Customer Reviews

Rhino Ranch: A Novel (Thalia Trilogy)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

McMurtry brings the fifty-plus year story of Texas oil man Duane Moore to a close with Rhino Ranch. You might expect the title to be metaphorical, and it probably is, but it's literal as well as a conservationist-come-lately works to establish a ranch for displaced black rhinos in the wide open spaces of west Texas. As with most stories in the Moore chronicle (The LAST PICTURE SHOW : A Novel, TEXASVILLE : A Novel and Duane's Depressed, the cowboys are laconic, the women horny (in one case quite impressively so), the oilmen greedy (except Duane, of course, who prefers his shack to the big house), and the dialogue witty.

There's probably a deeper level on which to become engaged with Rhino Ranch (the mythical nature of a particular rhino points to one), but I never quite got there. I don't know if that's my fault for being lazy or McMurtry for not pushing me harder, rather, allowing me to enjoy the easy charm of his writing along the way. 3.5 stars - I'll round to four for having the courage to write a fairly definite end to Duane's tale.

Rhino Ranch is an entertaining read featuring Duane Moore, the character who has been the center of several other McMurtry books, going back to the masterful The Last Picture Show. Duane is older now, semi-retired and nearing the end of his 3rd marriage. He once again falls prey to various women, gets concerned about his family, wonders about his hometown, and seems to have an equal amount of disdain, confusion, and appreciation for nearly everyone he encounters.

The premise of a wealthy lady starting a ranch or haven for rhinoceroses outside the fictional Texas town of Thalia is wrought with great entertainment potential. The various accounts of Double Aught (a large and mysterious rhino) give the book a color that contrasts with the quirky people involved. Classic McMurtry insights abound, giving the story human wisdom that goes beyond entertainment. Smooth prose, quick dialog, terse language, and direct situations make Rhino Ranch a quick and uncomplicated read that can be enjoyed by everyone.

While the funny stories and strange people give the book a shimmering energy, at the same time the sadness of the situations and the losses that occur overshadow the joy. People and animals are introduced only to disappear either from death or just plain disappearance, at times without compassion and laced with apathy. Realism, even naturalism, reigns victorious over the festive. Exuberance is quickly forgotten and replaced by sorrow, reminding one of the Robert Frost admonition that "Nothing Gold can stay." One confusing detail jumped out when it was mentioned that Dal's parents were dead only to discover a few pages later that her mother was sick.

Yet this book, like most McMurtry books, contains thought-provoking material, fine story-telling, emotional concern, and lots of fun. Duane himself has strong character traits that shine forth in spite of his own human frailty, helping the reader find something in which to identify. An enjoyable and meaningful book, Rhino Ranch is a fine modern novel by a master writer whose enviable career includes film, screenplays, history, fiction, essays, and a Pulitzer Prize. Inevitably, some readers tend to compare McMurtry books to his masterful Lonesome Dove, but I would urge readers to treat each book independently and objectively. Rhino Ranch is a highly recommended book that has something for everyone.

Let me start by declaring my admiration for Mr. McMurtry and his works. The novel "The Last Picture Show" was the first book that started my love for reading and that love has served me well in the last forty-plus years. I have read and collected all of his commonly published work and was even blessed to have met the man...but thank goodness that the last of the "Picture Show" characters has expired. The improbability - if not the impossibility - of the May/December romances lately described in this book series will make the reader feel the writer has stepped into the absurb. With all of Mr. McMurtry's talent, I was hoping he would do the character's sunset-years more justice. It is a subject worthy of his abilities but I was left disappointed.

Still, for those of us who have followed this series (and even seen the character receive a mention in other McMurtry novels) it is a must-read. It does bring some closure.

Aside from the romantic inclusions it is an enjoyable read that flows well in Mr. McMurtry's style. You will still get the feel of the people who live in this land and work hard to attain a subsistence lifestyle while the wealth remains far out of reach. You will still feel the unforgiving aspects of the range-land where humans may compete with animals in a life or death struggle. You will still get the feel for a country where the stranger you meet probably does have an accessible weapon and may be provoked to use it. Good-bye, Mr. Moore. Rest in Peace.

Killing off a beloved character, in this case Duane Moore who first appeared in McMurtry's THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, is no easy task. That's particularly true when readers have been granted access to such private family matters as substance abuse, the death of a spouse in a car wreck, divorce and depression throughout the Moore saga ending with Rhino Ranch. After Picture Show (1966), the books in the series include TEXASVILLE : A Novel, Duane's Depressed : A Novel, and When the Light Goes: A Novel. They should definitely be read in sequence to be fully appreciated, as each resolves some issues of the previous one while leaving plenty unresolvable. In my opinion, McMurtry handles this paradox brilliantly with his final Duane Moore novel, set yet again in the fictional town of Thalia, Texas.

Rhino Ranch contains some of the most humorous dialogue McMurtry has produced to date, coming at the reader in totally unexpected scenes such as when an old female friend breaks the news to Duane that she's dying of cancer. Several of his old friends are beginning to die off, which Duane handles by doing pretty much whatever he feels like doing. But it would be too much and too easy to claim that it doesn't affect him: "It's Duane," Bobby Lee said. "Look at him. He's walking again, like he used to back when he was losing his mind."

Like most of the books set in Thalia, the town and Duane are moving in opposite directions. Thalia's inhabitants never fully welcome newcomers, and don't have a difficult time disengaging from those natives of an independent mind like Duane. He has no particularly strong bonds with his children, which he'd likely care a great deal more about if they were less lazy and selfish about the relationships. As anyone who has ever had a threatening condition (cancer, cardiac, depression) can tell you, the prison of living through it is followed closely by the fear of having it revisit itself on you. And in this book, with Duane in advanced years and beginning to feel "unnecessary," he reflects on it often. While not without his faults, Duane has many likable qualities. McMurtry gives him the break he deserves when he describes the building of a strong relationship between Duane and his grandson, Willy. It's a relationship that brings the somewhat dysfunctional Moore family full circle and allows Duane to check out gracefully, with the knowledge that the Moore family name will thrive a couple of generations hence.

The sovereign state of Texas was recently in the news when Governor Rick Perry announced that Texans might want to consider invoking a little known provision of statehood and elect to secede from the United States. Down in Archer City, Texas, author Larry McMurtry hopefully had a good chuckle and was inspired to start jotting down some notes for a new series of Lone Star State-themed novels.

McMurtry is the chronicler of all things Texas. In LONESOME DOVE and its literary progeny, he wrote of frontier Texas before it joined the Union. The novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1986 and introduced readers to Texas Rangers Augustus McRae and Woodrow Call. A series of sequels focused on life in the American West before the Civil War.

RHINO RANCH is McMurtry's final installment in his modern Texas saga. This series began with the publication of THE LAST PICTURE SHOW in 1966, and introduced readers to Thalia, Texas and Duane Moore. In between these bookend novels, McMurtry visited the oil patch town of Thalia and its citizens in TEXASVILLE, DUANE'S DEPRESSED and WHEN THE LIGHT GOES.

Some may be reluctant to pick up a book after being advised that it marks the conclusion of a series. But each of the novels in McMurtry's series can be read independently. You will learn enough about the characters to enjoy RHINO RANCH. Perhaps as I was, you will be inspired after reading one installment to go back to where it all began. Last week, while visiting a used bookstore, I picked up my own copy of THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. Soon I will start the Moore saga at the beginning.

When readers last encountered Duane Moore, he had overcome the death of his wife and remarried. Unfortunately for Duane, his second marriage has not gone well. With his geologist wife travelling around the world, Duane returns to Thalia and to Moore Drilling, the business he founded that's now run by his son. Duane's travels, coupled with his quirkiness, have estranged him from the Thalia community, and he must deal with being a stranger in the only home he has really ever known.

Thalia has now become the home of a sanctuary for African black rhinos. A Texas-sized ranch of 120,000 acres has been constructed by K.K. Slater, a Texas billionairess. K.K. and Duane strike up a somewhat unusual relationship as he and other Thalia denizens attempt to come to grips with the invasion of exotic animals in the midst of a cattle and oil community.

Many of the characters introduced in previous Thalia episodes return in RHINO RANCH. Duane's pals, Boyd Cotton and Bobby Lee Baxter, serve as security officers on the ranch. They spend a great deal of their time seated in an observation tower following rhinos and reporting fires set by local meth dealers as they cook their product in the Thalia hinterlands. Duane's family is also an important part of the novel. Son Dickie runs Moore Drilling but seems to have little time for his father, except to attempt to keep him away from the business. Duane's daughters are living the life of wealthy divorcees in Dallas, returning to Thalia only for family emergencies. The light of Duane's life is grandson Willy, a Rhodes Scholar, who has no love for Thalia but deep love for his grandfather.

McMurtry's novels are always topical, and RHINO RANCH is no exception. African rhinos are actually being brought to Texas in an effort to save them from poachers. Duane's observations on small-town life, life in general, and sadly on growing old and death are poignant, humorous and touching. In a recent interview McMurtry suggested that his writing days may be coming to an end. If so, we will miss not only his novels but also Duane Moore himself. In his fictional lifetime he taught us much about life and living. We are better people for having the opportunity to meet him on the pages of McMurtry's books.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

Out of all the characters McMurtry has created; for me, Duane Moore is one of the most memorable. Since the decade of the sixties I have read about Duane and can't help but feel a little reader remorse because of his passing.
I am one of those avid fans mentioned in the editorials and probably biased becuase of it. That said, I am very grateful that the author decided to give us more and not end the saga with When the Light Goes. This read is much better than the last and a fitting end to character that has held my interest for decades.
Of all of the (Moore) books...The Last Picture Show, Texasville, Duanes Depressed, When the Light Goes and Rhino Ranch, my favorite was Duanes Depressed, but they are all good. I wish the saga could go on, but I'm afraid that McMurtry may have given us the last of Thalia. That is the sad part for me, but I very much enjoyed this read.

Rhino Park (2009) marks the end of Duane Moore's story, a story that Larry McMurtry began all the way back in 1966 with The Last Picture Show. This five-book series also includes Texasville (1989), Duane's Depressed (1999), and When the Light Goes (2007). Along the way, Duane and his Thalia cohorts age pretty much in real time. Duane was a high school football star in The Last Picture Show, an aging man who feels bad that he has outlived most of his old friends by the time we get to Rhino Park.

Duane and his young wife, Annie, call Patagonia, Arizona, home. Theirs has been a rather chaste relationship since Duane suffered a heart attack that almost killed him while he and Annie were making love. Duane knows that Annie has taken on lovers since the incident, but he has learned to live with the situation. But, after Annie decides that even that arrangement is not good enough, Duane heads back to Thalia where he still keeps a house and his beloved cabin.

Duane might be slowing down, but Thalia is not. K.K. Slater, said to be a billionaire, has decided that Thalia is the perfect place for her to open the Rhino Ranch, a preservation facility to ensure the survival of the endangered black rhinoceros. Along with the ranch, comes a few new jobs, and a couple of Duane's oldest friends suddenly become rhino wranglers.

Despite not really wanting to have anything to do with the rhino ranch, Duane is slowly sucked into its day-to-day activity. First, he mysteriously bonds with the biggest rhino on the ranch when it insists on walking the fence line, side-by-side with Duane, that separates the ranch from the property on which Duane's cabin sits. Then, he finds that K.K. Slater has a way of keeping life in Thalia interesting and starts keeping company with her and her big city friends.

Rhino Ranch is all about one man's reflections on a life well lived. Duane senses that his time is largely past and he is struggling to find a sense of purpose. His friends are dead or dying (that kind of bad news just keeps pounding on him), and he is starting to feel like the Lone Ranger. His son has taken over Duane's oil business, there are no women in his life, and he is not all that crazy about his two daughters. If it were not for his grandson, frankly, he would not feel particularly close to anyone in his family.

Duane Moore is one of modern literature's memorable characters, and Larry McMurtry fans have been following his progress for literally a lifetime. Rhino Ranch is a good way to say goodbye.

Although I have not read anything else by McMurtry I suspect, considering his reputation, that this novel will not be considered amongst his best. Nevertheless, there was much to enjoy in this book especially the humorous digs at the provincialism and narrow mindedness of Texans. I laughed when his main character, Duane, wanted to buy an Atlas to find out exactly where Thailand was when he realised that the local store's Atlas would only have Canada, USA and Mexico. McMurtry's style is very professional and his command of language seems effortless and therefore very easy to read. A billionairess setting up a Rhino Ranch in Texas to save the African Rhino seems very plausible to a non American. The story somewhat floundered when it became a seemingly neverending tale about food. The novel eventually petered out to a "lets tie up the loose ends" conclusion.

Its been a sweet ride with Duane, his family and friends. I really hated to finish the book.
Now I gotta ask, so when is the third movie of the "Texas Trilogy" comming out?

Another gem from McMurtry and another chapter in the Thalia series. McMurtry always writes a good book, with characters that seem real. People you could actually meet on the street. I find him very easy to read and hard to put down. I recommend it.