The Virginian

 

Finally after two lengthy pauses, one of a week and a second of closer to eight weeks, I got through Owen Wister’s The Virginian (A Horseman of the Plains). That second pause was close to the end and I almost put the book down for good because the romance phase of the narrative didn’t really have much appeal to me.

 

Yeah it is a good book, it’s an historical western rather than a genre western because Wister was actually there during the period he was writing about. For me a book becomes a genre piece when the conventions it uses and represents become fictional, as well as the narrative within those conventions. More than that though, it’s a must read if you’re at all interested in westerns, both the genre and the history, because it is one of a very few quality western historical novels.

 

There’s a few shocks I store for you if you’re familiar with the TV series from the seventies and are looking for an affable Trampas character, Wister’s Trampas isn’t just a rogue, he’s a thief and a suspected killer. The Virginian himself gets up to some pretty dubious goings on, as we find him playing a key roll in the lynching of some cattle thieves.

 

The Virginian is a book that finds itself on best westerns lists quite a lot but I kinda suspect that you’ll find that the people who compose those lists have rarely read it. In tone and metre, it’s closer to Jane Austen than Zane Grey and there is a depth to the relationships in the narrative, that’s not usual for a western.

 

There are some hiccups too, Wister drifts in and out of first person in an unstructured way that would have an editor screaming down the phone today but you do get used to if after a while. He also is a bit remise with his sense of place, quite often when you’re not quite sure where things are happening.

 

The Virginian is also noteworthy for being the progenitor of the western school mistress stereotype, yes here is where you’ll find her, Miss Molly Wood and I’m sure it’s no surprise to learn that she’s the source of the romantic interest. Molly though is a bit gamier than her latter-day imitators, having to fight off rogue Indians with a pistol as she rescues her wounded lover, who she finds at death’s door.

 

I hesitate to recommend it if you’re into westerns, if you’re into 19th Century fiction, it’s probably more your thing. If you want to give it a go there’s a facsimile of the first edition available at archive.org.