Customer Reviews

The Time It Never Rained

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Elmer Kelton was rightfully honored with a number of awards for this thoughtful piece of work originally published in 1973. While it is about ranchers trying to survive in one of those long droughts that seem to come more and more frequent to the West and particularly the Southwest it is much more than a story of survival. The nearest community in the book is called Rio Seco and while it only exists in our mind's eye Kelton describes it well enough that it could be one of thousands such communities scattered across Texas and the West. What came to my mind as he described it is the movie from a number of years ago called, "The Last Picture Show". The book is a beautiful study of evolving and conflicting cultures on so many levels. Kelton does a fine job of laying out the past and showing the future of changes between Angelo and Hispanic to include the continuing question of undocumented immigrants. Another is the "old school" way of looking at things rather than the new way. One of the focal points of the book is the role that government aid plays in changing groups such as ranchers forever. The "hero" (and I'm sure he never considered himself a hero of any kind) of the book, Charlie Flagg refuses the aid and thereby creates tension for himself and others around him. What's amazing, and something to which I consider an honor, is that I was reared in a time and community to have known men just like Charlie Flagg. This book has been re-published several times and I can understand why. Really much of what you read in "The Time It Never Rained" is timeless while other parts provide a beautiful look to the middle of the last century in Texas. While it's considered a western it's far from a "shoot'em up". Other of his books go there but that's for another review.

Being a Texan in Texas during the drought Elmer Kelton describes in The Time It Never Rained, he seems to write about it first hand. I remember the deluge that ended the drought, and it was the experience I remember. I worked at the San Angelo Standard-Times while Mr. Kelton did, and his day to day newspaper work was a preview to his books to come. He has West Texas nailed down to a T, and I love all his books. But this one especially strikes home.

This book is unlike any of Kelton's other works. The time setting is the 1950s and the seven-year drought we experienced during those years. The plot/theme is the end of the era of independence and freedom among cow men ... the time when they told themselves the drought forced them to sell themselves to the government to receive hay in return for their souls and their pasts.

I think of this book as a companion read to Abbey's, Brave Cowboy and McMurtry's, Hud (the book). All three writers were capturing a time and an attitude representing an end of an era when ranchers continued to curse the government out of habit while accepting welfare money as gracefully as the city poor they despised for doing so.

Kelton's book is as good as the other two, maybe better.

Beyond the quality of Kelton's stories, especially this one, is the quality of his characters. His leading character, an individualistic, independent, honest and brave rancher, is one of the most admirable people I have ever read about. This was the first Kelton book I read, and I became a Kelton addict. I have read and re-read this, and highly recommend it. Excellent!

This book is, to me, the jewel in the crown of that outstanding body of work that convinced the Western Writers of America that Elmer Kelton should be disignated the best Western writer of all time. The author's obvious gut-level understanding of West Texas, the people who live here, and the lifestyle forced on its inhabitants by the vagaries of Mother Nature join to make this his finest contribution to literature to date. Mr. Kelton is without peer in his ability to develop characters so vividly that each reader truly feels that he/she has met them and known them for years. His descriptions of places and situations are so realistic and detailed that, with only a little imagination, a clear picture forms in the mind's eye of the reader. There is no doubt that Mr. Kelton has experienced more than one West Texas drouth. It is equally obvious that he has closely observed the drastic changes that befall the reigon, its people, and their livestock when these natural disa! sters occurr. A must for Kelton's fans, and for his fans-to-be who love stories based in the lore of the West, but have not yet experienced the rich satisfaction that can result only from reading the works of this master story weaver.

This is the first Kelton book I have read and the first fiction novel that I have read in decades. I felt like it was real to life and forgot it was fiction. I live there-West Texas, Panhandle. Surely there is a sequel. He left it open to finish out the lives of the major people involved, in at least one more book but ended this one as he should.

This is a beautifully told story about west Texas during the 1950's that examines several topics that are incredibly relevant for American in 2009. Although it is a work of fiction, it broaches the subjects of dealing with a horrible economy, government bailout programs and the short- and long-term benefits and costs of those bailouts, race relations, immigration, and how employers and employees each perceive layoffs and downsizing. And despite all that, it is not depressing. But it was very thought provoking for me. I keep it next to my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. It is that good! I will re-read over and over as I do very few other books.
Thank you Mr. Kelton,
Barrett Hansen

I have read Elmer Kelton for years. He is outstanding fully developing the characters and the geographic setting, especially for those that do not know the country of which he writes. Though he is quite prolific, I have never read a bad Kelton story....and some have carried me through much if not all of the night.

The Kindle edition is missing the final 4 chapters. I have explored this issue with Amazon customer service, but it is not within their power to fix it. It is a publisher problem, publisher must re-issue the Kindle version with corrections. Not sure if they are ever going to do this. So for now, buy the hard or soft cover edition. It's a really good book but it would be nice to know the ending!

Now that I've read the paperback I'll seek out a hardbound copy. Much more than the story of drought in west Texas, The Time It Never Rained is timeless, and beautifully portrays Charlie Flagg's sacrifices and struggles in the context of family, self, community, and nature. Kelton doesn't belabor the point of the struggles, he just tells it like it is and let's us feel it. You can't pay an author a better compliment. I loved the detailed descriptions of the ranching chores, especially those concerning the feeding of the animals. If only Charlie can feed his stock, he can continue to feed himself and his family. The end was realistic but I was so invested by then I wished it went on for several more chapters. I read this book believing Kelton to be alive and was so saddened to find that he died just this past August. What a loss, what a legacy he has left us.