Book Review
Rating * * * *
Author: Richard Matheson
Published: this novel was published in 2010; I listened to the unabridged audiobook (Blackstone Audio, Inc.; read by Stefan Rudnicki; 7 hours)
What is the story?
Journal of the Gun Years by Richard Matheson is a gritty Western novel told through the discovered journals of marshal Clay Halser, a Civil War veteran whose legend as the “Hero of the Plains” grew across the post-war frontier.
After a violent card-game incident forces him to flee his hometown, Clay drifts into the chaotic world of cow towns, stagecoach robberies, range wars, and saloon shoot-outs. Over time he earns a fearsome reputation as both outlaw and lawman, his steady nerve and quick draw propelling him from one violent episode to the next.
Matheson uses Halser’s own journal entries to deconstruct the myth of the gunslinger, showing how fame and legend can warp a man’s sense of identity and doom him to a lonely, troubled end. It’s as much an emotional descent as a chronicle of frontier life—vivid, raw, and reflective on the cost of living by the gun. —compiled from various sources
What type of language does it use—technical, complex, standard, or colloquial? colloquial, transitioning gradually into standard (as Clay Halser's facility with language grows)
Does the level of language make it easy or difficult for the reader to follow? there are moments in the first section that are just a bit hard to follow, but it smoothes out pretty quickly, and the audio version is always easier to follow.
Did you like this book? I did! It's way outside my typical subjects and genres, but that's not such a bad thing. It kept me entertained, and thinking about the real life of a gunfighter, as I decorated for Christmas.
What were your favourite parts? the most decisive battle in the story comes on calmly and quietly, but packs such a punch that I gasped aloud. It was brilliantly written and staged for maximum impact. I'm still impressed by the complications.
What is your recommendation? if you have even the slightest inkling toward Westerns, this is a very good one
5 adjectives you would use to describe this text: refreshing, violent, tender, surprising, powerful
[book review template 5 adapted from here; the title quotation is from the book]
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