Reddit mentions of Lonesome Dove

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry for little bit of culture through fiction and Texas by James A. Mitchner, which is technically still fiction but is really just factual history communicated by narrative.

I can't recommend these highly enough. Not only do they capture Texas perfectly, but they are highly enjoyable reads.

Edit: Also, skarter, thanks for taking an interest in Texas.

Lonesome Dove was so gritty and badassed it won a pulitzer.

A lot of people like the Lonesome Dove series.

I love it, but I can certainly understand why some other people don't. I liked it because I love that time period, because I really enjoyed reading about some of the characters, I liked the masonry bits, and it moves along at a pretty good clip. I also think that it does a good job of conveying (to some extent), what 'daily life' was like for most people in an era of extreme political upheaval.

But I also found it a bit frustrating because it repeats itself a lot- a lot of the main characters (and subsequent generations) do the same things over and over again without apparently learning anything, and you'd think that after a flaw in your defenses was pointed out (vehemently) a few times, you'd fix it instead of whining, or doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result. It got a bit wearing to read the same thing over and over again. And there isn't a lot of 'shading' in the characters- with a few exceptions, it's very, very clear who is 'good', and who is 'bad'.

But I do actually love it, and a lot of people do. If you really hated it, then I'd just move on to something else- there are too many books in the world to read, so read what interests you. If you're going to try it again, then I'd just take it for what it is- a great story, even with its flaws. And then go and read Lonesome Dove :-)