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Josey Wales #1-2
Josey Wales: Two Westerns
Josey Wales was the most wanted man in Texas. His wife and child had been lost to pre-civil War destruction and, like Jesse James and other young farmers, he joined the guerrilla soldiers of Missouri--men with no cause but survival and no purpose but revenge.
Josey Wales and his Cherokee friend, Lone Watie, set out for the West through the dangerous Camanchero territory. Hiding by day, traveling by night, they are joined by an Indian woman named Little Moonlight, and rescue an old woman and her granddaughter from their besieged wagon. The five of them travel toward Texas and win through brash and honest violence, a chance for a new way of life.
Josey Wales and his Cherokee friend, Lone Watie, set out for the West through the dangerous Camanchero territory. Hiding by day, traveling by night, they are joined by an Indian woman named Little Moonlight, and rescue an old woman and her granddaughter from their besieged wagon. The five of them travel toward Texas and win through brash and honest violence, a chance for a new way of life.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 1989
198 people are currently reading
965 people want to read
About the author
Forrest Carter
12 books571 followersAsa Earl "Forrest" Carter was an American political speechwriter and author. He was most notable for publishing novels and a best-selling, award-winning memoir under the name Forrest Carter, an identity as a Native American Cherokee. In 1976, following the publication success of his western The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales, The New York Times revealed Forrest Carter to be Southerner Asa Earl Carter. His background became national news again in 1991 after his purported memoir, The Education of Little Tree, was re-issued in paperback and topped the Times paperback best-seller lists (both non-fiction and fiction). It also won the American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) award.
Prior to his literary career as "Forrest", Carter was politically active for years in Alabama as an opponent to the civil rights movement: he worked as a speechwriter for segregationist Governor George Wallace of Alabama; founded the North Alabama Citizens Council (NACC) and an independent Ku Klux Klan group; and started the pro-segregation monthly titled The Southerner.
From Wikipedia
Prior to his literary career as "Forrest", Carter was politically active for years in Alabama as an opponent to the civil rights movement: he worked as a speechwriter for segregationist Governor George Wallace of Alabama; founded the North Alabama Citizens Council (NACC) and an independent Ku Klux Klan group; and started the pro-segregation monthly titled The Southerner.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
September 21, 2013
Floating this one with a new shelf to see how the kinder, gentler Goodreads policy will handle a review that brings up the author's documented history of being a member of the Ku Klux Klan and a liar.
******
After seeing the Coen Brothers’ version of True Grit and rereading the book, I had an urge to check out another western. Preferably one with a movie adaptation made that I could watch after reading. The Outlaw Josey Wales came to mind. I loved the movie but haven’t seen it in years. Plus, I’d read the book a long time ago and didn’t remember much about it. Now, I’m really kind of wishing that I would have left well enough alone.
I got this volume that had both the books by Forrest Carter. Gone to Texas is the one that inspired the film version with a Missouri farmer becoming a guerilla fighter during the Civil War after his family is killed by Union forces. After the war, Josey refuses to surrender and tries to fight his way to Texas. The second book, The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales, is about Josey going into Mexico chasing after a sadistic bunch of rurales who came into Texas where they raped, murdered and kidnapped friends of his. This book also dealt a lot with how the corrupt Mexican landowners and the Catholic Church conspired to keep the peasants in debt and working the land.
As I was reading, something kept bugging me. In the first book, a lot of time is spent on how unfair and cruel the federal government had been to Josey, his Confederate comrades, and some of the Indians he meets. Josey is presented as the Mythical Righteous Redneck Warrior who will ruthlessly shoot you down, but is a straight talking man of his word. Unlike them guvment fellas.
At first, I thought this was just my Kansas nature. I’ve always been slightly irked about how both the real and fictional Missouri guerrillas who later turned to robbery were portrayed as heroes or at least anti-heroes. While there were plenty of atrocities on both side of the border war, it’d be nice if Kansas got a little credit for being the free state while the Missourians were fighting for the slave state.
However, the book had a bad habit of going on and on about how ruthless the government was while Josey and his pals were just simple folks wanting to live peacefully on the land. But slavery is never mentioned once, and there isn’t a single black character in the novel. Carter was supposedly part Cherokee who had written a memoir about his ancestry so I thought he had just decided to highlight the mistreatment of the Indians and leave slavery out of it to make Josey more sympathetic.
But while I was looking up Carter before writing this review, I found out that his real name was actually Asa Carter, and that he’d been a segregationist, a speech writer for George Wallace, and he was heavily involved with the Ku Klux Klan. According to Wikipedia, he had to leave the KKK after shooting two members in a dispute over finances. How bad do you have to be to get thrown out of the Klan?
In the 1970’s, he changed his name, tried to pass himself off as part Indian and wrote a ‘memoir’ called The Education of Little Tree so apparently he was the James Frey of his generation. He died shortly after writing the Josey Wales novels, but his double life was finally revealed in the early ‘90s.
Shit.
There’s nothing like finding out that a movie you really liked was inspired by a racist asshole, and that it was subtle propaganda about ‘the evils of guvment’. He even managed to work in some shots at the Catholics in the sequel. I feel dirty just for having read it.
I never got that vibe from the Eastwood version so I’m assuming it got filtered out of the movie, but that’s really going to be hard not to think about while watching Clint spit tobacco and sending troops on a Missouri boat ride.
******
After seeing the Coen Brothers’ version of True Grit and rereading the book, I had an urge to check out another western. Preferably one with a movie adaptation made that I could watch after reading. The Outlaw Josey Wales came to mind. I loved the movie but haven’t seen it in years. Plus, I’d read the book a long time ago and didn’t remember much about it. Now, I’m really kind of wishing that I would have left well enough alone.
I got this volume that had both the books by Forrest Carter. Gone to Texas is the one that inspired the film version with a Missouri farmer becoming a guerilla fighter during the Civil War after his family is killed by Union forces. After the war, Josey refuses to surrender and tries to fight his way to Texas. The second book, The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales, is about Josey going into Mexico chasing after a sadistic bunch of rurales who came into Texas where they raped, murdered and kidnapped friends of his. This book also dealt a lot with how the corrupt Mexican landowners and the Catholic Church conspired to keep the peasants in debt and working the land.
As I was reading, something kept bugging me. In the first book, a lot of time is spent on how unfair and cruel the federal government had been to Josey, his Confederate comrades, and some of the Indians he meets. Josey is presented as the Mythical Righteous Redneck Warrior who will ruthlessly shoot you down, but is a straight talking man of his word. Unlike them guvment fellas.
At first, I thought this was just my Kansas nature. I’ve always been slightly irked about how both the real and fictional Missouri guerrillas who later turned to robbery were portrayed as heroes or at least anti-heroes. While there were plenty of atrocities on both side of the border war, it’d be nice if Kansas got a little credit for being the free state while the Missourians were fighting for the slave state.
However, the book had a bad habit of going on and on about how ruthless the government was while Josey and his pals were just simple folks wanting to live peacefully on the land. But slavery is never mentioned once, and there isn’t a single black character in the novel. Carter was supposedly part Cherokee who had written a memoir about his ancestry so I thought he had just decided to highlight the mistreatment of the Indians and leave slavery out of it to make Josey more sympathetic.
But while I was looking up Carter before writing this review, I found out that his real name was actually Asa Carter, and that he’d been a segregationist, a speech writer for George Wallace, and he was heavily involved with the Ku Klux Klan. According to Wikipedia, he had to leave the KKK after shooting two members in a dispute over finances. How bad do you have to be to get thrown out of the Klan?
In the 1970’s, he changed his name, tried to pass himself off as part Indian and wrote a ‘memoir’ called The Education of Little Tree so apparently he was the James Frey of his generation. He died shortly after writing the Josey Wales novels, but his double life was finally revealed in the early ‘90s.
Shit.
There’s nothing like finding out that a movie you really liked was inspired by a racist asshole, and that it was subtle propaganda about ‘the evils of guvment’. He even managed to work in some shots at the Catholics in the sequel. I feel dirty just for having read it.
I never got that vibe from the Eastwood version so I’m assuming it got filtered out of the movie, but that’s really going to be hard not to think about while watching Clint spit tobacco and sending troops on a Missouri boat ride.
September 15, 2015
Unlike some, I refuse to allow the authors personal life to influence my review. It's an adventure story and I enjoyed it. Period.
If you've seen the film, you'll recognize that much of it was taken from the story but of course, there's more background information on Josey.
If you've seen the film, you'll recognize that much of it was taken from the story but of course, there's more background information on Josey.
April 1, 2023
El rebelde Josey Wales
Huido a Texas
Novela sobre forajidos en el lejano oeste americano. La típica película de venganza y persecución de un pistolero al que no le tiembla el pulso.
Después de acabar la guerra civil en Estados Unidos, los ganadores acordaron una amnistía a los que habían participado en la guerra. Entre los participantes había una serie de forajidos famosos como Bill el sanguinario, los hermanos Jesse y Frank James o los hermanos Dalton. De entre ellos había un pistolero que no aceptó está amnistía. La unión había matado a su familia y él no tenía por qué entregar las armas.
Pues con esta base histórica es como empieza este libro, Josey Wales se convierte en un fuera de la ley perseguido por todo el mundo. Pero Josey no es un cualquiera, se va a llevar por delante a quien lo persiga.
Esta novela, antes de publicarse, fue enviada por el autor a Clint Eastwood por si le interesaba para una película. Por supuesto que le interesó. De aquí salió:
"El fuera de la ley" de 1976 dirigida e interpretada por el mismo Clint con su pareja de entonces Sondra Locke y John Vernon como principales protagonistas.
Película que el mismo Eastwood confesó que era una de sus preferidas.
Esta historia está basada en un hombre que existió en la vida real llamado Bill Wilson, éste, era tan hábil tocando el violín como con las armas. Soldados de la Unión destruyeron la granja donde vivía con su familia y a partir de ahí decidió vengarse.
La otra novela que le sigue es “La ruta de venganza de Josey Wales”. Algo por debajo pero también entretenida. En ella Wales persigue a un grupo de mexicanos que han matado a gente amiga.
Estas novelas son ideales para reencontrarse con el género del oeste, un pistolero con amigos que proteger, indios duros pero buenos y gente mala para darle vidilla y poder hacer duelos al sol (con el sol detrás del pistolero, por supuesto), además no son el típico relato corto de fin de semana. Aquí hay espacio para desarrollar una trama y definir bien a los personajes.
Huido a Texas
Novela sobre forajidos en el lejano oeste americano. La típica película de venganza y persecución de un pistolero al que no le tiembla el pulso.
Después de acabar la guerra civil en Estados Unidos, los ganadores acordaron una amnistía a los que habían participado en la guerra. Entre los participantes había una serie de forajidos famosos como Bill el sanguinario, los hermanos Jesse y Frank James o los hermanos Dalton. De entre ellos había un pistolero que no aceptó está amnistía. La unión había matado a su familia y él no tenía por qué entregar las armas.
Pues con esta base histórica es como empieza este libro, Josey Wales se convierte en un fuera de la ley perseguido por todo el mundo. Pero Josey no es un cualquiera, se va a llevar por delante a quien lo persiga.
Esta novela, antes de publicarse, fue enviada por el autor a Clint Eastwood por si le interesaba para una película. Por supuesto que le interesó. De aquí salió:
"El fuera de la ley" de 1976 dirigida e interpretada por el mismo Clint con su pareja de entonces Sondra Locke y John Vernon como principales protagonistas.
Película que el mismo Eastwood confesó que era una de sus preferidas.
Esta historia está basada en un hombre que existió en la vida real llamado Bill Wilson, éste, era tan hábil tocando el violín como con las armas. Soldados de la Unión destruyeron la granja donde vivía con su familia y a partir de ahí decidió vengarse.
La otra novela que le sigue es “La ruta de venganza de Josey Wales”. Algo por debajo pero también entretenida. En ella Wales persigue a un grupo de mexicanos que han matado a gente amiga.
Estas novelas son ideales para reencontrarse con el género del oeste, un pistolero con amigos que proteger, indios duros pero buenos y gente mala para darle vidilla y poder hacer duelos al sol (con el sol detrás del pistolero, por supuesto), además no son el típico relato corto de fin de semana. Aquí hay espacio para desarrollar una trama y definir bien a los personajes.
August 5, 2020
En este volumen tenemos reunidas las dos novelas que el autor escribió sobre Josey Wales: Huido a Texas, en la que se basó la película de Clint Eastwood "El fuera de la ley" y la posterior La ruta de venganza de Josey Wales.
Los dos títulos señalan perfectamente qué nos vamos a encontrar. Mientras en la primera el forajido curtido en mil batallas, Josey Wales, es perseguido por no aceptar el perdón que los yankis ofrecen tras la guerra civil, en la segunda el que persigue es él y nos desplazaremos hasta más allá de Río Grande, a México. Por supuesto en mitad de la historia vamos a tener todos los elementos típicos del western: indios, peleas, whisky, tequila, chicas de saloon, bandidos, soldados, caballos, cartas, campos abiertos, camadería,... En la segunda encontramos los elementos de la primera pero de forma más descarnada: gran respeto y puesta en valor de los indios; enaltecimiento del código de honor de los hombres de montaña; feroz crítica a los políticos, iglesia y colonialismo; violencia más cruel y gráfica; un Josey Wales más listo todavía.
Me han gustado mucho ambas, un poco más la primera y sí, cada vez me gusta más este género y esta colección Frontera es un valor seguro.
Un 7,75
Los dos títulos señalan perfectamente qué nos vamos a encontrar. Mientras en la primera el forajido curtido en mil batallas, Josey Wales, es perseguido por no aceptar el perdón que los yankis ofrecen tras la guerra civil, en la segunda el que persigue es él y nos desplazaremos hasta más allá de Río Grande, a México. Por supuesto en mitad de la historia vamos a tener todos los elementos típicos del western: indios, peleas, whisky, tequila, chicas de saloon, bandidos, soldados, caballos, cartas, campos abiertos, camadería,... En la segunda encontramos los elementos de la primera pero de forma más descarnada: gran respeto y puesta en valor de los indios; enaltecimiento del código de honor de los hombres de montaña; feroz crítica a los políticos, iglesia y colonialismo; violencia más cruel y gráfica; un Josey Wales más listo todavía.
Me han gustado mucho ambas, un poco más la primera y sí, cada vez me gusta más este género y esta colección Frontera es un valor seguro.
Un 7,75
May 14, 2014
I have very little experience with Western literature (I'm talking cowboys, not hemisphere), but I've been on a bit of a kick lately and decided to take a plunge. My first, Hombre, was a really good little novel, but it didn't prepare me for this. With these two stories -- collected here in an omnibus -- Forrest Carter crafts a towering legend of a simple farmer forced by fate, cruelty and the will to survive, to become the most ruthless gunfighter in the West.
Spoilers...
Josey Wales wants no part of the Civil War, has no desire for violence. He just wants to farm his land with his family and be left in peace. But violence finds him when the Redlegs, a brigade of Northern soldiers who use terror as their battlefield tool, burn his farm, kill his family and slash his face, forever marking his visage with the scars of war. After shedding all the tears he has left, Josey joins up with the Confederacy and learns to shoot, becoming the most feared soldier in the army. He wreaks as much vengeance as he can, but the war ends and, unwilling to pledge his loyalty to any cause or nation, he finds himself on the run, hunted by those who would force him to bend his knee in supplication. Josey fights at first to survive, making his way to Mexico to be free of his tormentors. But along the way, he finds something he thought was lost to him forever: a family. Lone Watie, Little Moonlight, Laura Lee and Grandma Sarah start off as stragglers he picks up along the way, but they end up much more than that. They see not just the Outlaw Josey Wales (yeah, I was gonna do it at some point, but in my defense Carter uses the phrase at least once that I can remember), the most dangerous man on the frontier, but a good man who saved their lives, a man worthy of their gratitude, their loyalty and their love. And in them, Josey sees a second chance to reclaim the humanity that was stolen from him (but, of course, was never truly gone). When he helps them get settled in Texas, he wants to stay, but the danger he brings compels him to go. He can't be with them knowing that at any moment a bunch of soldiers or bounty hunters will descend on the farm and shoot to kill. But on his way, when he looks cornered, he finds that it's not just his new family that likes him. The whole town (well, the bartender, the hooker and the gambler, anyway) stand up for him, and he learns that protection is not just his responsibility, but a symbiosis between those that care for each other. Unlike the movie, the first story here is given a definitive ending, and Josey reclaims his life.
But what is Josey Wales now that he's not a wanted man? Is he back to the peaceful farmer he once was, or is he still, at his heart, a killer? The second story explores that, and it turns out he's now both. He's made a new life, similar to his old life, and he's happy. He and Laura Lee have a baby, Lone Watie and Little Moonlight have one of their own, Grandma Sarah cooks up food while admonishing them the way the elderly are wont to do, and their ranch hands have become close friends too. But when the bar flies who helped give him his new life are brutalized by a group of despicably evil Rurales, Josey takes up arms and hunts them down, determined to make sure every last one of them pays with his life. There is no deliberation, no weighing the pros and cons or examinations of conscience. Letting it stand isn't an option, because Josey Wales is a man of honor. He'll become the gunfighter once more in the service of justice, he'll cut down every evil son of a bitch on his hit list, and then he'll head right back to the farm and tend the land while he cares for his family. His evolution has come full circle, and while I wish there were more Josey Wales stories (and apparently Carter had intended to write more before he died) this is a pretty apt end point for the character.
Carter's writing style is marvelous. There is very little proper grammar, both in dialogue and in prose. The legend of Josey Wales is told like a story being spread around campfires. Josey is described in gushing portraits that make him out to be the supreme badass he is, but it never becomes corny, which it easily could have. It's just... cool. He is at once larger than life and eminently human. Josey will face down any gunman, but he has tricks up his sleeve to maintain the edge in battle, such as facing away from the sun so it obscures his opponent's vision. He is the perfect marriage of myth and man, and though his physical description in the book is a bit different, only someone like Clint Eastwood could ever bring him to life.
I also appreciated the even-handedness Carter brings to depicting the different groups and forces. While the initial feel is that of the Northern Aggression/Southern Independence sentiment, he makes it clear that the South committed atrocities too and were just as ruthless as the North. He isn't just distrustful of the American government, but all government, all institutions that would rule over man. The Spanish conquistadors aren't painted in a very flattering light, nor is the Catholic Church, both getting rich on the backs of the poor. But at the same time, there is a priest who, despite his sins, wants to stop Capitan Escobedo and his Rurales from raping and murdering every woman they find. While Carter clearly has great respect for the Native Americans, he also doesn't shy away from their brutal customs. He never falls into the noble savage trope, stating emphatically that they're capable of great brutality while still having a real sense of honor (which is why they respect Josey Wales, and vice versa).
These are great stories, and Carter was a wonderful writer. It's a shame death cut his career so short.
Spoilers...
Josey Wales wants no part of the Civil War, has no desire for violence. He just wants to farm his land with his family and be left in peace. But violence finds him when the Redlegs, a brigade of Northern soldiers who use terror as their battlefield tool, burn his farm, kill his family and slash his face, forever marking his visage with the scars of war. After shedding all the tears he has left, Josey joins up with the Confederacy and learns to shoot, becoming the most feared soldier in the army. He wreaks as much vengeance as he can, but the war ends and, unwilling to pledge his loyalty to any cause or nation, he finds himself on the run, hunted by those who would force him to bend his knee in supplication. Josey fights at first to survive, making his way to Mexico to be free of his tormentors. But along the way, he finds something he thought was lost to him forever: a family. Lone Watie, Little Moonlight, Laura Lee and Grandma Sarah start off as stragglers he picks up along the way, but they end up much more than that. They see not just the Outlaw Josey Wales (yeah, I was gonna do it at some point, but in my defense Carter uses the phrase at least once that I can remember), the most dangerous man on the frontier, but a good man who saved their lives, a man worthy of their gratitude, their loyalty and their love. And in them, Josey sees a second chance to reclaim the humanity that was stolen from him (but, of course, was never truly gone). When he helps them get settled in Texas, he wants to stay, but the danger he brings compels him to go. He can't be with them knowing that at any moment a bunch of soldiers or bounty hunters will descend on the farm and shoot to kill. But on his way, when he looks cornered, he finds that it's not just his new family that likes him. The whole town (well, the bartender, the hooker and the gambler, anyway) stand up for him, and he learns that protection is not just his responsibility, but a symbiosis between those that care for each other. Unlike the movie, the first story here is given a definitive ending, and Josey reclaims his life.
But what is Josey Wales now that he's not a wanted man? Is he back to the peaceful farmer he once was, or is he still, at his heart, a killer? The second story explores that, and it turns out he's now both. He's made a new life, similar to his old life, and he's happy. He and Laura Lee have a baby, Lone Watie and Little Moonlight have one of their own, Grandma Sarah cooks up food while admonishing them the way the elderly are wont to do, and their ranch hands have become close friends too. But when the bar flies who helped give him his new life are brutalized by a group of despicably evil Rurales, Josey takes up arms and hunts them down, determined to make sure every last one of them pays with his life. There is no deliberation, no weighing the pros and cons or examinations of conscience. Letting it stand isn't an option, because Josey Wales is a man of honor. He'll become the gunfighter once more in the service of justice, he'll cut down every evil son of a bitch on his hit list, and then he'll head right back to the farm and tend the land while he cares for his family. His evolution has come full circle, and while I wish there were more Josey Wales stories (and apparently Carter had intended to write more before he died) this is a pretty apt end point for the character.
Carter's writing style is marvelous. There is very little proper grammar, both in dialogue and in prose. The legend of Josey Wales is told like a story being spread around campfires. Josey is described in gushing portraits that make him out to be the supreme badass he is, but it never becomes corny, which it easily could have. It's just... cool. He is at once larger than life and eminently human. Josey will face down any gunman, but he has tricks up his sleeve to maintain the edge in battle, such as facing away from the sun so it obscures his opponent's vision. He is the perfect marriage of myth and man, and though his physical description in the book is a bit different, only someone like Clint Eastwood could ever bring him to life.
I also appreciated the even-handedness Carter brings to depicting the different groups and forces. While the initial feel is that of the Northern Aggression/Southern Independence sentiment, he makes it clear that the South committed atrocities too and were just as ruthless as the North. He isn't just distrustful of the American government, but all government, all institutions that would rule over man. The Spanish conquistadors aren't painted in a very flattering light, nor is the Catholic Church, both getting rich on the backs of the poor. But at the same time, there is a priest who, despite his sins, wants to stop Capitan Escobedo and his Rurales from raping and murdering every woman they find. While Carter clearly has great respect for the Native Americans, he also doesn't shy away from their brutal customs. He never falls into the noble savage trope, stating emphatically that they're capable of great brutality while still having a real sense of honor (which is why they respect Josey Wales, and vice versa).
These are great stories, and Carter was a wonderful writer. It's a shame death cut his career so short.
January 16, 2011
The Western is my favorite genre. I've read 30+ in the last few years. These two by Forrest Carter are among my favorites. I like all of Carter's stuff. Watch For Me On the Mountain about Geronimo and The Education of Little Tree are great reads. Josey Wales is Carter's heroic character based on several missouri mountain men who fought in the bloody missouri-kansas conflict. carter portrays the alternative version of the missouri "guerillas" that were demonized by victorious historians just after the civil war. The setting is post civil war Texas and Mexico. The adventure/action is great and captured well in Clint Eastwood's movie Josey Wales. While Carter's books all have an obvious cynicism for government, establishment, and the church as an institution, he does an excellent job of weaving into the story the abuses and power plays that were occurring during these times. Josey Wales is the classic misunderstood hero of westerns...seen as an outlaw, he is actually the man of character and "righteousness" in contrast to the authority that surrounds him.
June 27, 2008
" You gonna pull them-there pistols or you gonna whistle dixie? ?? "
(((SPIT))) Better than the most Awesome western movie . .but that is not a big surprise, I reckin'. Books most often is.
Can't put er down. It's "That" damn good. Over the past two days I've constantly found myself lookin' for a 5 or 10 minute hit from this awesome Two-fer-One Novel. Forrest Carter is a masterful writer. There are NO slow spots that I have detected yet. The fantastic action is only matched by his poetic descriptions of mind and landscape. Native Americans are presented as Real People with dignity. Probably the Best Western novel I've ever read. It's already made my flat-out top 20 all-time and it will probably make top-10! I am 3/4ths through now and if I can git a round to-it. .I just might extend this review when finished. HIGHEST Recommendations. ***** (((SPIT)))
(((SPIT))) Better than the most Awesome western movie . .but that is not a big surprise, I reckin'. Books most often is.
Can't put er down. It's "That" damn good. Over the past two days I've constantly found myself lookin' for a 5 or 10 minute hit from this awesome Two-fer-One Novel. Forrest Carter is a masterful writer. There are NO slow spots that I have detected yet. The fantastic action is only matched by his poetic descriptions of mind and landscape. Native Americans are presented as Real People with dignity. Probably the Best Western novel I've ever read. It's already made my flat-out top 20 all-time and it will probably make top-10! I am 3/4ths through now and if I can git a round to-it. .I just might extend this review when finished. HIGHEST Recommendations. ***** (((SPIT)))
October 21, 2013
Forrest Carter’s The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales (1973) and re-titled as Gone to Texas (1976). No doubt many readers have seen Clint Eastwood play the taciturn tobacco-chewing and-spitting Josey Wales in the 1976 film adaptation of the story, The Outlaw Josey Wales, before he decided to talk to an empty chair in front of…the Republican Party. Eastwood’s Gestalt- therapy technique of ‘empty chair’ was taken for a bizarre comedy routine whereas Jung suggested that talking to an empty chair was potential interior monologue and catharsis.
In order to understand Josey Wales one must confront a slice of Civil War history that few of us know, although folks in the Kansas-Missouri border area would beg to differ. The premise to the novel is that Josey, a modest farmer, is attacked and left for dead after witnessing the murder of his wife and his son, and then the destruction of all of his property after a marauding band of Union guerrillas raided his Missouri farm. The film’s start is not terribly clear about chronology; but those Union guerrillas were Red Legs, a subset of ‘Jayhawkers,’ members of the 7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. Red Legs were so called for the red leggings they wore as part of their uniform. The brutal attack that Josey and his family experienced was a common occurrence in the Kansas-Missouri border area before the Civil War…before the Civil War.
When the Civil War does break out, we find that Josey Wales has joined the Missouri Bushwhackers, under the leadership of William ‘Bloody Bill’ Anderson, who had split from William Quantrill who, in turn, provided leadership to a violent group of men, Quantrill’s Raiders. Frank and Jesse James and the Younger Brothers numbered among them.
Using tactics that confounded the British in the Revolutionary War, and incorporating tricks learned from Native Americans, the Bushwhackers inflicted havoc on Union forces, but ultimately were so violent, some say unscrupulous, that the Confederate leadership broke away from them. In the novel and movie, and true to historical fact, Rebel guerillas were asked to surrender and swear an oath to the Union when hostilities ceased. Wales refused, probably more on a hunch than for his loyalty to the Confederate cause. He watches Union troops gun down his comrades. The rest is Eastwood cinematic history.
When I first read Gone to Texas, I read Josey Wales as a hell-bent-for-revenge character and not as a political man who believed in the Confederate cause. I hadn’t even been close. His motivation was plain and simple Old Testament revenge and flight to safety to Texas. Josey’s speech in the novel is difficult to understand at times, but he doesn’t often speak and when he does, it is limited to simple utterances such as his ‘I reckon so.’ He spends most of his time moving, killing, and defending the small group of friends he makes on the way to Texas. My enjoyment of the novel was in the poetic descriptions of the landscape and in his accuracy for “pistolmen” of that era. The Colt .44 of that era did not fire bullets as we know it; the weapon fired a metal ball and the firing mechanism was not unlike the colonial musket that required tamped gunpowder and a spark. Josey Wales is described as a man who carries two guns on a belt, another one tucked into the front and a small one hidden in his jacket. Guns were not reloaded but re-barreled. The author expends a great deal of narrative energy in order that readers also understand the importance of a horse.
The author Forrest Carter was a shadowy character. As Asa Earl Carter he wrote George Wallace’s “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" speech, among other bigoted speech acts. He was a member of the KKK and founded another KKK splinter group called the “Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy.” You can read the rest of his hateful legacy and heinous violent acts on his Wiki page and yet this is the author who wrote the moving and sympathetic story of a Cherokee Indian orphan, The Education of Little Tree. Henry Louis Gates praised Little Tree for its humanity. The two Josey Wales novels are considered major contributions to the Western genre. Carter died in 1979. In his last years he distanced himself from his past.
Like it or not, Carter was a good writer, right up there with Alan LeMay and my other favorite, Dorothy M. Johnson. Please read LeMay’s The Searchers. John Ford’s film of the same name took serious liberties with plot and character. Modest, humble, outrageously funny in her personal life, and advocate for the Blackfeet tribe, Dorothy M. Johnson gave readers A Man Called Horse, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Hanging Tree, and Lost Sister. Charles Portis’s True Grit is back in print. I know I’m remiss in naming other authors in the genre.
In order to understand Josey Wales one must confront a slice of Civil War history that few of us know, although folks in the Kansas-Missouri border area would beg to differ. The premise to the novel is that Josey, a modest farmer, is attacked and left for dead after witnessing the murder of his wife and his son, and then the destruction of all of his property after a marauding band of Union guerrillas raided his Missouri farm. The film’s start is not terribly clear about chronology; but those Union guerrillas were Red Legs, a subset of ‘Jayhawkers,’ members of the 7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. Red Legs were so called for the red leggings they wore as part of their uniform. The brutal attack that Josey and his family experienced was a common occurrence in the Kansas-Missouri border area before the Civil War…before the Civil War.
When the Civil War does break out, we find that Josey Wales has joined the Missouri Bushwhackers, under the leadership of William ‘Bloody Bill’ Anderson, who had split from William Quantrill who, in turn, provided leadership to a violent group of men, Quantrill’s Raiders. Frank and Jesse James and the Younger Brothers numbered among them.
Using tactics that confounded the British in the Revolutionary War, and incorporating tricks learned from Native Americans, the Bushwhackers inflicted havoc on Union forces, but ultimately were so violent, some say unscrupulous, that the Confederate leadership broke away from them. In the novel and movie, and true to historical fact, Rebel guerillas were asked to surrender and swear an oath to the Union when hostilities ceased. Wales refused, probably more on a hunch than for his loyalty to the Confederate cause. He watches Union troops gun down his comrades. The rest is Eastwood cinematic history.
When I first read Gone to Texas, I read Josey Wales as a hell-bent-for-revenge character and not as a political man who believed in the Confederate cause. I hadn’t even been close. His motivation was plain and simple Old Testament revenge and flight to safety to Texas. Josey’s speech in the novel is difficult to understand at times, but he doesn’t often speak and when he does, it is limited to simple utterances such as his ‘I reckon so.’ He spends most of his time moving, killing, and defending the small group of friends he makes on the way to Texas. My enjoyment of the novel was in the poetic descriptions of the landscape and in his accuracy for “pistolmen” of that era. The Colt .44 of that era did not fire bullets as we know it; the weapon fired a metal ball and the firing mechanism was not unlike the colonial musket that required tamped gunpowder and a spark. Josey Wales is described as a man who carries two guns on a belt, another one tucked into the front and a small one hidden in his jacket. Guns were not reloaded but re-barreled. The author expends a great deal of narrative energy in order that readers also understand the importance of a horse.
The author Forrest Carter was a shadowy character. As Asa Earl Carter he wrote George Wallace’s “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" speech, among other bigoted speech acts. He was a member of the KKK and founded another KKK splinter group called the “Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy.” You can read the rest of his hateful legacy and heinous violent acts on his Wiki page and yet this is the author who wrote the moving and sympathetic story of a Cherokee Indian orphan, The Education of Little Tree. Henry Louis Gates praised Little Tree for its humanity. The two Josey Wales novels are considered major contributions to the Western genre. Carter died in 1979. In his last years he distanced himself from his past.
Like it or not, Carter was a good writer, right up there with Alan LeMay and my other favorite, Dorothy M. Johnson. Please read LeMay’s The Searchers. John Ford’s film of the same name took serious liberties with plot and character. Modest, humble, outrageously funny in her personal life, and advocate for the Blackfeet tribe, Dorothy M. Johnson gave readers A Man Called Horse, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Hanging Tree, and Lost Sister. Charles Portis’s True Grit is back in print. I know I’m remiss in naming other authors in the genre.
May 20, 2016
Una joya. Imprescindible para los aficionados a la literatura "del Oeste" y, por supuesto, para quienes disfrutaron en su día con "El fuera de la ley" de Clint Eastwood.
December 5, 2019
Estamos ante EL clásico de clásicos del género Western. La carrera de Carter no fue muy prolífica y de hecho murió al poco tiempo de haber completado la secuela de "Huido a Texas", pero se las arregló para dejarnos dos grandes obras: la mencionada "Gone to Texas", que en el año 76 se convirtió en una exitosa película de vaqueros dirigida e interpretada por Clint Eastwood, y un clásico de la literatura norteamericana llamado "The education of Little Tree", en español titulado "Montañas como islas".
El presente volumen de Valdemar Frontera nos ofrece las dos novelas canónicas de Josey Wales, el prototipo del "fuera de la ley" del salvaje oeste. En "Huido a Texas" tenemos la génesis de Josey, cómo llegó a ser quien fue y el relato al que alude el título de la novela, es decir, por qué huye a Texas y las aventuras que vive en el proceso. Esta novela corta tiene todos los elementos representativos del género y, en mi opinion, es una obra maestra del Western, realmente no le falta ni le sobra nada y logra que uno empiece a amar este tipo de literatura.
En cuanto a la secuela, "La ruta de venganza de Josey Wales", que probablemente fue escrita gracias al éxito de la película de Eastwood, nos encontramos con Josey y su banda de forajidos haciendo de las suyas en México. Esta segunda novela es particularmente más violenta y gráfica que la primera y, a pesar de algunas exageraciones, la aparición de los apaches y el combate final la hacen casi tan buena como "Huido a Texas". Un disfrute de principio a fin.
Parece que el tal Carter no fue lo que se dice un buen tipo, ya que perteneció al infame Ku Klux Klan, pero el legado Western que nos deja es sin duda muy grande, dos relatos universales, un canto al valor, la amistad y la vida, adictivos como pocos y de lectura obligada para iniciarse en la literatura Western, inolvidables.
El presente volumen de Valdemar Frontera nos ofrece las dos novelas canónicas de Josey Wales, el prototipo del "fuera de la ley" del salvaje oeste. En "Huido a Texas" tenemos la génesis de Josey, cómo llegó a ser quien fue y el relato al que alude el título de la novela, es decir, por qué huye a Texas y las aventuras que vive en el proceso. Esta novela corta tiene todos los elementos representativos del género y, en mi opinion, es una obra maestra del Western, realmente no le falta ni le sobra nada y logra que uno empiece a amar este tipo de literatura.
En cuanto a la secuela, "La ruta de venganza de Josey Wales", que probablemente fue escrita gracias al éxito de la película de Eastwood, nos encontramos con Josey y su banda de forajidos haciendo de las suyas en México. Esta segunda novela es particularmente más violenta y gráfica que la primera y, a pesar de algunas exageraciones, la aparición de los apaches y el combate final la hacen casi tan buena como "Huido a Texas". Un disfrute de principio a fin.
Parece que el tal Carter no fue lo que se dice un buen tipo, ya que perteneció al infame Ku Klux Klan, pero el legado Western que nos deja es sin duda muy grande, dos relatos universales, un canto al valor, la amistad y la vida, adictivos como pocos y de lectura obligada para iniciarse en la literatura Western, inolvidables.
March 30, 2015
This volume is a collection of two novellas: "Gone to Texas" and "The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales."
The first novella is the basis for the famous movie starring Clint Eastwood. For those familiar with the film, it is faithful to the spirit and plot arc of the book, though the characters of Fletcher and Captain Terrill were added to the movie to give audiences a tangible villain to identify against.
The writing is rough and fast-paced, the characters serving more as archetypes than actual persons. Unlike the film, Wales does not surrender after the Civil War, but like many Missouri guerrillas like the James Brothers, resorts to bank robbery. However, in this world, Wales is not the bad guy. Rather it is society that is bad by giving license to the greedy and hypocritical. Men likes Wales are striking back the only way they know how-that is with a six-shooter. Carter's almost anarachical view of the world may not hold water under intense scrutiny, but in the confines of his novel it is an energetic and appealing outlook where only the outlaws, outcasts and Indians are upright. Yet the author is careful to distinguish between the upright bank robber like Wales and "trash out of hell" like the Comancheros.
The action is a bit comical and the prose almost eye-rolling, but is it ever fun. Pity Carter died before giving us any more of the world of Josey Wales.
The first novella is the basis for the famous movie starring Clint Eastwood. For those familiar with the film, it is faithful to the spirit and plot arc of the book, though the characters of Fletcher and Captain Terrill were added to the movie to give audiences a tangible villain to identify against.
The writing is rough and fast-paced, the characters serving more as archetypes than actual persons. Unlike the film, Wales does not surrender after the Civil War, but like many Missouri guerrillas like the James Brothers, resorts to bank robbery. However, in this world, Wales is not the bad guy. Rather it is society that is bad by giving license to the greedy and hypocritical. Men likes Wales are striking back the only way they know how-that is with a six-shooter. Carter's almost anarachical view of the world may not hold water under intense scrutiny, but in the confines of his novel it is an energetic and appealing outlook where only the outlaws, outcasts and Indians are upright. Yet the author is careful to distinguish between the upright bank robber like Wales and "trash out of hell" like the Comancheros.
The action is a bit comical and the prose almost eye-rolling, but is it ever fun. Pity Carter died before giving us any more of the world of Josey Wales.
December 22, 2012
The author may have been a vile KKK activist but he could certainly write a real 'page turner' that reeks of historic authenticity. I ought to feel guilty at having enjoyed it but I also enjoy listening to Wagner!
November 27, 2022
Great book! Hard to put it down. Was an excellent Clint Eastwood movie. He was one tough hombre!
August 19, 2009
One of my favorite Western movies is the The Outlaw Josey Wales; everything was so nicely done by Mr. Eastwood and the meticulous details are outstanding. Years ago I learned that the movie was based on a book (Gone To Texas) I'd marked it as one I needed to read at some point. That time has come and instead of just getting Gone To Texas, the version I picked up also had The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales, giving me a little more to read and think about on Josey Wales.
Since my interest was driven by the movie, I'll open by saying that reading Gone To Texas was a great reminder of the Outlaw Josey Wales. The descriptions and character actions and interactions were so reminiscent of the movie that you could easily visualize the movie. Clint Eastwood fit Mr. Carter's description of Josey Wales very closely. The big additions Mr. Carter provides are the added background on Josey Wales and the plight of the Missouri guerrilla with the added concept of how difficult Josey Wales's situation was (being tracked and hunted by `Federal' authorities).
The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales picks up about a year or two after Gone To Texas and tells the story of Josey Wales going after a friend and the sacrifices he's prepared to make. Once more, this a solid story that would make a great western film for someone. Once more the descriptions are nicely done and you can easily imagine riding with Josey as he goes thru northern Mexico searching for his friends. There's great continuance from Gone To Texas and in some ways I almost preferred it (while not a unique story, an excellent follow up).
A nice solid 4 star book. When reading Mr. Carter's works it's easy to see why Mr. Eastwood selected Gone To Texas to be a movie. The stories are solid, perfect for cutting to film. Mr. Carter's writing style is direct and to the point, with enough description to satisfy most readers. Josey's speech pattern is a little hard to follow at times but nicely captures a person from that era and location. Something I just have to admire is coming up with this story without ready access to many of the means we now have available. A good read that's entertaining.
Since my interest was driven by the movie, I'll open by saying that reading Gone To Texas was a great reminder of the Outlaw Josey Wales. The descriptions and character actions and interactions were so reminiscent of the movie that you could easily visualize the movie. Clint Eastwood fit Mr. Carter's description of Josey Wales very closely. The big additions Mr. Carter provides are the added background on Josey Wales and the plight of the Missouri guerrilla with the added concept of how difficult Josey Wales's situation was (being tracked and hunted by `Federal' authorities).
The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales picks up about a year or two after Gone To Texas and tells the story of Josey Wales going after a friend and the sacrifices he's prepared to make. Once more, this a solid story that would make a great western film for someone. Once more the descriptions are nicely done and you can easily imagine riding with Josey as he goes thru northern Mexico searching for his friends. There's great continuance from Gone To Texas and in some ways I almost preferred it (while not a unique story, an excellent follow up).
A nice solid 4 star book. When reading Mr. Carter's works it's easy to see why Mr. Eastwood selected Gone To Texas to be a movie. The stories are solid, perfect for cutting to film. Mr. Carter's writing style is direct and to the point, with enough description to satisfy most readers. Josey's speech pattern is a little hard to follow at times but nicely captures a person from that era and location. Something I just have to admire is coming up with this story without ready access to many of the means we now have available. A good read that's entertaining.
November 4, 2022
This must be one of the best westerns I have ever read. I loved the movie, but the book is even better, as usual. This book took me back to the days after the civil war as if I was there.
June 26, 2019
Fast moving and laconic, Forrest Carter has a definite hero in Josey Wales. I bought the book in my eternal search to find an original book on which an interesting movie was based, and in this case, I have to say I like the book much better (but it's hard to get the image of Clint Eastwood out of my head).
I'm not sure how Josey learned his infallible shooting skills - perhaps in the womb. From the moment we meet him he can hit a moving target under the most adverse conditions with little to no sleep, even while he himself is moving. Since he has those handy skills, he manages to stay alive regardless of the odds. The good news is that Forrest Carter's stories are entertaining, a fast read, and generally not completely ridiculous.
"Gone to Texas" is the basis for the movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales." The character in the book seemed more appealing to me than that in the movie; whether that's because the description of someone spitting is better than seeing it, or the book is fundamentally better, I couldn't say. The second book, "The Outlaw Josey Wales" involves more unlikely alliances with local Native Americans - I understand Forrest Carter described himself as descended from Native Americans but this story seemed to stretch the boundaries of realistic frontier behavior - regardless, it was entertaining; I had a hard time putting it down since I always was interested in seeing how our hero was going to get through the next seemingly inescapable ambush.
At the time I purchased the material I didn't realize that Forrest Carter not only tended to stretch his ancestry but also had what are conventionally found to be inappropriate political beliefs. I'm glad I purchased the book on the secondary market. An entertaining read from a conflicted individual.
I'm not sure how Josey learned his infallible shooting skills - perhaps in the womb. From the moment we meet him he can hit a moving target under the most adverse conditions with little to no sleep, even while he himself is moving. Since he has those handy skills, he manages to stay alive regardless of the odds. The good news is that Forrest Carter's stories are entertaining, a fast read, and generally not completely ridiculous.
"Gone to Texas" is the basis for the movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales." The character in the book seemed more appealing to me than that in the movie; whether that's because the description of someone spitting is better than seeing it, or the book is fundamentally better, I couldn't say. The second book, "The Outlaw Josey Wales" involves more unlikely alliances with local Native Americans - I understand Forrest Carter described himself as descended from Native Americans but this story seemed to stretch the boundaries of realistic frontier behavior - regardless, it was entertaining; I had a hard time putting it down since I always was interested in seeing how our hero was going to get through the next seemingly inescapable ambush.
At the time I purchased the material I didn't realize that Forrest Carter not only tended to stretch his ancestry but also had what are conventionally found to be inappropriate political beliefs. I'm glad I purchased the book on the secondary market. An entertaining read from a conflicted individual.
December 13, 2009
This book has two stories in it, but I only read "Gone To Texas;" it was the basis for the Clint Eastwood movie "Outlaw Josey Wales." I have to admit I am not a fan of fiction (yet oddly enough, the last couple of books I've read are fiction. Go figure) and I really do not enjoy westerns, per se. I read one L'amour book and found it kind of boring; if you like Bonanza then I'm sure you love L'amour. I do have to admit that I've read a couple of Elmore Leonard's westerns 'cause I love his style, which I found more enjoyable in his westerns than say "Rum Punch" (aka Jackie Brown). OK, sorry for the rambling. I liked GTT a lot! Wales' character, his code and how he confronts evil is given a lot more depth than the movie (no surprise there). A bit of a spoiler alert, so stop reading if you don't want to know: I liked the ending of the book better than movie. It wasn't so Shane-esque. It was credible and given the tragedies he encounters in the beginning it was nice to know that he finds salvation and his place in the world. What I like is that by sticking to his character and code Wales lives his life. He's not worried about death, only about failing in his obligations to those close to him. He exemplifies loyalty and courage.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2016
Sin entrar en polémicas sobre el autor, sus ideas y su vida(el que quiera indagar sobre ésto que tire de google), lo que se nos presenta aquí es un folletín de "indios y vaqueros" en su versión más pura y apetecible para el lector.
El libro tiene una importante crítica al "malvado hombre blanco" y una defensa a ultranza de los valores de los indios y de los que trabajan la tierra con sus propias manos. Defensa del código universal del vaquero montañés, leal a toda costa con sus amigos y que no olvida una afrenta.
Y con estos valores como trasfondo, el autor se monta un auténtico lujo de libro de aventuras. Forajidos muy pero que muy duros, indios sanguinarios cuando les tocan las plumas, terratenientes sádicos y malvados, caballos épicos. Personajes, en suma, que se pasean por un contexto de fronteras difuminadas, venganzas servidas muy frías, tretas imposibles, pistolas que salen a relucir en duelos al atardecer, botellas de whisky casero y barbas cerradas de varios días.
En fin, un libro muy apetecible para leer según se recorre la frontera del río Grande.
El libro tiene una importante crítica al "malvado hombre blanco" y una defensa a ultranza de los valores de los indios y de los que trabajan la tierra con sus propias manos. Defensa del código universal del vaquero montañés, leal a toda costa con sus amigos y que no olvida una afrenta.
Y con estos valores como trasfondo, el autor se monta un auténtico lujo de libro de aventuras. Forajidos muy pero que muy duros, indios sanguinarios cuando les tocan las plumas, terratenientes sádicos y malvados, caballos épicos. Personajes, en suma, que se pasean por un contexto de fronteras difuminadas, venganzas servidas muy frías, tretas imposibles, pistolas que salen a relucir en duelos al atardecer, botellas de whisky casero y barbas cerradas de varios días.
En fin, un libro muy apetecible para leer según se recorre la frontera del río Grande.
July 10, 2021
You can't really read this book without imagining Clint Eastwood as the title character.
In the first book, it tells how Josey Wales became a guerilla fighter in the Border Wars after the Union killed his family.
After the war, the rest of his group head off, lured by talk of amnesty but he can't give up that easily.
He keeps fighting for what he thinks is right, as the price on his head grows bigger. He makes friends along the way, forming his own band of "kin".
Like most good leaders, he inspires those around him to be more than they think they are, and he will put himself in danger first to protect them.
The second book sees one of his friends taken prisoner by Spanish/Mexican rurales, so he gives up the life he's made and heads off to rescue him.
Again, he pulls in unlikely allies as he fights against the odds for one person.
Both books are action packed, violent when they need to be, peopled with well written characters, although a bit heavy on the "civilised people bad, downtrodden people good" message.
In the first book, it tells how Josey Wales became a guerilla fighter in the Border Wars after the Union killed his family.
After the war, the rest of his group head off, lured by talk of amnesty but he can't give up that easily.
He keeps fighting for what he thinks is right, as the price on his head grows bigger. He makes friends along the way, forming his own band of "kin".
Like most good leaders, he inspires those around him to be more than they think they are, and he will put himself in danger first to protect them.
The second book sees one of his friends taken prisoner by Spanish/Mexican rurales, so he gives up the life he's made and heads off to rescue him.
Again, he pulls in unlikely allies as he fights against the odds for one person.
Both books are action packed, violent when they need to be, peopled with well written characters, although a bit heavy on the "civilised people bad, downtrodden people good" message.
March 8, 2017
I’ve read a few Louis L’Amour westerns but I found Gone to Texas much more engaging, realistic and convincing. I enjoyed the language, and it painted good pictures. I enjoyed Josey's strategies and thinking, through which Carter has some points to make about character. I was also stimulated to research some of the historical references which are important in a western. Gone to Texas was soon made into a movie (The Outlaw Josey Wales; Clint Eastwood) which probably came as close to reviving the good western as anything ever will. Westerns with rap music and modern slang just don’t cut it for me.
The second book in the volume, The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales was good, but not as good. It stretched realism a bit more and had some preachiness that detracted. I’m fine with an author using realistic events in a story to illustrate and justify an opinion. Carter does this well in the first book, but just jams in the opinions in the second.
Overall, good fiction to go along with some non-fiction history I’ve been reading.
April 25, 2010
Yes, of course, this is the book on which the movie was based. Actually, the movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales" was based upon the first novel included in this volume, "Gone to Texas", which I think was the more poorly written of the two. The second novel included in this set, "The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales", was written better and the character of Josey Wales was much better developed. I probably would give "Gone to Texas" 3 stars, and "The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales" 4 stars, giving it a 3.5 average over all. The main problem with both novels is a lot of telling instead of showing in the writing--and the writing of dialect/accents--whatever. It takes away from the story. The story itself was splendid, though if you saw the movie first, before reading the book, which I did, you will know what's going to happen--at least in the first book, and maybe that lessened some of the suspense in that particular volume for me. I'd definitely recommend reading it to all fans of western lit.
July 15, 2013
Although I love Forrest Carter's Education of Little Tree, when I began Gone To Texas, I was afraid I'd be abandoning it after the requisite 50 pages. It started slow.
I am so glad that I plugged away. As soon as Josey Wales gets to Indian Country, the story gets good and just gets better and better.
If this has not been made into a movie, it should be. It would be better than Lonesome Dove.
What I liked was the characterization of our anti-hero, Josey Wales, and how he just wants to get out of the US, be by himself, live and let live. But the law is after him, and he has lots of close calls. Add to that menace from the Comanches, and the story is just page turning action.
I've been reading a whole lot of Texas history of that era, so maybe I enjoyed the book more than most would. If anyone is interested in Texas history, this is a great book.
I am so glad that I plugged away. As soon as Josey Wales gets to Indian Country, the story gets good and just gets better and better.
If this has not been made into a movie, it should be. It would be better than Lonesome Dove.
What I liked was the characterization of our anti-hero, Josey Wales, and how he just wants to get out of the US, be by himself, live and let live. But the law is after him, and he has lots of close calls. Add to that menace from the Comanches, and the story is just page turning action.
I've been reading a whole lot of Texas history of that era, so maybe I enjoyed the book more than most would. If anyone is interested in Texas history, this is a great book.
July 15, 2009
Perhaps my all-time favorite Western movie is The Outlaw Josey Whales, starring Clint Eastwood. And I don't know how many times I've watched the movie, made a mental note to track down the novel it's based on, Gone to Texas. But only a few years ago did I finally make the point to buy the book and read it.
My two cents: the book and the movie are pretty evenly matched. The thing I got more from the book, or that the book underlined better for me, was Josey's friendship with Jamie, the young man he befriends while fighting a gorilla war against Union soldiers during and after the Civil War. It's a touching relationship given the violence in which it is born.
This is a great outlaw tale from a rough period in American history. Don't pass it up.
My two cents: the book and the movie are pretty evenly matched. The thing I got more from the book, or that the book underlined better for me, was Josey's friendship with Jamie, the young man he befriends while fighting a gorilla war against Union soldiers during and after the Civil War. It's a touching relationship given the violence in which it is born.
This is a great outlaw tale from a rough period in American history. Don't pass it up.
November 17, 2009
The cliche that great movies usually come from mediocre books is quite true in this case. Carter's Gone to Texas is a gruesome but typical western novel, but Eastwood's film adaptation (The Outlaw, Josey Wales) is, in my opinion, the best Western film ever made. It was interesting to read the source material that inspired Eastwood. This time the movie is better than the book.
The sequel novel, also included in this volume -- The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales, is more of the same -- not as interesting, and yet, there is that marvelous atmosphere and setting description of Texas and the southwest that always grips me. This book was also made into a "B" movie (without Eastwood). I've never seen it.
The sequel novel, also included in this volume -- The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales, is more of the same -- not as interesting, and yet, there is that marvelous atmosphere and setting description of Texas and the southwest that always grips me. This book was also made into a "B" movie (without Eastwood). I've never seen it.
July 13, 2013
Each summer I pick a theme for my reading list. This year I chose Westerns. I picked Josey Wales because it's one of my favorite movie Westerns. I thought I'd see how the book compared. Interestingly, this is one of those exceptions to the rule where the movie is actually better than the book. Not that it wasn't an enjoyable read. But, for the most part, I'd rate it just a little above typical Western pulp fare. There were some aspects of the novel(s) that I preferred to the movie. The supporting characters, Lone Watie and Laura Lee, are much stronger and less stereotypical than those presented in the movie. However, the characters were very flat and the plot painfully predictable.
November 7, 2016
Heartless and Heroic
Always loved the movie Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood and have seen it several times, however, it was the last time that I read the credits. The movie was based on the book titled Gone To Texas by Forest Carter. I purchased his novel Two Westerns that combines the two novels and the sequel of the Josey Wales story. Having read the entire book was an enjoyable experience which I thoroughly loved. It is a disturbing story in that it reveals the evil deeds of mankind that one does not want to believe. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves history and a great storyline. Beware, it contains graphic scenes and dirty deeds of cruelty that is sadly part of great nations history.
Always loved the movie Josey Wales with Clint Eastwood and have seen it several times, however, it was the last time that I read the credits. The movie was based on the book titled Gone To Texas by Forest Carter. I purchased his novel Two Westerns that combines the two novels and the sequel of the Josey Wales story. Having read the entire book was an enjoyable experience which I thoroughly loved. It is a disturbing story in that it reveals the evil deeds of mankind that one does not want to believe. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves history and a great storyline. Beware, it contains graphic scenes and dirty deeds of cruelty that is sadly part of great nations history.
December 23, 2016
Like many fans of the Western genre, I hold a special place in my heart for the 1976 movie. Nothing could have convinced me I would find more joy in the character of Josey Wales than was brought to me by my favorite film. It took only a few pages of this masterpiece to change my mind. Not just the man, but the land of the south, too, impresses with character. The mountains, the rivers, the forest and farms are all personified with grit and striking charm. The adventure starts quickly and marvels through every chapter while educating the reader on every facet of life as a rough and tumble outlaw-- an occupation with surprising entice after riding with Wales and witnessing the stylishly unorthodox execution of integrity.
March 20, 2016
Gone to Texas is an interesting and entertaining novel based on a man who was a guerrilla fighter in Missouri during the Kansas-Missouri border war and during the Civil War. Forest Carter writes in a romantic, heroic manner, meaning that he idealizes Josey Wells and that type of fierce, independent man who fought for the South and whose heritage is Appalachian, and also meaning that the hero-outlaw's exploits are "larger than life." It works in Gone to Texas, but really goes “over the top” in the sequel, The Vengeance Trail of Josie Wales. Four stars for Gone to Texas; two stars for Vengeance Trail.
January 14, 2012
Swell. Would make a great movie with Clint Eastwood - oh, wait! AND - supports the old truism, don't cast your girlfriend in your movies (Sondra Locke). FURTHERMORE - Chief Dan George was entertaining in the film, but he is also miscast after reading the book. I assume there is a shortage of good Native American actors. Apparently, Clint Eastwood also holds the rights to make a movie of the second novel in this collection, but hasn't. I enjoyed the second novel even more, because I didn't know the story - certainly, though, I've seen several westerns that are essentially this story.
November 16, 2014
The rough, raw writing style made me at first think that this was written in the early 1800's, so it was a surprise to see that these two novels were written in the 1970's. The writing was a mixed bag of a light touch and heavy-handedness; whereas sometimes the characters' thoughts were clearly conveyed in a few spare lines of conversation, other times (way too often), Carter would go on and on and on about the "code" of honor that the rebels, the Indians, etc. were bound by. That should require no explanation.
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