this is a Western in the traditional sense, Vanderhaeghe never sinks into parody. Rather, he uses the Western motif to reveal a number of profound universal truths about personal honour, and human failings and strengths.  --Mark Frutkin for Amazon.ca

WESTERN TITLES FOR PURCHASE

Shane by Jack Schaefer is a Western classic known to most people.  The storyline of this 1983 novel is described as "A gunman helps the homesteaders break the power of the Wyoming cattlemen" (amazon.ca).The Western novel frame, characters, story line and language are well represented in this popular work."He's like one of these here slow burning fuses,"  the mule skinner said. Winnetou, The Apache Knight  by Karl May gives an onlooker's perspective of West.  This more recent novel shows a protagonist studying "the wild and woolly west...before I assume the shackles of civilization  forever."  This perspective would be a valuable part of a collection of Westerns.

WESTERN TITLES FOR PURCHASE

Deadwood by Pete DexterDEADWOOD, DAKOTA TERRITORIES, 1876: Legendary gunman Wild Bill Hickcock and his friend Charlie Utter have come to the Black Hills town of Deadwood fresh from Cheyenne, fleeing an ungrateful populace. Bill, aging and sick but still able to best any man in a fair gunfight, just wants to be left alone to drink and play cards. But in this town of played-out miners, bounty hunters, upstairs girls, Chinese immigrants, and various other entrepeneurs and miscreants, he finds himself pursued by a vicious sheriff, a perverse whore man bent on revenge, and a besotted Calamity Jane. Fueled by liquor, sex, and violence, this is the real wild west, unlike anything portrayed in the dime novels that first told its story.   http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/pete-dexter/deadwood.htm 

WESTERN TITLES FOR PURCHASE

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy Part bildungsroman, part horse opera, part meditation on courage and loyalty, this beautifully crafted novel won the National Book Award in 1992. The plot is simple enough. John Grady Cole, a 16-year-old dispossessed Texan, crosses the Rio Grande into Mexico in 1949, accompanied by his pal Lacey Rawlins. The two precocious horsemen pick up a sidekick--a laughable but deadly marksman named Jimmy Blevins--encounter various adventures on their way south and finally arrive at a paradisiacal hacienda where Cole falls into an ill-fated romance. Readers familiar with McCarthy's Faulknerian prose will find the writing more restrained than in Suttree and Blood Meridian. Newcomers will be mesmerized by the tragic tale of John Grady Cole's coming of age.  -Amazon.com

THE READERS          Historical Fiction Historical Fiction readers mayenjoy the following:~ accurate detail of historical    settings in story form~ a tone that suits the    reader's current preference~ plot focused on a character,     event, or time in history~  accuracy of detail in real or     fictional characters~ excellent writing that gives       a sense of immediacy or      unfolding of the story~ accurate language that does not distract, in regular prose,     diary or memoir format. 

                Westerns Readers that ask for a Western may be looking for:~ 19th century Western     setting  ~ sense of nostalgia,      timelessness~ lone hero, good guys     and villains ~ a shorter, action   -filled novel or     story. 

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER • Would you try an audio book Historic Fiction novel, if

you don't have time to read the 300 plus pages?• Do you think you would prefer the traditional

Western or the usually more realistic modern Western, where the hero has definite flaws?

• Can you think of any Graphic Novels that fit these genres?

• If you read these genres, did the appeal factors indicated (from Saricks) fit with the reasons why you choose

      your reading materials? Are there other appeal       factors that were not mentioned?• As many Westerns are published as 'history',

      'romance' or 'action' today, should Westerns       continue to exist as a separate genre, or should       they be considered a sub-genre within these genres?