According to Carol, whom we thank for helping us fill an
important lacuna in our reading by nominating Riders of the Purple Sage, by Zane Grey. Grey, the most
famous and prolific writer of “Westerns,” was a dentist from Ohio, originally
named Pearl Zane Grey. The name “Pearl” caused him some grief, but doesn’t
fully account for his life story. He was married once, and the marriage lasted;
but he had a lot of mistresses. His wife managed their 3 kids. How did he get
to know the West so well and manage to go down in history as having a lot of
mistresses? He was away from home a lot!
Films made about the story of Riders; there were 3.
Parts of the story that were noted at the meeting: I was impressed with the fast and furious chase ride that killed Wrangle. I found it very exciting
and was compelled read the entire episode before putting the book down. Bess,
as Millie Erne’s daughter and daughter of the rustler was a brilliant surprise
and plot twist. The milling of cattle before starting a stampede was well-described
by Grey. Dennis was disappointed in the lack of variety of terms describing the
terrain. “Purple over and over.” Was it the hugeness of the land with similar
features everywhere that helped Grey to get so much praise for his realistic descriptions?
Ken suggested the landscape was monotonous, so he liked the chapter describing
the storm. Heather said she could hear the storm while reading about it…and
there was no rain in Round Rock while she was reading Riders!
During part of the discussion that was about the Mormons in
the story, Joyce Z said that the Latter Day Saints (the official name of the Mormon
people) are accepting LGBT people now. In response to a related question about blindness
functions in the novel, Marcia said that Jane had been indoctrinated in
Mormonism and couldn’t see the truth about how the religion was being twisted. Shirley felt that Jane was open and helped
Gentiles (a rarity in the book) but still had blinders. Ken said that the Mormons
went to Utah originally because Utah belonged to Mexico, and Mexico wanted
settlers and so was welcoming to them. This could explain why Grey chose to
include the Mormon religious foibles in such influential ways among the
characters.
Joyce won’t read more Grey. Carla inherited a set from her
grandmother and used to enjoy the books but has noted that her tastes have changed.
Ken told us that a masked rider is a character in other
Westerns.
Shirley read Riders for another book club and described
it as having mystery, murder, romance, and intrigue.
Carla said that Grey's writing was a step above most Westerns.
Carol loved how Grey’s narration followed the story as it
happened rather than skipping around temporally. Perhaps this straightforward
storytelling was part of Grey’s charm and part of the reason for Grey’s continued
popularity over more than a century.
Linda brought up the “Western” dialect. Examples: “oil” and “all”
sound the same in Texan. Dennis added “pin” and “pen.” Ken gets called “Kim.” Linda
said that TV shows about “Western” themes use the same sort of dialect.
In answer to Carol’s question about the role of landscape in Riders, Joyce M. said, “It’s a primary character.”
Carla –mentioned the red herd and white herd of cattle that
Jane owned. Carla knows cows but didn’t know what kinds of cows were indicated by those herds described by color. Ken said white faces signified Herefords and red were Red Angus.
Joyce M. asked how many times Lassiter was shot in book.
Several times were noted.
How was the West represented? Carla said it was idealized. Cindy T. said
religion was important. Heather noted that the story took place in 1871, just
after Civil war, when the West was being settled.
Favorite characters among the group: Lassiter, Venters, and Wrangler
In line with our group’s concern about book endings, Marcia contributed
a concluding comment about the ending of the story: She mentioned the effectiveness of the sound
of the closing of the canyon when Lassiter pushed the rock down.
