Customer Reviews

The Man Called Noon: A Novel

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

 

 

This is a great story about a hit man who gets drygulched and temporarily loses his memory. It is great the way L'Amour writes about how the hit man goes about finding out who he was, why he was dry gulched and why people are out to kill him, who exactly Ruble Noon *was* and who he *is now* after losing his memory and waking up and gaining an entirely new perspective was just awesome. Oh, and be warned, from the first pages you're hooked. It's L'Amour's style to draw you right in from the opening page and then speed along the rest of the book.

This is the first Louis L'Amour book I ever read. I was a pre-teen at the time, and it sparked my interest in westerns. I've only read a few other western authors, and most have left me prefering good old Louis L'Amour.

This book, like most by L'Amour, is a quick read. I read it every few years, usually taking a few hours. It always leaves me wishing he had written a sequel to The Man Called Noon.

If you like L'Amour, you'll like The Man Called Noon. The amnesia of the protagonist presents an interesting twist, and gives Noon enough challenge to be worthy of writing about.

As I've grown older, I've questioned the premise, and the writing style is no longer fluid to me, but like junk food, it is still fun to indulge in at times, and never fails to bring me back to my youth.

Many times in Louis L'Amour's novels and short stories characters are given the chance to start anew, to make a conscious choice. In THE MAN CALLED NOON this chance becomes the chief mystery of the book. The protagonist awakens from a sniper attack to find his memory gone. Fleeing to save his life, he finds conflicting evidence of who and what he was--or could be. Assisted by another outlaw, he takes on the name of Jonas and goes to an outlaw's hideout. The hideout is a once-legitimate ranch inherited by Fan Davidage. Jonas decides to help her out of her predicament. But it is not that simple. He discovers a hidden cabin of the hired killer, Ruble Noon, and the evidence points to Jonas. Further, he is haunted by the memory of being hired to kill four men and one woman. Does he return to his previous life, thereby saving Fan Davidage but losing her to the stigma of being a hired killer, or does he begin his life anew and risk being unable to save Fan? "Then make a decision to start over," she said. "No matter what you have been, you can always become something else." "Is it that simple? Is a man ruled by his own free will, or is he composite of all his experiences, his education and heredity? I may not know what I am, but my flesh and blood do know, and they react the way they have been conditioned to react. My conscious mind was born only a a few days ago, but the habit patterns built into my muscles have forgotten nothing." Jonas finds he cannot abandon Fan to the outlaws, nor put aside his abilities as a gunfighter. Further, there is a fortune in gold hidden somewhere on the ranch, and other enemies ally with the outlaws to find it. Somehow Jonas must save Fan and the ranch, recover the lost gold--and find a way to live with what he is.

What a delightfully lighthearted read. You cannot put it down. And, when you reach the end you say, "more, more, more". Have you every wanted to kick the butt of an author who left you hanging. L'Amour has done just that in this one. Although one gets the impression that Noon rides into the sun happily everafter, I want more details. For example, did he marry Fan? Did he return to El Paso, Texas or did he decide to go off into another direction? Did he continue being a gunslinger or can one ever change from such a background? The questions go on and on. L'Amour should read this review and quickly get started on a sequel. What do you think?

Louis L'Amour is the worlds greatest western author.Each of
his novels is a marvelous adventure with the most descriptive
text. His knowledge of the people and places of the West
is extensive and complete.
"A Man Called Noon" is just another of his novels that moves
from beginning to end and cannot be set down before finishing
it.
I think I own all of his novels, but i could be wrong.

If you like Louis L'amour you'll like these movies. He's definately one of the best western writers ever.