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The Berrybender Narratives #4
Folly and Glory
In this brilliant saga—the final volume of The Berrybender Narratives and an epic in its own right—Larry McMurtry lives up to his reputation for delivering novels with “wit, grace, and more than a hint of what might be called muscular nostalgia, fit together to create a panoramic portrait of the American West” ( The New York Times Book Review ).
As this finale opens, Tasmin and her family are under irksome, though comfortable, arrest in Mexican Santa Fe. Her father, the eccentric Lord Berrybender, is planning to head for Texas with his whole family and his retainers, English, American, and Native American. Tasmin, who would once have followed her husband, Jim Snow, anywhere, is no longer even sure she likes him, or knows where to go to next. Neither does anyone else—even Captain Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, is puzzled by the great changes sweeping over the West, replacing Native Americans and buffalo with towns and farms.
In the meantime, Jim Snow, accompanied by Kit Carson, journeys to New Orleans, where he meets up with a muscular giant named Juppy, who turns out to be one of Lord Berrybender’s many illegitimate offspring, and in whose company they make their way back to Santa Fe. But even they are unable to prevent the Mexicans from carrying the Berrybender family on a long and terrible journey across the desert to Vera Cruz.
Starving, dying of thirst, and in constant, bloody battle with slavers pursuing them, the Berrybenders finally make their way to civilization—if New Orleans of the time can be called that—where Jim Snow has to choose between Tasmin and the great American plains, on which he has lived all his life in freedom, and where, after all her adventures, Tasmin must finally decide where her future lies.
With a cast of characters that includes almost every major real-life figure of the West, Folly and Glory is a novel that represents the culmination of a great and unique four-volume saga of the early days of the West; it is one of Larry McMurtry’s finest achievements.
As this finale opens, Tasmin and her family are under irksome, though comfortable, arrest in Mexican Santa Fe. Her father, the eccentric Lord Berrybender, is planning to head for Texas with his whole family and his retainers, English, American, and Native American. Tasmin, who would once have followed her husband, Jim Snow, anywhere, is no longer even sure she likes him, or knows where to go to next. Neither does anyone else—even Captain Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, is puzzled by the great changes sweeping over the West, replacing Native Americans and buffalo with towns and farms.
In the meantime, Jim Snow, accompanied by Kit Carson, journeys to New Orleans, where he meets up with a muscular giant named Juppy, who turns out to be one of Lord Berrybender’s many illegitimate offspring, and in whose company they make their way back to Santa Fe. But even they are unable to prevent the Mexicans from carrying the Berrybender family on a long and terrible journey across the desert to Vera Cruz.
Starving, dying of thirst, and in constant, bloody battle with slavers pursuing them, the Berrybenders finally make their way to civilization—if New Orleans of the time can be called that—where Jim Snow has to choose between Tasmin and the great American plains, on which he has lived all his life in freedom, and where, after all her adventures, Tasmin must finally decide where her future lies.
With a cast of characters that includes almost every major real-life figure of the West, Folly and Glory is a novel that represents the culmination of a great and unique four-volume saga of the early days of the West; it is one of Larry McMurtry’s finest achievements.
358 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
161 people are currently reading
1016 people want to read
About the author
Larry McMurtry
150 books4,090 followersLarry Jeff McMurtry was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations (13 wins). He was also a prominent book collector and bookseller.
His 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries that earned 18 Emmy Award nominations (seven wins). The subsequent three novels in his Lonesome Dove series were adapted as three more miniseries, earning eight more Emmy nominations. McMurtry and co-writer Diana Ossana adapted the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned eight Academy Award nominations with three wins, including McMurtry and Ossana for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2014, McMurtry received the National Humanities Medal.
In Tracy Daugherty's 2023 biography of McMurtry, the biographer quotes critic Dave Hickey as saying about McMurtry: "Larry is a writer, and it's kind of like being a critter. If you leave a cow alone, he'll eat grass. If you leave Larry alone, he'll write books. When he's in public, he may say hello and goodbye, but otherwise he is just resting, getting ready to go write."
His 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries that earned 18 Emmy Award nominations (seven wins). The subsequent three novels in his Lonesome Dove series were adapted as three more miniseries, earning eight more Emmy nominations. McMurtry and co-writer Diana Ossana adapted the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned eight Academy Award nominations with three wins, including McMurtry and Ossana for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2014, McMurtry received the National Humanities Medal.
In Tracy Daugherty's 2023 biography of McMurtry, the biographer quotes critic Dave Hickey as saying about McMurtry: "Larry is a writer, and it's kind of like being a critter. If you leave a cow alone, he'll eat grass. If you leave Larry alone, he'll write books. When he's in public, he may say hello and goodbye, but otherwise he is just resting, getting ready to go write."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
October 29, 2013
A very satisfying conclusion to the four-volume saga of an upper-class British family, the Berrybenders, wending their way through the West in the 1830's. We get some sort of answer on what the hell McMurtry is up to having this aristocratic family take a really long "vacation" in this wilderness. I think is out to prove how for this brief time in history the American West was the playground of the imagination, a theater of the absurd with its clashing cultures, and a great equalizer of the high and low with the prospect of death ever present.
A signature pleasure I find in McMurtry is his reveling in the fullness of life by making you both laugh and cry in close conjunction. That skill is at play in this tale. We start at a low point.
The main character, Lord Berrybender's daughter, Tasmin, is highly challenged in the wake of the death of her lover, Pomp Charbonneau, at the end of the previous installment, "By Sorrow's River" (a fictional death of the historical son of Lewis and Clark's guide and Sacagawea). On top of that, she and her family are being held prisoner by Mexican soldiers in Santa Fe and eventually are loaded up for a long dangerous trek across the desert to Vera Cruz. Yet like flowers in the desert, the vibrant life of children in the party lightens the load of sorrow.
Love blossoms too. Despite her passionate affair with Charbonneau, she still loves her husband, the iconic mountain-man Jim Snow. But he is an abrupt, unemotional man of action, who takes off on a long mission with Kit Carson. She is left to find pleasure in inspiring and fending the doting romantic attentions of the Indian painter George Catlin and a Catholic priest. Like the unforgettable Aurora Greenway in McMurtry's "Terms of Endearment", Tasmin bears a special combination of sensual passion and broad intellect and a paradoxical mixture of selfishness and humane action on behalf of others.
The multicultural threads of life in the West are also rendered by McMurtry in a precarious balance. We experience the beauty and the dangers of its environment. And the panoply of it people, the Indians and its longstanding and recent immigrants from Europe, span the range of nobility and greed, bravery and stupidity, kindness and viciousness.
Among the 30 or so novels of McMurtry I've read, this ranks for me in the top 5. Unfortunately, this one only can be appreciated by reading at least the first one in the series to fully introduce the characters and context for the family's journey ("Sin Killer"). I did okay missing "The Wandering Hill" (number 2; I should go back to be sure). "By Sorrow's River" (the 3rd) is definitely a worthy read, but if you really want to skim the cream, I believe the two volumes would give you the express train to many pleasures.
A signature pleasure I find in McMurtry is his reveling in the fullness of life by making you both laugh and cry in close conjunction. That skill is at play in this tale. We start at a low point.
The main character, Lord Berrybender's daughter, Tasmin, is highly challenged in the wake of the death of her lover, Pomp Charbonneau, at the end of the previous installment, "By Sorrow's River" (a fictional death of the historical son of Lewis and Clark's guide and Sacagawea). On top of that, she and her family are being held prisoner by Mexican soldiers in Santa Fe and eventually are loaded up for a long dangerous trek across the desert to Vera Cruz. Yet like flowers in the desert, the vibrant life of children in the party lightens the load of sorrow.
Love blossoms too. Despite her passionate affair with Charbonneau, she still loves her husband, the iconic mountain-man Jim Snow. But he is an abrupt, unemotional man of action, who takes off on a long mission with Kit Carson. She is left to find pleasure in inspiring and fending the doting romantic attentions of the Indian painter George Catlin and a Catholic priest. Like the unforgettable Aurora Greenway in McMurtry's "Terms of Endearment", Tasmin bears a special combination of sensual passion and broad intellect and a paradoxical mixture of selfishness and humane action on behalf of others.
The multicultural threads of life in the West are also rendered by McMurtry in a precarious balance. We experience the beauty and the dangers of its environment. And the panoply of it people, the Indians and its longstanding and recent immigrants from Europe, span the range of nobility and greed, bravery and stupidity, kindness and viciousness.
Among the 30 or so novels of McMurtry I've read, this ranks for me in the top 5. Unfortunately, this one only can be appreciated by reading at least the first one in the series to fully introduce the characters and context for the family's journey ("Sin Killer"). I did okay missing "The Wandering Hill" (number 2; I should go back to be sure). "By Sorrow's River" (the 3rd) is definitely a worthy read, but if you really want to skim the cream, I believe the two volumes would give you the express train to many pleasures.
March 14, 2020
Magnificent! Petal Berrybender was very funny.
August 22, 2014
And so we say goodbye to the Berrybenders. I'm sort of sorry to see them go- I got sucked into this series accidentally four years ago, when I got the audiobook of "Sin Killer" not realizing that it was book one of four. Then I decided to consume one Berrybender book per summer, which plan had the added benefit of mirroring the 3-4 year saga of the Berrybender trek through the American West in the early 1830s. Also, I did the first two on audio, and read the actual books for 3 and 4, which meant that I had these clear voices and characterizations in my head while reading, which was really rather nice. So this has been kinda fun.
Fun, though, is not really the operative word for this one. This one feels more like a tragedy than the others. I know that one of the themes of the series has been the fickle finger of fate, and the way death can strike even in the midst of wacky misadventures. It's a tragicomedy. But in previous books it was manageable - goodbye to a few minor characters, maybe one major one, and we move on. Here it seems like McMurtry got too close to the end with too many characters and so he went with the "and then they all got hit by a truck" approach. It reminded me of "On Writing," when Stephen King described getting horrible writer's block while writing "The Stand," until he realized he could just clean house and get rid of a bunch of people in one fell swoop.
On the whole, though, I did enjoy the series. McMurtry is a good writer, great with characters, even the minor ones. Everybody gets at least a little development, with clear, logical motivations. I want to read more of his stuff.
Fun, though, is not really the operative word for this one. This one feels more like a tragedy than the others. I know that one of the themes of the series has been the fickle finger of fate, and the way death can strike even in the midst of wacky misadventures. It's a tragicomedy. But in previous books it was manageable - goodbye to a few minor characters, maybe one major one, and we move on. Here it seems like McMurtry got too close to the end with too many characters and so he went with the "and then they all got hit by a truck" approach. It reminded me of "On Writing," when Stephen King described getting horrible writer's block while writing "The Stand," until he realized he could just clean house and get rid of a bunch of people in one fell swoop.
On the whole, though, I did enjoy the series. McMurtry is a good writer, great with characters, even the minor ones. Everybody gets at least a little development, with clear, logical motivations. I want to read more of his stuff.
November 15, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Characters that demand your attention on the scope of early 19th century American wilderness is a no brainer from of the masters!
I’m not sure why I do, but I always have paired McCarthy and McMurtry together— the former as the brutal realist and the latter as the character driven romantic.
However, in this Berrybender series, McMurtry locks in on the brutality while maintaining control of characterization and the romantic affair with the Wild West.
It’s not on par with the Lonesome Dove series, truthfully little is, but it’s a damn good historical fiction series.
I’m not sure why I do, but I always have paired McCarthy and McMurtry together— the former as the brutal realist and the latter as the character driven romantic.
However, in this Berrybender series, McMurtry locks in on the brutality while maintaining control of characterization and the romantic affair with the Wild West.
It’s not on par with the Lonesome Dove series, truthfully little is, but it’s a damn good historical fiction series.
August 28, 2010
The Berrybender tetralogy is McMurtry's "other" tetralogy, and is far inferior to the tetralogy that includes Lonesome Dove. I couldn't help comparing the two, and the main difference is that Lonesome Dove and its sequel Streets of Laredo were complete novels in and of themselves. The two weaker books in that series, Comanche Moon and Dead Man's Walk, although chronologically first, were published last and served mostly to fill in blank spaces in the histories of Call and McCrae. Reading the first three books in the Berrybender narrative, Sin Killer, The Wandering Hill, and By Sorrow's River, is similar to reading the first two novels in the Lonesome Dove narrative in that it feels like it's all scene-setting; the problem is that it concerns characters that I won't particularly care about until I get to this final novel.
The series takes place over four years and concerns the Berrybenders, an aristocratic family from England who have come to the American West in the early 1800s on an extended hunting trip. Although it's a large family, the story centers on the oldest daughter Tasmin and her marriage to frontiersman Jim Snow, also known as the Sin Killer for reasons that don't become completely apparent until Folly and Glory. There really isn't enough plot to sustain four novels; it felt as though it might have been written just as one long novel and then broken up, more or less arbitrarily, according to which river the family was traveling upon at the time. Despite that, the series oddly feels unfinished and the ending rushed, as if the bulk of the action, primarily Jim's attack on the slavers' camp, got moved to the fourth novel and the aftermath of that attack jettisoned. So although I spent much of the first three novels wondering why there seemed to be so much meandering exposition, when I got to the end, I could have used about 20 pages more of resolution.
But overall, I liked the series. There are few things better than listening to McMurtry's characters talk to each other, and the conversation between the dying killer Partezon and the prophet Greasy Lake, in which they bicker like old ladies over who should get the horse, is worth the price of admission. The Berrybender narratives weren't my favorite of McMurtry's work; I liked them, but did find myself wishing he weren't quite so prolific. When he's good, there's no one better, but even when he's just okay, he's still better than most writers working today.
The series takes place over four years and concerns the Berrybenders, an aristocratic family from England who have come to the American West in the early 1800s on an extended hunting trip. Although it's a large family, the story centers on the oldest daughter Tasmin and her marriage to frontiersman Jim Snow, also known as the Sin Killer for reasons that don't become completely apparent until Folly and Glory. There really isn't enough plot to sustain four novels; it felt as though it might have been written just as one long novel and then broken up, more or less arbitrarily, according to which river the family was traveling upon at the time. Despite that, the series oddly feels unfinished and the ending rushed, as if the bulk of the action, primarily Jim's attack on the slavers' camp, got moved to the fourth novel and the aftermath of that attack jettisoned. So although I spent much of the first three novels wondering why there seemed to be so much meandering exposition, when I got to the end, I could have used about 20 pages more of resolution.
But overall, I liked the series. There are few things better than listening to McMurtry's characters talk to each other, and the conversation between the dying killer Partezon and the prophet Greasy Lake, in which they bicker like old ladies over who should get the horse, is worth the price of admission. The Berrybender narratives weren't my favorite of McMurtry's work; I liked them, but did find myself wishing he weren't quite so prolific. When he's good, there's no one better, but even when he's just okay, he's still better than most writers working today.
June 26, 2024
An epic series with the best characteristics of McMurty's style
Unlike what seems to be a considerable number of reviewers I don't read multiple books in a series, especially one I don't like, and then give the author a 2 or 3 star review because I was too foolish to move on to something else. I very much enjoyed this entire series and having slogged through the insufferable comparisons to Lonesome Dove for four review cycles now it pleases me greatly to give this final book 5 stars. This is not Lonesome Dove, was never intended to be, and perhaps one should go back and read/re-read Lonesome Dove if one is too single minded to allow McMurtry to continue his career as he saw fit. This phenomenon happens a lot with authors and I just get tired of it. Those types of reviews remind me too much of music fans who refuse to allow bands to grow creatively, but rather spend decades b*tching online because they only want to hear one early hit and refuse to give any opportunity to newer styles and songs. No artist should be forced to do the same thing, all the time, forever. That's enough of that peeve. I loved this series because the fun times were really fun. So, much so I strung the series out for a very long time. I often found myself guffawing at the dialogue and interactions - something that doesn't happen often in today's depressing world of negative news. On the other hand, the bad times could be real downers. Rather than a criticism that is a compliment about McMurty's businesslike handling of difficult but realistic situations involving human cruelty, illness, racism, violence, colonialism, environmental degradation and animal cruelty, among others. So yes, having read at least 7-8 of his books now (and yes, being a big fan of Lonesome Dove and the related books) I was very glad to have this opportunity to see what else McMurty could do with his outstanding abilities to describe the American western landscape, to craft classic dialogue and to develop unforgettable characters. I will not forget the Berrybenders or the Sin Killer easily.
Unlike what seems to be a considerable number of reviewers I don't read multiple books in a series, especially one I don't like, and then give the author a 2 or 3 star review because I was too foolish to move on to something else. I very much enjoyed this entire series and having slogged through the insufferable comparisons to Lonesome Dove for four review cycles now it pleases me greatly to give this final book 5 stars. This is not Lonesome Dove, was never intended to be, and perhaps one should go back and read/re-read Lonesome Dove if one is too single minded to allow McMurtry to continue his career as he saw fit. This phenomenon happens a lot with authors and I just get tired of it. Those types of reviews remind me too much of music fans who refuse to allow bands to grow creatively, but rather spend decades b*tching online because they only want to hear one early hit and refuse to give any opportunity to newer styles and songs. No artist should be forced to do the same thing, all the time, forever. That's enough of that peeve. I loved this series because the fun times were really fun. So, much so I strung the series out for a very long time. I often found myself guffawing at the dialogue and interactions - something that doesn't happen often in today's depressing world of negative news. On the other hand, the bad times could be real downers. Rather than a criticism that is a compliment about McMurty's businesslike handling of difficult but realistic situations involving human cruelty, illness, racism, violence, colonialism, environmental degradation and animal cruelty, among others. So yes, having read at least 7-8 of his books now (and yes, being a big fan of Lonesome Dove and the related books) I was very glad to have this opportunity to see what else McMurty could do with his outstanding abilities to describe the American western landscape, to craft classic dialogue and to develop unforgettable characters. I will not forget the Berrybenders or the Sin Killer easily.
August 29, 2015
Now that I have a new car with an actual cd player, I can drive around not concentrating and missing all my exits. But it's all good because I get to listen to tapes like this one read by Alfred Molina who handles several characters, male and female, of different ethnic groups with such ease. Terrific job by Molina. Any way, I haven't hit any pedestrians yet. That's a good thing, right?
I love McMurtry stories. His sex and violence are over the top, so he's not for everyone. I always imagine myself around a campfire asking Larry to tell me a story about the Old West. He does it, and I go for it in a big way. Always.
I love McMurtry stories. His sex and violence are over the top, so he's not for everyone. I always imagine myself around a campfire asking Larry to tell me a story about the Old West. He does it, and I go for it in a big way. Always.
July 8, 2025
3.75, alternately amusing and depressing, McMurtry wraps this series up by once again showing how harsh the American West was on those who traveled it. Not dissimilar to the message of the Lonesome Dove series, full of senseless violence and loss, but also love and humor, however none of these characters are as endearing or iconic, leaving me with more mixed feelings.
December 7, 2015
"I can only regret being myself. I suppose all regret comes to that..." --I. Compton-Burnett, Darkness and Day
opening quote to 'Folly and Glory'.
'Folly and Glory' is the fourth entry in the Berrybender series as well as the final book. Every thread which was begun in book one, Sin Killer is finished, the four-year vacation in 1830's America undertaken by the aristocratic Berrybenders and their servants is finally done, with all questions answered - whether they were of determining personal character or curiosity about a foreign environment or enjoying the freedom of traversing a world of few rules and laws. The privations suffered by the civilized, pampered, and in the beginning, bored, Englishmen has made of their journey a pyrrhic victory for most of those still alive. I am not going to reveal much more about how it all ended, except to say, Wild Nature wins, whatever its appeal to some. I dare say that the conclusions of the more thoughtful characters in the book is much the same conclusion many a young volunteer soldier lad who was initially eager for the first battle in war realizes after the end of their tour of battles; yet, our natures keep us forever seeking out these tests and adventures because near-death events are addictive even while we are damaging everything we value enduring them.
opening quote to 'Folly and Glory'.
'Folly and Glory' is the fourth entry in the Berrybender series as well as the final book. Every thread which was begun in book one, Sin Killer is finished, the four-year vacation in 1830's America undertaken by the aristocratic Berrybenders and their servants is finally done, with all questions answered - whether they were of determining personal character or curiosity about a foreign environment or enjoying the freedom of traversing a world of few rules and laws. The privations suffered by the civilized, pampered, and in the beginning, bored, Englishmen has made of their journey a pyrrhic victory for most of those still alive. I am not going to reveal much more about how it all ended, except to say, Wild Nature wins, whatever its appeal to some. I dare say that the conclusions of the more thoughtful characters in the book is much the same conclusion many a young volunteer soldier lad who was initially eager for the first battle in war realizes after the end of their tour of battles; yet, our natures keep us forever seeking out these tests and adventures because near-death events are addictive even while we are damaging everything we value enduring them.
November 13, 2022
The final episode rushes to the end, and then everyone goes their own way. Not a satisfying conclusion. The Berrybender family has escaped from "imprisonment" in Santa Fe, which was more like a luxury vacation for over a year. They have decided to decamp again and head off to points east: Galveston, New Orleans, and St Louis are in the path of continuing Berrybender destruction.
Several members of the group were killed off-stage. Jim is upset and tries to avenge some of the deaths, so once again he has ridden off on his own. Tasmin is left to clean up loose ends and make decisions for the remaining family, but nobody can agree.
The biggest underlying truth is how quickly European settlers were able to eradicate the natives that had been living there f0r centuries. In each of the 4 books, the ruin was intensifying. While it took more than the four years this trip covers, the characters are quick to recognize the inevitable.
Several members of the group were killed off-stage. Jim is upset and tries to avenge some of the deaths, so once again he has ridden off on his own. Tasmin is left to clean up loose ends and make decisions for the remaining family, but nobody can agree.
The biggest underlying truth is how quickly European settlers were able to eradicate the natives that had been living there f0r centuries. In each of the 4 books, the ruin was intensifying. While it took more than the four years this trip covers, the characters are quick to recognize the inevitable.
July 10, 2018
I was so glad that the silly Berrybender series was finally over. It got sillier and sillier as it went on. I kept reading this series for lack of anything better to read at the time. Entertaining enough, but I'm not a big fan of tossing historical figures into blatantly inaccurate places, times and situations. I honestly can't believe I read the whole series.
November 20, 2007
just love the audio version of this series
alfred molina does a few of them so fab
alfred molina does a few of them so fab
October 27, 2014
A worthy finish to the Berrybender narratives. Mixed comic and tragic in the usual style.
September 5, 2019
Another of McMurtry's 3 or 4 book sets which allow ample time to fully flush out a saga type story replete with many colliding characters and schemes of fact & fiction coming together to produce compelling/entertaining historical chronicling of the American frontier West. And, as is usually the case women characters take no back seat to the heroics of men, rather it is that not-so-secret adage that behind every great man stands an equivalent in her own ways women whose stories mostly overshadowed yet remain among the deeply dug at annals of scarce social history. McMurtry is a true admirer of these women whom he has championed throughout his expansive oeuvre of which Tasmin Berrybender exemplifies boldly in all 'folly and glory' of old values clashing against the new in an everlasting plight of our species to evolve in a natural world of change.
July 30, 2023
I give this 4.5 stars for the overall greatness of this four part series. This last book of the series was even more heartbreaking with some serious gut wrenching moments, and a tad less humor this time around due to the gravity of the circumstances the Berrybenders find themselves in. The ending satisfied and has you hopeful for the future of the characters that remain. Official Larry McMurtry fan here.
January 17, 2022
Folly, indeed!
Not too sure about the "glory" part...
Not too sure about the "glory" part...
December 4, 2022
Last of the series . I did like the way it ended and tied up loose ends. But time to take a break from this author.
December 27, 2025
sad but needed ending i suppose. poor tasmin :(
July 18, 2022
Read in 2005. The culmination of the four volume saga.
September 15, 2015
In allotting stars, I waver on this book, indeed the whole Berrybender series. It is a compelling, thought-provoking story, as unpredictable and diverse as the vast territory and unsettled time in which it is set. The book is far from a mere "western." It is literature about a time period, the ambitions of individuals and of nations, the nature of love, human frailty and human dignity, the diversity of every individual's character and much more. As the Berrybender party wanders from the Dakotas south into Mexico and Texas, you come to know every character as real people, making the particular hardships and tragedies of this final installment sometimes very difficult to watch. In that sense, and certainly in the sense of gruesome brutality, this is not an easy book to read. There is one point in particular at which I really felt McMurtry went too far in depicting the naked insensitivity to human life among some of the "bad guys." But I later had to admit that that brutality made some of the events that followed both more satisfying and, considering their own savagery, more thought-provoking. I came to think of this as one of the best novels I've read in the past couple of years. It is definitely not for the faint of heart, and it lacks the poetic description and sweeping prose that would help it really touch the soul, but it certainly engages the mind and the imagination.
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November 25, 2022I usually write a review for the books I read, but the four-volume Berrybender Narratives flowed so perfectly into each other that I didn't feel a review was advisable after each book since the story was incomplete. Now, however, I have finished all four novels and can state my opinions.
These books start out funny; Mr. McMurtry can be hilarious. There were a quite a few passages that made me laugh out loud. There is a lot of that, but mostly in the first book. Then the tenor of the story changed. I recall feeling the same way when I read Lonesome Dove, another of Mr. McMurty's novels. Things started out comical. The characters seemed buffoonish. Then things turned deadly serious and situations became life and death. The story was still good, but not funny. That's what happened with the Berrybender Narratives.
There was, eventually and inevitably, much death and loss, whether through accident, disease, or Indian attack, etc., and at times it overtook the story. That said, I still liked the books and I am glad I read them. Mr. McMurtry has a way of bringing out deep philosophical questions in the middle of the prairie. There was also a lot of that in these books.
Great characters, lots of action, and a few historical figures make appearances to round things out. Who knew Jim Bowie was a good dancer?
These books start out funny; Mr. McMurtry can be hilarious. There were a quite a few passages that made me laugh out loud. There is a lot of that, but mostly in the first book. Then the tenor of the story changed. I recall feeling the same way when I read Lonesome Dove, another of Mr. McMurty's novels. Things started out comical. The characters seemed buffoonish. Then things turned deadly serious and situations became life and death. The story was still good, but not funny. That's what happened with the Berrybender Narratives.
There was, eventually and inevitably, much death and loss, whether through accident, disease, or Indian attack, etc., and at times it overtook the story. That said, I still liked the books and I am glad I read them. Mr. McMurtry has a way of bringing out deep philosophical questions in the middle of the prairie. There was also a lot of that in these books.
Great characters, lots of action, and a few historical figures make appearances to round things out. Who knew Jim Bowie was a good dancer?
December 13, 2013
Book 1 had me worrying about too much comedy and farce, but the series as a whole is deep, deep tragedy. I’m glad I read it, as it was probably a fairly good depiction of the hard living conditions in the American west of the early 19th-century, but it became difficult to watch so many favorite characters dropping like flies, to violence and disease. I had the sense that McMurtry just wanted to get this last book finished, but it’s hard to put my finger on specifics, so maybe that was nothing more than my own perception.
If I were going to adapt any of this book series to, say, a TV series, I would probably want the show to start where the last book left off, i.e., with activities related to the opening of a big, new Berrybender’s store in Saint Louis. Tasmin, Buffum, Petal, and Father Geoff would be the central regulars. Other survivors could drift back to town for visits. There could be a lot of flashbacks to gradually inform viewers regarding the back story from the book series (à la the “Grasshopper” scenes from the “Kung Fu” TV series).
If I were going to adapt any of this book series to, say, a TV series, I would probably want the show to start where the last book left off, i.e., with activities related to the opening of a big, new Berrybender’s store in Saint Louis. Tasmin, Buffum, Petal, and Father Geoff would be the central regulars. Other survivors could drift back to town for visits. There could be a lot of flashbacks to gradually inform viewers regarding the back story from the book series (à la the “Grasshopper” scenes from the “Kung Fu” TV series).
November 2, 2014
A relatively short, by Lonesome Dove standards, novel about the further adventures of Jim Snow and the Berrybender family. This book comes after Sin Killer in the series. The Berrybenders are arrested by the new Mexican Governor and are being escorted out of Santa Fe, presumably headed for Monterrey, Mexico. Jim had taken Kit Carson's advice and made himself scarce prior to the arrest. More deaths than in a Game of Thrones novel. Life was brutal in the West in the 1840's.
March 12, 2015
Overall this was a great series. I still maintain it would have been a little better slimmed down to three books. The story (in particular this book) turned quite sad and darker than the more jovial, (sometimes nearly) slapstick of the first two. It's hardly surprising given the tremendous hardships and sorrow our survivors had to endure.
May 22, 2016
In this work, the fourth of the Berrybender saga, the Berrybenders are held under house arrest in Santa Fe. The story is riddled with tragedy as the family hopes to move to Texas for a new start. Events are somewhat disjointed in time.
January 17, 2018
That was a very unexpected ending. I find myself a little disappointed but at the same time, I think it was a good way to end a series. There are a few things that I'd like to know, all of which can be summed up in one question: What became of them all?
January 19, 2025
"… folly doesn't last forever." (pg. 18)
It is a telling comment on how I have viewed the four volumes of the Berrybender Narratives that I enjoyed Folly and Glory, the fourth and final book of the series, in large part because it abandoned much of what made this series so idiosyncratic. The books' awkward balance between comic vaudeville, sadistic frontier brutality and author Larry McMurtry's enduringly fine ability to spin a Western yarn has always been alternately frustrating and entertaining. The imbalance has ensured they remain ultimately unsatisfying.
Aside from a few moments, Folly and Glory abandons much of that light-comic romping. With the series now in its end-game, McMurtry leans more heavily towards the stark brutality and his patented Western storytelling. Gone is the frivolous verbal sparring and the bed-hopping; the characters now speak seriously to one another and the effects of their decisions over the four books begin to weary them, like a hangover after the indulgent bout of drinking. To someone who has not read the books, this might sound like a criticism, a charge that Folly and Glory is less fun. But it does mean that the frustrating imbalance of previous volumes is gone and we can engage with the book as story. And story has always been the one thing McMurtry is good at.
This means that, throughout Folly and Glory, we are invested in the characters and their losses – moreso than we have felt inclined to do in previous books, when it felt like the author wasn't always taking it seriously. It means that, as the book ends, we are reluctant to part from characters who, in previous books, we'd have been happy to see the back of. It means that well-written scenes are no longer isolated events to re-energise the reader as they go about their trials, but tense, fitting moments that engage us further in the story and remind us, even if only a small amount, of McMurtry's better work in this genre.
The series has always felt to me a bit pointless, an interesting but idle doodle from an expert hand, and certainly I wondered, in the finer dramatic and character moments of Folly and Glory and its predecessors, how I would have felt in such moments if they were not spent so casually on such a head-scratching concept. Even now, I struggle to see what McMurtry hoped to accomplish by placing comic English aristocrats on the American frontier and have them mooch around. They had no story to tell, and their position did not shine a light on the West either. "Had it been glory, or had it been folly, the unrelenting American push?" McMurtry writes on page 28, recalling the title of this final volume. "Were town and farm better than red men and buffalo?" The bewildering thing is that the four Berrybender Narratives have never seemed inclined to address any of the questions they might have posed. Only McMurtry's excellent storytelling ability – his pacing, his characterisation, his lively dialogue – has saved his concept from itself. And even that could only take it so far.
It is a telling comment on how I have viewed the four volumes of the Berrybender Narratives that I enjoyed Folly and Glory, the fourth and final book of the series, in large part because it abandoned much of what made this series so idiosyncratic. The books' awkward balance between comic vaudeville, sadistic frontier brutality and author Larry McMurtry's enduringly fine ability to spin a Western yarn has always been alternately frustrating and entertaining. The imbalance has ensured they remain ultimately unsatisfying.
Aside from a few moments, Folly and Glory abandons much of that light-comic romping. With the series now in its end-game, McMurtry leans more heavily towards the stark brutality and his patented Western storytelling. Gone is the frivolous verbal sparring and the bed-hopping; the characters now speak seriously to one another and the effects of their decisions over the four books begin to weary them, like a hangover after the indulgent bout of drinking. To someone who has not read the books, this might sound like a criticism, a charge that Folly and Glory is less fun. But it does mean that the frustrating imbalance of previous volumes is gone and we can engage with the book as story. And story has always been the one thing McMurtry is good at.
This means that, throughout Folly and Glory, we are invested in the characters and their losses – moreso than we have felt inclined to do in previous books, when it felt like the author wasn't always taking it seriously. It means that, as the book ends, we are reluctant to part from characters who, in previous books, we'd have been happy to see the back of. It means that well-written scenes are no longer isolated events to re-energise the reader as they go about their trials, but tense, fitting moments that engage us further in the story and remind us, even if only a small amount, of McMurtry's better work in this genre.
The series has always felt to me a bit pointless, an interesting but idle doodle from an expert hand, and certainly I wondered, in the finer dramatic and character moments of Folly and Glory and its predecessors, how I would have felt in such moments if they were not spent so casually on such a head-scratching concept. Even now, I struggle to see what McMurtry hoped to accomplish by placing comic English aristocrats on the American frontier and have them mooch around. They had no story to tell, and their position did not shine a light on the West either. "Had it been glory, or had it been folly, the unrelenting American push?" McMurtry writes on page 28, recalling the title of this final volume. "Were town and farm better than red men and buffalo?" The bewildering thing is that the four Berrybender Narratives have never seemed inclined to address any of the questions they might have posed. Only McMurtry's excellent storytelling ability – his pacing, his characterisation, his lively dialogue – has saved his concept from itself. And even that could only take it so far.
June 26, 2019
Man, this is a tough one to review. I love McMurtry's work and the Berrybender series does not disappoint, as far as writing style and quality is concerned. But the story line itself is really hard to come to grips with. Well, not so much the story line but the conclusion.
If you have read his other works, of any setting of time, you are well aware that he never shies aware from death and the very real emotions accompanying it. But this one just didn't seem as well thought out as the others. The main reason I say this is in how he introduced a number of new characters only to strike them down with very little exploration into their characters. He introduced Jim and Tassie's twins but never really builds up the boy, Petey, before killing him off. Or Juppy, who is a lovable character with great depth who is simply dumped off from cholera. In his defense, this is no inaccurate to the harshness of the period.
The death of Little Onion stung mightily; he crafted a wonderful character in her even though there was no dialogue between her and anyone else in the entire series. She was a stalwart throughout the entire series, spanning from the vast northern territories until her brutal demise in the unfriendly lands which would provide the backdrop of Lonesome Dove lore. It was just so abrupt and cruel, but again, much of life was abrupt and cruel on the frontier.
I was a little surprised that he killed off Lord B, but the way he did was very befitting to the selfish old man; out in a blaze of glory (or perhaps folly as well?).
I guess the worst part to me was the total lack of closure. I read this in other reviews and think it is largely true that it felt like McMurtry just wanted to wrap it up and found the most convenient means of closing the book on two very complex characters and their bizarre relationship. Jim, the Sin Killer, breaks Biblical commandment and marries Rosa. Tasmin seems resigned to this, a far break from her character. Then she simply steams off into the sunset with Petal (probably the finest character of this installation of the series) to visit London, even though she requested her boys be brought back to be buried together, which Jim delivers.
So, upon concluding the series, I feel utterly deflated. It is a winding saga which fairly often reminisces to their first chance encounter years before on the Mizzou but ends on the sourest note imaginable: Jim commits the greatest sin in a series bound by sin after sin, leaving his wife and only surviving child to be with another woman. It is just so poetically unjust and fraught with irony. I am not sure that I would do it all again because the conclusion is frankly awful. I started out giving it three stars but after writing out my thoughts, I cannot give it that because the tragic conclusion truly ruins the whole series.
If you have read his other works, of any setting of time, you are well aware that he never shies aware from death and the very real emotions accompanying it. But this one just didn't seem as well thought out as the others. The main reason I say this is in how he introduced a number of new characters only to strike them down with very little exploration into their characters. He introduced Jim and Tassie's twins but never really builds up the boy, Petey, before killing him off. Or Juppy, who is a lovable character with great depth who is simply dumped off from cholera. In his defense, this is no inaccurate to the harshness of the period.
The death of Little Onion stung mightily; he crafted a wonderful character in her even though there was no dialogue between her and anyone else in the entire series. She was a stalwart throughout the entire series, spanning from the vast northern territories until her brutal demise in the unfriendly lands which would provide the backdrop of Lonesome Dove lore. It was just so abrupt and cruel, but again, much of life was abrupt and cruel on the frontier.
I was a little surprised that he killed off Lord B, but the way he did was very befitting to the selfish old man; out in a blaze of glory (or perhaps folly as well?).
I guess the worst part to me was the total lack of closure. I read this in other reviews and think it is largely true that it felt like McMurtry just wanted to wrap it up and found the most convenient means of closing the book on two very complex characters and their bizarre relationship. Jim, the Sin Killer, breaks Biblical commandment and marries Rosa. Tasmin seems resigned to this, a far break from her character. Then she simply steams off into the sunset with Petal (probably the finest character of this installation of the series) to visit London, even though she requested her boys be brought back to be buried together, which Jim delivers.
So, upon concluding the series, I feel utterly deflated. It is a winding saga which fairly often reminisces to their first chance encounter years before on the Mizzou but ends on the sourest note imaginable: Jim commits the greatest sin in a series bound by sin after sin, leaving his wife and only surviving child to be with another woman. It is just so poetically unjust and fraught with irony. I am not sure that I would do it all again because the conclusion is frankly awful. I started out giving it three stars but after writing out my thoughts, I cannot give it that because the tragic conclusion truly ruins the whole series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2018
Part 4 of the Berrybender Narratives by Larry McMurtry. Many readers just never “got it”. That’s understandable. This is, after all, the man that gave us the “Lonesome Dove” tetralogy. Apart from the stories in both series taking place in the old west, similarities are difficult to find. It’s safe to say, though, if you liked the first three Berrybender books, you’ll find this one enjoyable as well. Now that these books have been around awhile, I can safely give the advice that it’s best to read these four books without taking too much time off between them. There are a LOT of characters between the pages, and if you wait an entire year to read each successive volume, you might find yourself a bit lost trying to remember who is who. (I read someone’s negative review on Amazon where they read this one WITHOUT reading the other three! Please please do NOT do this!)
This book picks up (I think) about a year and a half after volume 3 concludes. The story’s center, Tasmin Berrybender, is having her familiar conflicts of love and lust. She now has three children, as she has just recently given birth to twins – a boy and a girl. The girl, ‘Petal’, is really the only disappointment of the whole book. She’s about 18 months old, yet has the brains, mannerisms, and vocabulary of a six-year old. Larry McMurtry is trying too hard to make her a replication of her mother. Sadly, her mannerisms just don’t wash as a believable toddler.
Other than that, though, the story moves around in a similar fashion as the others. There’s lots of death, sex, starvation, lust, Indian attacks, and on and on and on. I found that the characters in this book were the easiest to keep track of, compared to the first three books. Maybe because McMurtry has killed so many of the originals off by now? Or maybe it’s because, after four books, the personalities have finally congealed in my memory.
With all the craziness that happens in these misplaced people’s lives, I felt the book had a fairly decent conclusion. The author mixes up a well-known historical event into the last few chapters where some of the characters find themselves participants of, but this is a minor distraction. I think most people, if they give these books a chance, will find an awful lot to enjoy. Just try to forget that the author is the same guy that made us fall in love with Gus and Call several years ago. And, for goodness sake, have a sense of humor.
This book picks up (I think) about a year and a half after volume 3 concludes. The story’s center, Tasmin Berrybender, is having her familiar conflicts of love and lust. She now has three children, as she has just recently given birth to twins – a boy and a girl. The girl, ‘Petal’, is really the only disappointment of the whole book. She’s about 18 months old, yet has the brains, mannerisms, and vocabulary of a six-year old. Larry McMurtry is trying too hard to make her a replication of her mother. Sadly, her mannerisms just don’t wash as a believable toddler.
Other than that, though, the story moves around in a similar fashion as the others. There’s lots of death, sex, starvation, lust, Indian attacks, and on and on and on. I found that the characters in this book were the easiest to keep track of, compared to the first three books. Maybe because McMurtry has killed so many of the originals off by now? Or maybe it’s because, after four books, the personalities have finally congealed in my memory.
With all the craziness that happens in these misplaced people’s lives, I felt the book had a fairly decent conclusion. The author mixes up a well-known historical event into the last few chapters where some of the characters find themselves participants of, but this is a minor distraction. I think most people, if they give these books a chance, will find an awful lot to enjoy. Just try to forget that the author is the same guy that made us fall in love with Gus and Call several years ago. And, for goodness sake, have a sense of humor.
May 10, 2023
THE BERRYBENDER NARRATIVES by Larry McMurtry
By and large, I regret having spent time reading these books. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. Much of them remain with me. Those are two criteria I use to label a book, “good.” So, I’m ambivalent. I can’t recommend them, but reading the saga was a pleasant, yet frustrating, experience.
This single review applies to THE BERRYBENDER NARRATIVES; all four books in the tetralogy.
It’s the story of Tasmin, a young English woman, hunting party member, pressing west into the 1830s American wilderness. Along the way they experience, lust, love, marriage, birth, disease, death…
It reminded me of a kids' adventure book, with simplistic depictions of "savages," the harsh prairie, rugged self-reliant Americans, and dandy Europeans. However, there are occasional explicit sex and violence scenes. When they first come, it is shocking. You don’t find those in children’s literature. Some “love making” sessions are fully described, some are not. Some scalping is explicitly described, some is not. This style inconsistency is troubling. And, as in other McMurtry books, we get a sense of women’s lust. I wonder how he learned about that.
There are many characters. McMurtry lists each in the books’ prefaces. Many characters, even main ones, die. I don’t mourn their deaths. I wish McMurtry’s writing left me more empathetic and able to feel the loss.
McMurtry’s Indians are primitive savages, psychopathic, brutal, and superstitious (i.e., not Christian or science based). Very few have redeeming qualities. He does however acknowledge immigrants stealing Native American land and altering their way of life. But we are left with the impression that with such savages, grand theft or cultural genocide is justified. I was born in the Southwest. I know this point of view. One of my great-grandfathers was in the KKK because he hated Indians. McMurtry was a Texan.
In SIN KILLER (Book #1), the wagon train rolls along, encounters adventures and then…the book ends. We are “left hanging” in the middle of nowhere. There is no conclusion, resolution, or even a cliffhanger. So, on to the next book.
In the final installment, FOLLY AND GLORY (Book #4), I expected a big finish or at least a leap and glimpse into the future to learn how their lives turned out. They reach an unspectacular destination, and the saga stops. What was the point of the long, hard journey? Was it simply a hunting trip?
The End
By and large, I regret having spent time reading these books. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. Much of them remain with me. Those are two criteria I use to label a book, “good.” So, I’m ambivalent. I can’t recommend them, but reading the saga was a pleasant, yet frustrating, experience.
This single review applies to THE BERRYBENDER NARRATIVES; all four books in the tetralogy.
It’s the story of Tasmin, a young English woman, hunting party member, pressing west into the 1830s American wilderness. Along the way they experience, lust, love, marriage, birth, disease, death…
It reminded me of a kids' adventure book, with simplistic depictions of "savages," the harsh prairie, rugged self-reliant Americans, and dandy Europeans. However, there are occasional explicit sex and violence scenes. When they first come, it is shocking. You don’t find those in children’s literature. Some “love making” sessions are fully described, some are not. Some scalping is explicitly described, some is not. This style inconsistency is troubling. And, as in other McMurtry books, we get a sense of women’s lust. I wonder how he learned about that.
There are many characters. McMurtry lists each in the books’ prefaces. Many characters, even main ones, die. I don’t mourn their deaths. I wish McMurtry’s writing left me more empathetic and able to feel the loss.
McMurtry’s Indians are primitive savages, psychopathic, brutal, and superstitious (i.e., not Christian or science based). Very few have redeeming qualities. He does however acknowledge immigrants stealing Native American land and altering their way of life. But we are left with the impression that with such savages, grand theft or cultural genocide is justified. I was born in the Southwest. I know this point of view. One of my great-grandfathers was in the KKK because he hated Indians. McMurtry was a Texan.
In SIN KILLER (Book #1), the wagon train rolls along, encounters adventures and then…the book ends. We are “left hanging” in the middle of nowhere. There is no conclusion, resolution, or even a cliffhanger. So, on to the next book.
In the final installment, FOLLY AND GLORY (Book #4), I expected a big finish or at least a leap and glimpse into the future to learn how their lives turned out. They reach an unspectacular destination, and the saga stops. What was the point of the long, hard journey? Was it simply a hunting trip?
The End
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