Now, the funny thing is, the first time I read this book, I got really mad at the ending because I seem to have missed one very key sentence toward the end. (SPOILERS in the rest of this paragraph only.) And I still think that a showdown between Gene Stewart and Don Carlos is called for, and I'm mad that we didn't get one. BUT. Grey does tell us that Don Carlos got captured and thrown in jail. He's not left on the loose, waiting to ambush Stewart and Madeline on their way home. (End of SPOILERS.)
I learned recently that Grey wrote a sequel to this, called Majesty's Rancho. When I was at the Zane Grey Museum in Zanesville, Ohio, last week, I picked up gorgeous vintage 1940s editions of both books, and promptly started rereading this. I've watched the 1940 movie version several times since the first time I read the book, so I wanted to get the book back in my head before reading the sequel. Which I hope/plan to read this summer still, after I finish up a few other things I am currently reading. I'm really excited to see where Stewart and Madeline's lives take them! Fingers crossed that it's a happy book and not full of them getting angry at each other over misunderstandings all the time, or something lame like that.
In this book, Madeline "Majesty" Hammond comes west to visit her brother and runs afoul of drunken cowboy Gene Stewart before she's even left the train station. What ensues? Only a secret and unconsummated marriage, a lot of dramatic scenery, really crazy car driving, a Mexican revolution, and a rugged camping trip just to add some spice.
Parts of this book kind of demand the readers leave modern sensibilities behind, but that's not something I personally have difficulty doing because I read a LOT of old books, and I know enough about history to understand when things are a product of the era they were written in, and when they're something I'm just not going to be okay with no matter what. If you can't do that without it ruining your enjoyment of this book, you probably aren't going to like it.
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for western violence and a little bad language here and there.
As someone who's (suprisingly?) never read a Zane Grey book, would this be a good one to start with? Or is there another novel of his that might be better?
ReplyDeleteEva, well, I would probably recommend Riders of the Purple Sage over this one, as it's his most famous, and deservedly so. But this one hits some personal sweet spots that make me love it. I really enjoyed his collection of short stories (and novellas?) called The Ranger too -- you might dig that as well. Any of those would be good starting spots, I'd say.
DeleteThanks for the recs!
DeleteI'm in this weird Venn diagram space where I read a lot of old books--willingly, it's a choice I make--but I also dislike a lot of old-fashioned tropes, especially romance tropes. So whenever I try a new-to-me classic novel, it's always a 50/50 tossup, "Will I enjoy this book for the rich, elegant prose and complex moral themes, or will I be utterly enraged by its take on gender roles? Who can say?"
ReplyDeleteLight of the Western Stars fell into the latter category. I actually think it was the last Zane Gray I ever tried to read, because it was just Not For Me. I'm more of a L'Amour girl.
(Sorry about the deleted comment above, there was an error and I had to fix it)
Katie, that's understandable. I was actually thinking more about the casually racist attitudes toward Mexicans in this particular book, but some of the romance and gender stuff is pretty old-fashioned too, I suppose. I mean, Gene Stewart is not rewarded for being a drunken boor at the beginning of the book, as he changes a LOT and Madeline falls in love with him as a result of his changing and maturing out of a desire to please and obey her... but there's still things that I can see not sitting well with Modern Women.
DeleteOh yeah, the racism is definitely a problem too. I agree.
DeleteYep, I hated the romance, I'm afraid XD Especially the final chapters. And I was very uncomfortable with Gene overall, even though he tried to change... In general, I'm very apt to be triggered by alcoholic characters because several of my siblings have had serious struggles with addiction, so it brings up a lot of traumatic memories.
That was my issue with Speak Easy, Speak Love as well--too much drinking. (Which is a modern book, not a classic, so go figure.)
Katie, well, personal triggers like that are always just going to crop up and ruin things, alas. I simply can't read books with pedophilia in them.
DeleteI can see having an issue with believing he can overcome alcoholism, as my husband and I both have alcoholics in our family history, and recovering alcoholics in our immediate family. Because my dad was on his way to becoming an alcoholic before he married my mom, and he stopped his downward slide with her help, maybe Gene and Madeline's story subconsciously resonates with me more?