# In praise of Lonesome Dove **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804 "2009-06-15T04:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/1 "2009-06-15T04:30:26Z")
I just watched AMC’s 20th anniversary broadcast of _Lonesome Dove._ I loved the novel and cried when I finished it because it was over. I cried many other times while reading it, of course. The mini-series is surprisingly good. Robert Duvall is a truly great actor. And I’ve really come to appreciate Tommy Lee Jones by seeing him in other roles. For me, the most heart-wrenching part of the book is when Lorena declines Clara’s offer to read her Gus’s deathbed letter. Blue Duck is one of the most despicable characters ever conceived. The whole story line involving July Johnson is so incredibly sad. (And in the mini-series, the character is portrayed by Chris Cooper, another actor who blows my socks off.) So, praise ye\* Lonesome Dove.\* I can’t believe it all happened 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/2 "2009-06-15T04:36:06Z")
I agree…Lonesome Dove has always been my favorite book and I normally don’t like Westerns. The mini-series is great. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/3 "2009-06-15T05:17:09Z")
Diane Lane was ludicrously hot in that. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/4 "2009-06-15T06:41:55Z")
I love love love the series. Somewhere in the Dope archives is a thread where I propose that it is the “Zeus of the Western Pantheon”, or something to that effect. Helluva vision. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/5 "2009-06-15T06:48:16Z")
I read the book before watching the miniseries, and I was worried because I didn’t think Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall would fit my image of Call and Gus from the book. But they nailed those roles, and the rest of the cast is great, too. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/6 "2009-06-15T12:10:41Z")
I agree that Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall were the perfect choices for the roles of Call and Gus. One of my favorite parts was when Gus and Pea Eye were looking at the herd of buffalo and Gus wanted to chase them just for the hell of it and Pea couldn’t understand why. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/7 "2009-06-15T15:02:54Z")
My dad gave me _Lonesome Dove_ to read when I was twelve and home sick from school and super bored. I expected to find it boring, because it a. a grown-up book and b. a Western. (I was super into sci fi at the time.) Of course, I loved it. I think that might have kicked off my dad’s habit of giving me books he thought I’d like, in fact. (Thanks for all the Vonnegut, Dad.) The miniseries is great as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-lonesome-dove/499804/8 "2009-06-15T15:11:42Z")
Oh heavens I love this book more than is reasonable. I’ve probably read it 10 times in the last 15 years (which is pretty typical for me and books I love). You wouldn’t believe how often I quote it, and how appropriate many of Gus’s observations are in terms of life in general. One of my favorite exchanges (paraphrased): Gus: You know Woodrow, if we met today I doubt if we’d have two words to say to each other. Call: Well, I wish we could, then, if it would hold you to two words. The movie is just as awesome. I cannot keep from crying (in the book or movie) when Gus dies. It’s just too hard. Also when Sean is killed by the water moccasins in the Nueces River. Ever since I had children I can’t take that scene.