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Top 5 Westerns
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West, is a difficult read, specially if you are new to Cormac McCarthy. The book is a leviathan of American literature, drawing comparison to Moby Dick. Of course the most memorable character in Blood Meridian is the hairless giant known as Judge Holden - a personification of evil and genius. The book is set in the 19th centry, during the Mexican-American war, and follows a violent man simply known as the Kid, as he stumbles across the mid-west accompanying a group of scalp hunting rangers.
Cormac McCarthy based Blood Meridian on the writings of Samuel Chamberlain, which were themselves probably an embellishment. Historically, geographically and otherwise well researched, Blood Meridian's characters include John Glanton - a real life Texas Ranger whose wife was massacred by the Comanche tribe. This Picador edition of Blood Meridian contains an excellent introduction by Phillip Meyer.
The Revenant by Michael Punke
Another western based on real people - this time trapper Hugh Glass, who is left for dead after being mauled by a grizzly. He pieces himself together (physically & metaphorically) and hunts down the man who abandoned him - one John Fitzgerald. The book also includes a young Jim Bridger, who would later go on to become a famous mountain man and trapper himself, as part of the team that abandoned Glass to the wild.
Vengeance is not Hugh Glass' as he chases Fitzgerald across the pelt trading world, and then scares him into joining the army, thereby making Glass' quest for revenge pointless.
The Revenant is a slow, gruesome read which goes into some historical details of the time, including the impact on Native Americans.
Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison
Legends of the Fall is an 87 page novella that traces the fortunes of the Ludlow family of Montana, as the retired patriarch and his sons battle for their place in the world. The main focus is on Tristan, and tells the story of how he loves and loses his brothers and women. Tristan is also influenced by the culture of Native Americans, via his father's farmhands, and takes issue with modernity as its spreads across rural swathes of land.
Butcher's Crossing by John Williams
Butcher's Crossing
John Williams
Western canon
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Lonesome Dove
Larry McMurtry
Western fiction