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I inherited my love for Western novels from my father who is a huge fan of Louis L'Amour. My dad has a very good collection of novels written by Louis L'Amour and other Western writers like Oliver Strange, Max Brand , Zane Grey and the like. But it was those by Louis L'Amour that he loves the most.
As I was growing up, I would see him absorbed in these books and I would wonder what it was that was so interesting about them. I think I read my first Louis L'Amour when I was in Class XI or XII. Like a child who had just learnt to ride a bicycle and just couldn't have enough of it, after finishing the first one, I picked up another one and then another until I completed reading all the books in the collection.
What attracts me and other fans of the Western novel to Louis L'Amour is not the intricacies of the plots or the techniques employed. Louis L'Amour tells his stories from the heart. If you read his biography, you will realise that he himself led a very eventful and colourful life - dropping out of school, sailing around the world, doing odd jobs and writing his stories all the while.
His stories are about love, family bonding and enjoying the simple pleasures of life but most of all, they are about incredible courage in the face of insurmountable obstacles. In many of his stories, such as Utah Blaine and Flint, you have the hero who has the zeal, courage and strength to take on the baddest ass in town who has all the resources and teach him a lesson or two.
In the Sackett series, you have this extended family called the Sacketts who are dirt poor but fiercely loyal to one another. My favourite Sackett novel is the one where Tell Sackett's wife is molested and murdered and he himself is hunted down by the murderer and his cohorts. He is finally trapped in a small stretch of forest and completely surrounded by the bad guys. However, as the news that a Sackett is in a difficult situation spreads, all the other Sacketts, even those who don't know Tell, come rushing to his rescue.
I remember my friend Anthony who was like a brother to me. He passed away many years ago and may God rest his soul. I used to share Louis L'Amour novels with him. He was an avid reader himself. I believe his grand dad who was a friend of my dad also was a fan of L'Amour novels.
This initial fascination with Western fiction perhaps developed in me a love for reading which is still with me. I don't know how I have benefited from it but I do know that I have passed many a wonderful hour, sometimes late into the night, on the bed, or the sofa or the phak lost to the world, riding on my gelding, rounding up the cattle or sitting around the campfire with my hat pulled down and a cup of dark coffee (strong enough to float a horseshoe) in my hand.
As I was growing up, I would see him absorbed in these books and I would wonder what it was that was so interesting about them. I think I read my first Louis L'Amour when I was in Class XI or XII. Like a child who had just learnt to ride a bicycle and just couldn't have enough of it, after finishing the first one, I picked up another one and then another until I completed reading all the books in the collection.
What attracts me and other fans of the Western novel to Louis L'Amour is not the intricacies of the plots or the techniques employed. Louis L'Amour tells his stories from the heart. If you read his biography, you will realise that he himself led a very eventful and colourful life - dropping out of school, sailing around the world, doing odd jobs and writing his stories all the while.
His stories are about love, family bonding and enjoying the simple pleasures of life but most of all, they are about incredible courage in the face of insurmountable obstacles. In many of his stories, such as Utah Blaine and Flint, you have the hero who has the zeal, courage and strength to take on the baddest ass in town who has all the resources and teach him a lesson or two.
In the Sackett series, you have this extended family called the Sacketts who are dirt poor but fiercely loyal to one another. My favourite Sackett novel is the one where Tell Sackett's wife is molested and murdered and he himself is hunted down by the murderer and his cohorts. He is finally trapped in a small stretch of forest and completely surrounded by the bad guys. However, as the news that a Sackett is in a difficult situation spreads, all the other Sacketts, even those who don't know Tell, come rushing to his rescue.
I remember my friend Anthony who was like a brother to me. He passed away many years ago and may God rest his soul. I used to share Louis L'Amour novels with him. He was an avid reader himself. I believe his grand dad who was a friend of my dad also was a fan of L'Amour novels.
This initial fascination with Western fiction perhaps developed in me a love for reading which is still with me. I don't know how I have benefited from it but I do know that I have passed many a wonderful hour, sometimes late into the night, on the bed, or the sofa or the phak lost to the world, riding on my gelding, rounding up the cattle or sitting around the campfire with my hat pulled down and a cup of dark coffee (strong enough to float a horseshoe) in my hand.
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