The Garfield Honor

by frank-yerby

The Garfield Honor [Apr 01, 1978] Yerby, Frank.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les'see.... Main character, quite capable, somewhat cynical, wonderfully literate when indulging in introspection: check. Romantic triangle: check, in fact it's a quadrangle (nice work, if you can get it). Fascinating history: check. Yep, vintage Yerby. This time Our Hero--perhaps, when reading Yerby, "protagonist" is a better word--is a Civil War veteran come cattle rancher in the Old West. West Texas, that is. He's involved with three women and has made an enemy with his own sophisticated ideas of revenge. One woman he has cast off, the second he has married, and the third he loves, so this is gonna end up well. The usual stuff, and you're going to enjoy a look at the true old west. Some hints: "cowpuncher" was not a compliment, a cattle drive was not Rawhide by any stretch of the imagination, and there was a tremendous antipathy between Mexicans and gringos. Yerby, whose writings contain a sympathy for Hispanic culture, was living in Spain at the time of writing this book. I found it a fun and quick read.

[Jon Hollihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read a couple of Frank Yerby novels and not really enjoyed them, thought I’d give this $4.00 Antique Store find a try. Compliments to Yerby for creating such an amazingly unlikeable Antagonist, Roak - truly a Cad. Yet Yerby goes on to create a wonderfully written Protagonist, Fritz. Injured by Roak in a fit of passion, Fritz returns vengeance and also compassion. Roak lives with the consequences of snap decisions while Fritz plans revenge long term. Well written, though with stereotype characters, and a focus on people’s looks. Yerby still uses a paragraph when a sentence would suffice. One of his shorter novels and full of interesting facts. The fourth star is earned for the character, Fritz.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Garfield Honor was written by Frank Yerby and published in 1961. The novel is set post civil war and follows a man named Roak Garfield who travels to Texas to recover from a war injury. Roak gets involved with three different women and makes an enemy he will never shake loose on his road to glory and fortune in the Wild West.

I came across this book very randomly at my local library used bookstore and thought it might be interesting. It wasn’t a total waste of time, but Roak sure was an unpleasant character to follow. I would definitely categorize him as a narcissist. I felt bad for the three women he got involved with. One he ruins and turns into a fallen woman. Another he is totally obsessed with, but will only have an affair with her and the last he marries for her inheritance. 🤦🏼‍♀️ He did get his karma in the end, but then after that everything seems to end up just great for him. That whole annoyance with the main character aside, this book wasn’t a total loss as the writing and the historical part of it was quite good.

Needless to say, I don’t recommend this lol. I’ve never heard of this author before. Have any of you ever read anything by him? If so, are there any of his books that follow more likeable characters?

[Jim Puskas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Steamy in a 1950's way. Fairly engaging light reading

[Jeff Cliff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Characters weren't believable. Plot wasn't believable. The whole thing was corny AF and beyond belief.

but

the backdrop was...something

It is a window into the range wars, and the historical situation both in terms of science, technology, and culture. Even at ~100 years of reflection later, it really did give insight into a day before (and during the transition to) the telegraph, the train, and generally: a particular wave of the industrial revolution as it hit the mexican/texan frontier.

I'm not going to keep this one on my bookshelf, but it wasn't nearly a waste of time as I thought it was going to be from the first few chapters.

[Mike Orta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romance novel that tells of ambition, sex, honor, revenge and redemption (in that order).

[Lynette Lark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this book is about redemption, it isn't as good as other books by this author.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A husband becomes infatuated with another woman.