Customer Reviews

Radigan: A Novel

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

 

 

Radigan lives up in the hills on a small ranch with one ranch-hand. An honest but cautious man, Radigan is less than happy when Angelina Foley moves into town with a large herd and a bunch of hired hands to push him off his land.

Louis L'Amour's writing style is fast paced and full of authentic, subtle facts that set him apart from all his peers. Like good science fiction, he weaves lessons about living in the wild seamlessly into his books. You won't be able to put this book down.

Angelina Foley has brought in a herd of cattle and is planning on settling in. Unfortunately, she's planning on settling on Tom Radigan's land. What follows is Radigan's version of a good old fashioned Range War. Adding some complications is Tom's cowhand's adopted daughter, who arrives in the middle of the upheaval and Angelina's half-brother who has plans of his own, which include using the ranch as a base for a band of outlaws he is leading. A good, L'Amour story, as usual.

The most striking thing about Radigan is its clear and potent evocation of landscape.In prose that avoids the trap of self-consciosly "literary" and the trap of "fine writing" L'Amour vividly and with enviable economy depicts the snowbound majesty of high mountain peaks in the grip of harsh unyielding weather.The problem is that such passages tend to dwarf the actual plot which while sturdy and functional is not greatly original and unfolds in a style far removed from the authors smooth professionalism
The jerky narrative makes for a slightly unsettling reading experience with events of signifiacnce being related after the event.The climax in particular feels rushed.
Radigan is a standard Western pulp hero;he is a rancher in New Mexico whose ownership is challenged by a woman named Geraldine who claims the ranch is hers by gubnatorial bequest Stelly of purpose and resolve Radigan disputes the claim and the scene is set for his conflict with the alleged new owners.There are ample scenes of gunplay and fisticuffs with two sturdy and independent women to slightly ameliorate the testosterone heavy action and dialogue

I do not often wish books longer but a liitle more narrative infill would have given it a smoother feel and made a capable book that little sharper

Genre lovers only need read.The rest will be unpersuaded.

The story of Radigan seems like it has been copied from others and not written nearly as well. L'Amour often gives us Range War's, but this one is just too predictable. A new cattle outfit, headed by a woman, tries to overrun and kill Radigan and his sidekick. Their purpose is to steal his range. The problem is that they do not know how to winter cattle on this type of range. Their timing is poor and they end up getting in big trouble. Radigan tried to warn them but they just would not listen. Of course, there is another female involved. It seems that her part of the story never really got very developed. The book is a quick and easy read, so still worth sitting down with.