"The Virginian" by Owen Wister (1902)

 

Because I enjoyed "Betty Zane" so much, I got carried away with my enthusiasm for Western genre and decided to continue with more of the same - after some research, i found out that the very first best-seller in that genre and the one that inspired the countless authors who came after, was 1902 "The Virginian" so I gave it a try. To my biggest surprise, it was nothing like Zane Grey - in fact, it was extremely slow-burning, old fashioned and occasionally even flowery prose that had more in common with 19th century literature than action-fuelled Western. I even wondered what did I got myself into, but than something strange happened: once i got used to Wister's old fashioned style, I started to enjoy myself. It simply took some perseverance, discipline and curiosity, until I actually really liked it. Strangely, it is the only novel by this author that is still remembered and apparently, despite its huge success, he never continued in this genre. 

What I found here are many clichés used later in subsequent decades: a greenhorn who is new to all of this and tells the story from his perspective (“the Tenderfoot"), the silent and basically good cowboy ("The Virginian") in love with strong willed schoolteacher (Miss Molly), a bad guy ("Trampas") and the whole supporting cast of citizens, cowboys, etc. Since author had actually spend some time in the Western Frontier, his descriptions of rough lives these people lived sounds very authentic and I even got a kick out of descriptions how they bathed (using same pitcher of water and some rag, just like in documentaries about Tudor lives I have seen on TV). There are many interesting stories that sometimes feels like short story collection and that was not accidental - Wister initially wrote some short stories and than decided to put them together as a novel. There are cattle thieves, lynching, an duel and everything you could expect from a Western novel - once you get over the old fashioned style, it actually worked beautifully and I finished the novel with the greatest pleasure.