[.ca] Hondo (ISBN 0553280902)

This classic novel is a necessity for any bookshelf:
It is perhaps one of those fortunate turns of kismet that Bantam's Louis L'Amour's Legacy Editions series should be launched at roughly the same time as the premiere of "Deadwood," HBO's new original western series. It is doubtful that it was planned that way, given that such matters are usually scheduled a year or so in advance. However, the interest in "Deadwood," a graphic and gritty presentation that is not your daddy's "Bonanza," will hopefully rekindle interest in the Western genre in general and L'Amour in particular. While L'Amour's name is known and revered to fans of the Western genre, he was in the somewhat unenviable position of having his work better known than he was to the general public. This was due primarily to the adaptation of his fine novels to epic films, such as How The West Was Won, The Shadow Riders and, of course, Hondo. L'Amour's HONDO is inexorably intertwined with John Wayne, who played the lead role of Hondo Lane in the 1953 film. It is hard to believe that the book of the same name was L'Amour's first full-length novel. L'Amour had confined himself to the magazine market up until then, honing his craft by refusing to sacrifice quality at the expense of quantity, writing for reliable publications such as Argosy (recently and brilliantly revived) and creating word paintings on a huge, adventurous canvas. The quality of HONDO demonstrates this for all time. Though over fifty years has passed since its publication, L'Amour's prose sparkles and shines with a brilliance that transcends time, place and fashion. Hondo is a mystery man, a loner, whose background is only roughly sketched throughout the novel in a passage here, a sentence there. He is a dispatch rider for General Crook, traveling through an Arizona desert that he knows as well as his own name. In his lifetime, he has lived among the Apache and the white man, usually uncomfortably. Hondo is a legend among both, a roughhewed individual who will live in peace if he is permitted but who will kill without hesitation if he is attacked or disturbed. As the novel begins the Apache are leaving the reservation, beginning a rebellion that will ultimately lead to their inevitable destruction. Hondo is on his way back to General Crook to bring him word of the uprising when he stumbles across a small ranch in the desert worked and defended by Angie Lowe and Johnny, her young son. Angie Lowe has been deserted by her husband but is not about to desert the land and small ranch that her father left to her. Lowe and Hondo find themselves attracted to each other following their brief meeting, and after Hondo completes his mission he is compelled to return to Lowe in an attempt to persuade her to leave the ranch in the face of the deadly Apache uprising. Vittorio, the chief of the Apaches, is also aware of Lowe, and respects her courage and that of Johnny. He desires to bring them into his tribe of Apache warriors. While he respects Hondo as well, there are those in his tribe who do not. One is Silva, who is motivated by hatred rather than nobility, and who has set his sight upon Lowe and her son in order to wreak a terrible vengeance. L'Amour painstakingly but quickly draws these disparate people and elements together, and if one anticipates the conclusion it is only because it is a classic one that L'Amour had a hand in creating. The ending of HONDO, in its way, is perfect: one is left wanting more, to learn what happened to Hondo Lane and to Angie Lowe, and yet what is revealed is enough. And while HONDO is firmly and finely steeped in the Western genre, its subject matter, and L'Amour's resounding skill as a wordsmith, transcends classification. HONDO is ultimately a necessity for any bookshelf, published in the edition that it has earned and deserves. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

One of Louis L'Amour 's best work:
A story that you can't stop reading it until it's finnished. A PIONEER WOMAN, THE GUNMAN, AND THE APACHE WARRIOR ARE CAUGHT IN A DRAMA OF LOVE, WAR, AND HONOR.

OH WELL:
Looie has a great following. So does fast food. Look in any fast food place and it's packed, So we know why the truck drivers and landscapers and sanitary engineers are reputed to read Looie. But somebody should at least complain. Here is a master of false suspense, unsound motivation, stepping out of character, acts of God, and a need for copy editing (which he didn't allow after he becdame famous). Here in Hondo we find the first in the series of books in which his publisher invented "the man who walks the land he writes about." As someone or other asked, "Why didn't he 'ride' the land if he was such a hellacious Westerner?" It occurred to his publishers (and perhaps him) rather late that he should and we saw those hokey TV Commercials where his stand in furiously rode a horse down a hill at risk of life and limb for both him and the horse. Then they thundered dirctly into the screen like a 'silent movie' freight train, the rider dismounted in a huge cloud of dust so you couldn't see him, and we see Looie standing, arms resting on top rail of a corral wearing a hat right off the rack. (And probably Gucci loafers, but the camera carefully stayed away from that part of him - as the cameras should have with Jack Dempsey posing as a welder in WWI, wearing spit polished shoes - but Jack wasn't a big hokey faker - it was actually him in the ring). So give us a break arreddy! In both the book and movie Hondo arrives somewhere in never never land after walking only fifty miles or so across the desert, packing his saddle. Ever pack a Western saddle? Even John Wayne who played the movie role couldn't have packed one a mile. C'mon. Give us a break. And after years of Looie PR hoke, we wonder why he didn't carry his dead horse to give it a ceremonial burial, as he carried his parched camel fifty miles to a waterhole in his bogus biographies, when he wasn't wrestling gorillas like Tarzan. If yer not a Looie reader, don't start.

Always a good read.:
Good solid story. I've liked most of Louis L'Amour's books. I first saw the movie, and then went and got the book. From there I tracked down some more of his stories. This is a fast paced plot with strong characters. One thing I've liked about Mr. L'Amour is his attention to detail, the respect for the culture of American Indians and the strong female characters he uses.

A "must read" for Louis L'Amour fans:
"Hondo," by Louis L'Amour, was first published in 1953. The story starts with Hondo Lane combating Apaches that killed his horse. Walking back to the fort, he finds a ranch in a hidden valley. A married woman and her son live on this ranch in Apache country, while her husband spends his time away at the town gambling. Hondo, the woman, and her son quickly take a liking to each other and Hondo buys a horse from them to speed his journey to the fort. At the fort, Hondo encounters the woman's husband. Their encounters have multiple motives, as Hondo cares for the woman and the husband wants to rob Hondo. The plot becomes even more complicated as the Apaches and the military have several battles -- all of which affect Hondo and the woman. I highly recommend this book for Louis L'Amour fans or those interested in sampling his writing. I found the book hard to put down and neglected other activities until I was done reading it. Several battles and hand-to-hand combats give the book plenty of action. There is also suspense because the reader is left wondering what will happen between Hondo, the woman and her husband. I really enjoyed reading this book.