Favorite Lines:
He belonged to me, to father and mother and me, and nothing could ever spoil that (p. 118).
I would see him there in the road, tall and terrible in the moonlight, going down to kill or be killed, and stopping to help a stumbling boy and to look out over the land, the lovely land, where that boy had a chance to live out his boyhood and grow straight inside as a man should (p. 118).
He was the man who rode into our little valley out of the heart of the great glowing West and when his work was done rode back whence he had come and he was Shane (p. 119).
Possible Discussion Questions:
What did you think of this book? Is there anything else you'd like to discuss that we haven't touched on yet?
How do you think knowing Shane helped Bob "grow straight inside as a man should" (p. 118)?
Be sure to check out the giveaway I'm holding to celebrate the end of this read-along! I'm giving away the 1953 movie version of Shane (which I've reviewed here) and three other westerns that are somehow related to it.
Thank you so much for reading this with me! This has been the most satisfying read-along I have ever hosted. Thank you.
It's over.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was amazing. Thanks so much for hosting this read-along! Because without it, I probably wouldn't have discovered an awesome new book, and since I'm all about discovering awesome new books, I'm immensely grateful. :)
It's been super (if very feelsy).
~Eva
Eva, thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and found a new book to love :-)
DeleteI can't remember if it was in this chapter or the last one, but I love the scene where Chris comes back with the bottle of soda pop. I think they did a fine job with his character in the film too, though it's totally different, but part of me still wishes that little scene from the book could have been worked in somehow.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, yeah, it would have been nice if they'd worked the soda pop in too, but I love that in the movie, he gets to come and personally let Shane know he's changed.
DeleteI felt quiet inside after reading this chapter, well, after crying in the 14th chapter, I think I was slightly done with being emotional.
ReplyDeleteI like how it ends quietly. Shane was a quiet person, and I think it was appropriate for the book to end this way. I'm also a quiet person outside of writing comments (talking) in the blogging world, and I tend to feel more touched in quiet moments that in loud moments, which is why I think liked the ending.
I also love how Bob describes Shane as having the heart of the "great glowing West."
Thank you for hosting this read-a-long! I really had a lovely time reading this book. Btw, it is also the first western I have ever read, which was interesting after having watched a ton of westerns. Do you suggest any other good westerns to read?
Ekaterina, yes, the quiet, soft ending is so fitting. I'm also a quiet person most of the time, and one of the reasons I love Shane is that he speaks so little and yet says so much.
DeleteThank you for joining in! Hmm... other good western books. I really like:
The Virginian by Owen Wooster
True Grit by Charles Portis
Hondo by Louis L'Amour
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley (also called The Curse of Capistrano)
Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Wilson
Any of those would be a good one to turn to after Shane. I've reviewed all of them, if you want to look them up. I also own copies of all except True Grit, which tells you how much I liked them.
Thanks for the recommendations!
DeleteI'm curious to see what The Virginian is like because I really liked the couple of the episodes I saw, which were made in the 60s.
I've seen the True Grit movie with John Wayne, and I really loved it, although I didn't like the newer version. Is the movie like the book?
I started to read Hondo, but for some reason I couldn't get into it. I felt really bothered by the fact that Hondo and the lady (sorry, I forget her name) were beginning to really like each other romantically, even though she was married. I know that her husband didn't really care about her or their son, but I was still bothered by the budding romance. I actually didn't finish the book, so I'm not sure how I would have liked it at the end.
I usually like a lot of books that you like and you are the second person who has recommended a Zane Grey book to me, so I think I need to listen to both you and my friend, who has mentioned Grey's books in the past. :-)
Oh! The Mark of Zorro! I loved the movie with Tyrone Power. Is it like the book?
Sixteen Brides looks interesting! When I saw that title, my first thought was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, though I don't think they're related.
Ekaterina, The Virginian the book has one major difference from the '60s show: Trampas is the bad guy and not the sidekick. But James Drury is a delight to imagine in the role while you read the book :-) There's also a good made-for-tv movie from the '90s with Bill Pullman in the title role that sticks much closer to the book, and which is a total delight. It's available on DVD, too.
DeleteThe newer movie version of True Grit is much more like the book than the John Wayne version is -- they pulled a lot of the dialog straight from it. I like the book better than either movie version, though.
As for Hondo, you weren't going to like it better as you went along.
Zane Grey is a lot of fun. I really like his collection of short stories The Ranger and Other Stories too, and The Light of the Western Stars was good too.
The Tyrone Power Mark of Zorro is VERY like the book. If you loved that, you would love the book.
Sixteen Brides is not at all like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It's one of the best Christian westerns I've read.
I wrote one more chapter for this, my ideas of how things would go after what Schaefer wrote. You can read it here if you are interested: http://edifiedbythemargent.blogspot.com/2016/02/chapter-17-my-ending-for-shane-by-jack.html
ReplyDeleteVery cool, Kelda! Though it makes me all sad -- but so does the book.
DeleteI tried it, & got a link to a shorter: edifiedbythemargent.com (enter)
Deletewhich took me directly to the beginning of the "new" chapter. Good luck.
While we're winding this up, I have a suggestion for both a set of books and one movie. The movie is
_Tombstone_ with one awesome cast:Kurt Russell (Wyatt Earp), Val Kilmer (Doc Holliday), and Sam Elliot (Wyatt's older brother,whose name I forget.
,& a younger brother I forget cast name & character name. After seeing it several times, I read some books, and the movie is fairly real to the era, meaning there's a lot of blood shed, & a lot of the "lawmen" being not too honest. Oh yeah, it's one of my crier movies when two of the brothers are wounded, one fatally and one crippled. This is getting toward Doc's death from consumption (TB). It was highly contagious, & Doc was a dentist before gloves and masks, so he probably killed more people with infection than a gun.
The book series is The Dark Tower by Stephen King set in the fluctuating Western world. No one can explain the twists and turns- you just have to go along for the ride. King had a Sherlock Holmes' experience, When Sherlock "died," the readers threw fits until Doyle revived him. The first line of Dark Towers was written as the last line. Wow! Talk about an uproar!!
King rewrote a section being coy about just where & how. It's a good set - hardly any of King's beloved f-word. I've read the orignal set 2x, and I keep thinking I should write to King & ask for a corrected copy. The protagonist is a tween following training to earn the status of Master Gunslinger like his father. I can't spoil the ending, because I don't know it! The story line follows the boy into middle age.
DeleteY'know every what single one of us forgot to comment on? Fletcher's first hired gun, the one who was waiting in the street for Shane. As soon as he is close enough to recognize Shane,almost in a panic, he adamantly refuses to confront him,grabs his horse, and 'gits out of town.' We get another jolt of "Just how dangerous IS Shane?"
I looooooooooooooooove Tombstone. In my top 10 favorite westerns. Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday is so impressively quotable. Delicious.
DeleteI might try the Dark Tower series sometime -- Stephen King intrigues me, but most of his books are just too scary/intense for me.
And yeah, that part where the first gunfighter won't even go in the saloon is just awesome. Clearly, Shane has earned a big reputation in certain circles.
:^) All things lead back to Hamlet. Gertrude's 'poisoned' make-up, and Doc's 'TB'make-up. Last week, my sister sent a picture of Doc with the caption "I'm your huckleberry." Now where the heck does that come from? My favorite is Sam Elliot. For those of us who are de-toxing from Shane, grab a copy of Tombstone!
DeleteA nurse prowled through my scattered my books & ta-da ! found my copy of Riders of the Purple Sage,so I'll start it tonight for my 50 Classics read between Shane and Jane Eyre. Hamlette, I've read quite a bit of King, so I could give you some ideas about what I think you might like, and what almost surely would gross you out.
All roads do lead to Hamlet, eventually.
DeleteI have a t-shirt that says "I'm your huckleberry" :-D Cowboy gave it to me for my birthday last year. And when I get a text message on my phone, my alert sound is Val Kilmer as Doc saying, "I'm your huckleberry, that's just my game."
So glad you found Riders of the Purple Sage! And are you going to do a review of Shane on your blog to link to on The Classics Club?
Urban Dictionary: from Arthurian legend times: A knight who performed a service for a lady would dip his lance to her,saying "I'm your huckleberry (hero)." She would slip a ring of huckleberry over the lance as his favor. Gradually it was turned into a challenge. Cites Ringo in Tombstone yelling a challenge for someone to face him. Brief silence,then from off-screen, that raspy, weak voice, "I'm your huckleberry." Enter Doc. At this point, I imagine Ringo wished he had brought extra Depends.
DeleteMmm-humm,I do want to post "Chapter#17." on Classics Club. I'm still trying to do.
Kelda, that's so cool! I had no idea there was history behind the phrase -- I just thought it was a quirky thing he said. Very cool.
DeleteBTW, I'm not sure the Classics Club would add Chapter 17 to their list of reviews because it's not actually a review. On their FAQ page, they say "How thorough do posts on the books have to be? That’s up to you. The point behind this club is to promote the reading and exploration of the classics. How much you intend to discuss the book is up to you, though we encourage you to try to come up with three or four paragraphs at the very least, in your blog posts. If you feel uncomfortable/unqualified writing about the classics, don’t worry! Most of us are reading the classics as a form of self-education and chances are, we feel just as unqualified!" Just so you know :-)