on reading (II)

The three books above are some of the first ‘westerns’ I’ve read. I’ve read a few others over the past couple years (best of all being Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, which I’ve been itching to reread), but not until now have I so deeply enjoyed western lore. Well-written westerns are just good, downright fun, and the heroes often represent man in his true ethos, embracing danger with courage, fighting for a cause and protecting the woman, all while carrying hidden burdens and struggling against personal demons. It’s Good vs. Evil in its purest state, set within the mythic lore of the ‘Wild West’. The West as popularly understood is a period of fabrication, a literary setup that has become so dominant that we can’t help but look at the West as a certain time of gunfights and cowboys and marauding Indians, of dusty little towns and duels in the street. Spearheading the ‘romanticism’ of the West was one of the first writers of the American West, Owen Wister, whose The Virginian is approaching on my reading queue. My burgeoning appreciation of the West has drawn me to take the time to watch a number of western-themed TV shows, and even Ashley (who is quite open about her dislike of westerns) has been enjoying them with me (or at least pretending to). Here are a couple that I’ve really enjoyed:

Autumn will be here in just a few days, and not long after that, I’ll be commencing my traditional ‘winter reading’ gauntlet: a host of Star Wars books. I’ve kept up this tradition for years (hence why it’s become a tradition), rereading the original novels and expanding upon them. Year-by-year I’m drawn deeper into the Star Wars Legends, and I can’t help but admit I like it far better than the new canon. If the new trilogy would’ve drawn from Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, it would’ve had an entirely different reception. To be honest I like to pretend the new canon—The Force Awakens & The Last Jedi—doesn’t exist. Rogue One fits far better into the alternative universe spawned by the Legends, so we’ll keep that one. This year I’m wanting to reread the two classic Han Solo trilogies before seeing the (somewhat) new Han Solo: A Star Wars Story.