Customer Reviews

Smiling Country

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Kelton is from, and writes about, my hometown of San Angelo, Texas. He has a talent for seeing the past in vivid detail (I don't think he's a contemporary of Hewey), an understanding of Native Americans equal to Larry McMurtry's, an eye for modern life in West Texas, and a fine sense of humor (characters like Snort Yarnell). Good work, Elmer; hope to see you in the coffee shop of the Cactus Hotel someday!

Like "The Pumpkin Rollers", this is probably the best western I have ever read. It is also a contender for the best book ever read. Hewey Calloway and Spring Renfro are the greatest. What a powerful ending! Also, the other characters that are great are Peeler, Skip Harness, who dies when he is gored by a bull (very sad), Walter and Eve, Tommy, Cotton, Fat, and the list goes on. This is a wonderful book!

What a great book. It is the story of part of the life of Hewey Calloway. One of the last of the true cowboys. He hates to see cars, trucks and telephone lines. He is, I think, really what most of the cowboys were like. It is not full of gun fights and running from the sheriff. He is a hard working man that moves on when he feels like it. A real good story. Has places that are sad and many places that will make you smile. The ending is very good. I just got a happy feeling from reading the book. Makes me wish I had been Hewey Calloway.

This western story is from the point-of-view of a veteran cowboy, Hewey Calloway. It is not exactly the story of his but more the story of the changes that occured during his life. A big one was the advent of the automobile, it greatly decreased the use of horses. Society changed during his life also, more people got involved with industry. It is disturbing to Hewey thinking about cowboy's becoming extict. But Hewey Calloway keeps the tradition alive. Hewey continues to learn more about life and learns to live with regret of decisons that he made earlier in his life.

I have not read the prequel to this book (The Good Old Boys), but I have just purchased it, because I want to find out what I've missed! This book is great on it's own merit, however. It is a look in the mirror--a sobering look at the aging process, as well as a skeptical look at technological advances.

I just had the sad occasion to finish The Smilin' Country. I wish there were more pages. I liked the chance to catch up with my old friend Hewey Calloway. It's four years later and Hewey is still learnin'about life. Always but not completely regretting his split from Spring Renfro, Hewey just cannot seem to make the tansition from a 20 yr old cowboy to 50 year old cowboy. The spirit is willin' but the ol' body doesn't work quite as well as before. I highly recommend any of Kelton's books, but this is even better than The Pumpkin Rollers, which I also enjoyed a great deal. With the passing of Louis L'Amour, westerns just don't get much better'n Kelton's.

A sequel to Kelton's book "The Good Old Boys,""The Smiling Country" stars that good ol' boy Hewey Callowayin a struggle between the old and the new--in terms of technology, way of life, social relationships, and (most of all) Hewey's relationship with Spring Renfro, the woman he left to continue his footloose and fancy-free ways. Can he continue as a lone drifter/cowboy or will he settle down? Kelton's writing continues to improve as he develops characters and their struggles.

Having been born in the first third of that century, and having worked with buckaroos that were contemporaries of Hewey Calloway, I couldn't get enough of Kelton's continuation of The Good Old Boys. He had to know those men who had a difficult time walking down a sidewalk but sat in a saddle like it was a rocking chair. They really existed! I wonder if Hewey would have carried a cell phone, or what he would think of Interstate 10? I thank Elmer for letting us revisit Hewey and Miss Renfro to see how things worked out. This book is wonderful

Too often sequels are a dud. Not so with Elmer Kelton's follow-up to "The Good Old Boys." Hewey Calloway is 4 years removed from leaving Spring Renfro, but he hasn't wised up much or changed his ways. But things are a changin' around him. And, if fact, Hewey IS changing--he's getting older if not wiser. Will Hewey wise up--about his lifestyle and about Spring before it's too late? Kelton tells us in his own remarkable style.

The best novels of Elmer Kelton can be favorably compared to those of Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Faulkner. This is one of Kelton's best. A sequel to "The Good Old Boys" this book can also stand alone. Kelton shines when writing about periods of change and the conflicts created. This novel is set in West Texas in the early 1900's and deals with an aging, roaming cowboy who is facing his advancing years and changes to his lifestyle. The automobile and the fencing of the wide open spaces make it necessary to think about the future.

This book is not only for the western reader, but should be enjoyed by anyone who likes a good novel.