Customer Reviews

Lords of the Plain : A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Max Crawford's LORD OF THE PLAINS is one of American literature's hidden gems. It's a sweet, gorgeous, steady-all-the-way piece of work. It is as accurate a picture as we are ever likely to get of the 1870s in the Texas Panhandle. It is at once heartbreaking and inspiring. And it is a good read, to boot. You will like these people, even the ones who aren't nice.

Thanks to the Uof Oklahoma for this beautiful reprint. Congratulations to McMurtry for his wit in writing the preface. This is one of the few books about the American West that can stand on the same shelf with Lonesome Dove, Warlock, The Big Sky, and The Earthbreakers.

In describing the history of the last major area of the U.S. to be settled, Crawford gives the best sense of how dangerous and forbidding the great Southern High Plains was to men limited to horse and foot travel. Fransisco Coronado mapped the area as the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) because it is so flat and, at the time, devoid of trees, hills and other landmarks. He was forced to drive tall stakes in the ground from which to navigate. (Much as oil barrels are used to navigate the Sahara by jeep today.) The struggle of Col. Mackenzie to defeat the last of the warrior Indian tribes, opening up this vast section of Texas for settlement, while battling the political bureaucracy of the U.S. Army, is truly captivating. Beautiful prose, rythmic, musical descriptions of oceans of grass and strong characters combine to make great historical fiction.

This novel is the most evocative and compelling tale of "Indian Removal" in Texas that I know of. In fact, it's a powerful story of the appalling commercial and political developement of that strange country. As such, it's rather dismaying, because the country is naturally beautiful, though awful as well as awesome, but what was done in it and to it is a tragedy. When you read Crawford's penetrating narrative, you get a sinking sense of the inevitable, merciless arc of history. Anyone who thinks that Cormac McCarthy has something to say, ought to read this author, who doesn't merely toy with the truth but explores it deeply and expands our understanding.

Although lengthy, descriptive paragraphs describe setting and plot, I found this book interesting and informative concerning the fading out of the once powerful Comanche Indian nation in Texas during the l870's. I enjoyed the poetic prose thoughout his narrative.
Evelyn Horan - author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Book One
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Book Two

As a great fan of Western history, this story proved to be a bit disappointing. Max Crawford is certainly knowledgeable about the location for his tale and the sad story of the last days of the Comanche Indians. In this respect, he's done his homework well. My main complaint is that things just don't seem to flow. Episodes occur, often times not seeming to relate to one another and the author often cuts short things I wish he had expanded upon. The highlight of this book is Crawford's description of the awesome landscape and the difficulties the men had in coping with it. While not a gripping story, it's worthwhile reading if you're a fan of the Old West.

Crawford spins a good yarn, and the book is replete with lots of interesting and accurate Texas history. However, the guy ain't no Steinbeck! I wish he would have had someone edit his long and often convoluted sentences. As a tired old retired guy with thick glasses I think Crewford tends to keep typing much too long before he decides to call it a paragraph. When a paragraph goes on and on for a page-and-a-half my eyes get weary. However, it is worth the effort to read this book.

I purchased this book based on a comment from Larry McMurtry in his book review of a historical account of the Commanche Indians. Based on this and the title, I had expected this to be a story about the Commanche and their way of life and struggles to survive in the face of the white man's enchroachment of their way of life. Instead the story is told from the point of view of a US Cavalry officer trying to quell the indians. Much different than I expected and thus a disappointment.