My Grandfather was an avid fan of Louis Lamour. While sitting in his recliner, I remember seeing one of two books in his hands. If it wasn't His Bible, it was a worn Lamour paperback. It didn't seem to matter if it was his first reading of it or not.
On a whim, I picked up a copy of Lamour's Bendigo Shafter, and started to read it. It made me feel linked anew to Grandpa Harland as I took in, as if through his eyes, the settling of the frontier, the courageous encounters with Indians and mountain lions, and the way Bendigo made his mark on the west. I saw in it the character qualities Grandpa admired and possessed and the kinds of achievements he'd respect. It was quite different from "chic-lit", going less into dialogue, romance, and nuances and more into battle scenes, man vs. nature, and earning respect among friends and enemies alike.
I discovered that reading a favorite book of someone you love draws you into their world. My husband saw me reading it, and brought home another Lamour, one of the first novels he remembers reading. I wonder what I'll discover about him as I do.
1 comment:
Ah yes, Louis Lamour. And if you get all of those read, try Max Brand (there's a western author's name for you) and Luke Short. Those are the names I remember most although I'm sure there were others. Neat that you are connecting with him this way, and fun that Bill has that in common with him.
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