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Appaloosa
Matt Fletcher goes after the Mexican, Chuy Medina, when Matt's horse, Pecas, is stolen
- GenresWesterns
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1963
1 person is currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Robert MacLeod
87 books3 followerspen name for Bill Knox,
William (Bill) Knox was a Scottish author, journalist and broadcaster, best known for his crime novels and for presenting the long-running STV series Crimedesk.
Born in Glasgow, Knox became the youngest journalist for a Glasgow newspaper at age 16. He went on to report on crime, on motoring, and to become a news editor.
He began writing crime novels in the 1950s. Knox often wrote under pseudonyms, frequently for the American market. These included Michael Kirk, Robert MacLeod and Noah Webster. He published over 50 crime novels and westerns, including several series, notably the "Thane and Moss" books.
William (Bill) Knox was a Scottish author, journalist and broadcaster, best known for his crime novels and for presenting the long-running STV series Crimedesk.
Born in Glasgow, Knox became the youngest journalist for a Glasgow newspaper at age 16. He went on to report on crime, on motoring, and to become a news editor.
He began writing crime novels in the 1950s. Knox often wrote under pseudonyms, frequently for the American market. These included Michael Kirk, Robert MacLeod and Noah Webster. He published over 50 crime novels and westerns, including several series, notably the "Thane and Moss" books.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 7, 2020
Before beginning I couldn't help but notice that there seems to be some confusion with other reviewers who have posted on this page. Many of the reviews are for Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker. The only thing that novel and this novel have in common is that they are both westerns set in the southwestern United States (and Mexico) in the late 19th century. While Appaloosa is a good novel and (in my opinion) an even better movie it is most assuredly not "The Appaloosa" by Robert Macleod. So now that is out of the way let's begin.
This is one of the many paperback novels that were in my late father's library. Dad was an inveterate reader and ,until his failing eyesight made driving himself impossible, would spend hours trolling used bookstores. In his later years he became a big fan of Amazon and the many used book vendors who are associated with the retail colossus. It's been interesting to peruse the titles. I can see which authors he preferred and which ones were a one time deal. I found four novels by Robert Macleod in his paperback library (The Appaloosa, The Muleskinner, Six Guns South and 100 Rifles). Some might recognize "The Appaloosa" and "100 Rifles" as also being movies. Dad loved Louis L'Amour novels and had his entire collection in hardback, but then there is a scattering of different western authors. Only Robert Macleod rated more than one or two books. This caught my attention so a couple days ago I opened up "The Appaloosa" and began to read. I was immediately pulled into the story.
This novel is not a Louis L'Amour western. In Mr. L 'Amour's novels one gets what might be described as a WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) western. American Indians and other people not of Northern European background are in the stories, but often they are stylized versions of their ethnic backgrounds. Let us call them "Disneyfied" Spaniards, Arabs and so-on. L 'Amour's heroes are always educated and sophisticated men who have chosen to live the rugged life of the frontiersman/cowboy/lawman/outlaw (though in the case of the outlaw they have always been framed and eventually clear their names). They live moderate lives (moderate intake of alcohol, moderate tobacco use, moderate gambling, no addiction to opium/laudanum or abuse of absinthe) and excel at everything. They might get dirty, but as soon as possible get themselves and their clothes clean. They can outfight, outshoot and out-ride all others in the stories; essentially they are perfect, making for a boring tale.
Within a few pages of "The Appaloosa" I realized that I was in a very different western. For one it is clearly shown that the Southwestern United States was an area that had a very large Mexican population and the blending of the two cultures (Latin and Anglo) was not always a happy one. It also has a liberal scattering of Spanish words to add to the sense of time and place (arguably a necessity for the average American reader in 1963) and many of the characters are not Anglos. Many of the inequities that occurred in the settling of the Western United States are addressed (perhaps in passing, but still addressed) and there is a sense of dirt, heat, cold and filth. The protagonist is often filthy and goes for many days without bathing. The writer does a good job of making you sense that life on the frontier was one of deprivation and discomfort.This is not a television version of the Old West.
The story itself is fast moving and simple. Matt Fletcher is a buffalo hunter who is half-Anglo and half-Mexican. He passes for an Anglo and keeps his Mexican heritage a secret from his fellow hunters. He is sympathetic to the Indians, but will fight them. When the novel begins it is in the middle of the Second Battle of Adobe Walls (June 24, 1874). After several hours he and another hunter decide they have had enough and light out An unusual occurrence for a protagonist in a early sixties western. An understandable one and the author does have Matt stick around for the bulk of the fight ,so that it is clear that he is not a coward, but leave his comrades in arms he does.
After a journey of many days he arrives in small town in New Mexico and finds himself confronted by two Mexican gunfighters who hate Yankees (with justification we later learn). Unlike the standard western in which our hero would face down both men without flinching Matt knows the odds are not in his favor and backs down. He does eventually fire his big Sharps Buffalo rifle at the two gunmen, but only once he has created some distance, and then he misses. Matt is a brave man, but his courage is not constant and is driven by necessity, anger and even fear. In other words like most of us who live in the real world. In 2019 such a character is not unusual at all in fiction, but this was a western published in 1963. Such complexity was unusual indeed for the genre at the time.
Eventually the bandit returns and steals Matt's Appaloosa. Matt sets off into Mexico to retrieve the horse and extract some measure of revenge as well. That's it. The story is compact and simple, but there are some layers there as well. Matt Fletcher is the protagonist of the story. but not the hero. That's important, for while he isn't an evil man he isn't always a nice man. He is decent most of the time, but he is also cruel on occasion and will kill without hesitation. He isn't above shooting a man in the back, he drinks too much and he doesn't always follow through on his word. He knows Indians and is sympathetic to them, but he will kill them in a fight and he plays a key role in the destruction of the Buffalo - the very thing that the Plains Indians need to survive. He isn't mean to a female character that helps him in the story, but he doesn't really feel anything for her (unless you count physical lust). She does have feelings, but he doesn't reciprocate (unless one counts sex). All he cares about is getting his horse back regardless of the cost. The Southwest in this story is not a pleasant place to be for either humans or animals.
This is a surprisingly solid and well written western. Though very much of the genre there is complexity to it. Looking at it fifty-six years later it's easy to see the anti-hero and a more realistic portrayal of the Western frontier was already underway by the time this novel was written. Nevertheless it was not so common in the paperback/pulp fiction novels (I consider the mass produced westerns of this era to be pulp fiction stories with horses and Colt's revolvers). This book surprised me and pulled me in. A very fast read, but it is a good one. If you find a copy I recommend it.
This is one of the many paperback novels that were in my late father's library. Dad was an inveterate reader and ,until his failing eyesight made driving himself impossible, would spend hours trolling used bookstores. In his later years he became a big fan of Amazon and the many used book vendors who are associated with the retail colossus. It's been interesting to peruse the titles. I can see which authors he preferred and which ones were a one time deal. I found four novels by Robert Macleod in his paperback library (The Appaloosa, The Muleskinner, Six Guns South and 100 Rifles). Some might recognize "The Appaloosa" and "100 Rifles" as also being movies. Dad loved Louis L'Amour novels and had his entire collection in hardback, but then there is a scattering of different western authors. Only Robert Macleod rated more than one or two books. This caught my attention so a couple days ago I opened up "The Appaloosa" and began to read. I was immediately pulled into the story.
This novel is not a Louis L'Amour western. In Mr. L 'Amour's novels one gets what might be described as a WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) western. American Indians and other people not of Northern European background are in the stories, but often they are stylized versions of their ethnic backgrounds. Let us call them "Disneyfied" Spaniards, Arabs and so-on. L 'Amour's heroes are always educated and sophisticated men who have chosen to live the rugged life of the frontiersman/cowboy/lawman/outlaw (though in the case of the outlaw they have always been framed and eventually clear their names). They live moderate lives (moderate intake of alcohol, moderate tobacco use, moderate gambling, no addiction to opium/laudanum or abuse of absinthe) and excel at everything. They might get dirty, but as soon as possible get themselves and their clothes clean. They can outfight, outshoot and out-ride all others in the stories; essentially they are perfect, making for a boring tale.
Within a few pages of "The Appaloosa" I realized that I was in a very different western. For one it is clearly shown that the Southwestern United States was an area that had a very large Mexican population and the blending of the two cultures (Latin and Anglo) was not always a happy one. It also has a liberal scattering of Spanish words to add to the sense of time and place (arguably a necessity for the average American reader in 1963) and many of the characters are not Anglos. Many of the inequities that occurred in the settling of the Western United States are addressed (perhaps in passing, but still addressed) and there is a sense of dirt, heat, cold and filth. The protagonist is often filthy and goes for many days without bathing. The writer does a good job of making you sense that life on the frontier was one of deprivation and discomfort.This is not a television version of the Old West.
The story itself is fast moving and simple. Matt Fletcher is a buffalo hunter who is half-Anglo and half-Mexican. He passes for an Anglo and keeps his Mexican heritage a secret from his fellow hunters. He is sympathetic to the Indians, but will fight them. When the novel begins it is in the middle of the Second Battle of Adobe Walls (June 24, 1874). After several hours he and another hunter decide they have had enough and light out An unusual occurrence for a protagonist in a early sixties western. An understandable one and the author does have Matt stick around for the bulk of the fight ,so that it is clear that he is not a coward, but leave his comrades in arms he does.
After a journey of many days he arrives in small town in New Mexico and finds himself confronted by two Mexican gunfighters who hate Yankees (with justification we later learn). Unlike the standard western in which our hero would face down both men without flinching Matt knows the odds are not in his favor and backs down. He does eventually fire his big Sharps Buffalo rifle at the two gunmen, but only once he has created some distance, and then he misses. Matt is a brave man, but his courage is not constant and is driven by necessity, anger and even fear. In other words like most of us who live in the real world. In 2019 such a character is not unusual at all in fiction, but this was a western published in 1963. Such complexity was unusual indeed for the genre at the time.
Eventually the bandit returns and steals Matt's Appaloosa. Matt sets off into Mexico to retrieve the horse and extract some measure of revenge as well. That's it. The story is compact and simple, but there are some layers there as well. Matt Fletcher is the protagonist of the story. but not the hero. That's important, for while he isn't an evil man he isn't always a nice man. He is decent most of the time, but he is also cruel on occasion and will kill without hesitation. He isn't above shooting a man in the back, he drinks too much and he doesn't always follow through on his word. He knows Indians and is sympathetic to them, but he will kill them in a fight and he plays a key role in the destruction of the Buffalo - the very thing that the Plains Indians need to survive. He isn't mean to a female character that helps him in the story, but he doesn't really feel anything for her (unless you count physical lust). She does have feelings, but he doesn't reciprocate (unless one counts sex). All he cares about is getting his horse back regardless of the cost. The Southwest in this story is not a pleasant place to be for either humans or animals.
This is a surprisingly solid and well written western. Though very much of the genre there is complexity to it. Looking at it fifty-six years later it's easy to see the anti-hero and a more realistic portrayal of the Western frontier was already underway by the time this novel was written. Nevertheless it was not so common in the paperback/pulp fiction novels (I consider the mass produced westerns of this era to be pulp fiction stories with horses and Colt's revolvers). This book surprised me and pulled me in. A very fast read, but it is a good one. If you find a copy I recommend it.
March 18, 2015
"Απαλούζα", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.
Αρκετά κλασικό έργο το οποίο έχει γίνει και ταινία, το 1966, με πρωταγωνιστή τον μεγάλο και τρανό Μάρλον Μπράντο. Η άλλη ταινία, η πιο σύγχρονη, με τον ίδιο τίτλο και με σκηνοθέτη τον Εντ Χάρις, δεν έχει καμία σχέση και βασίζεται σε βιβλίο του Ρόμπερτ Μπ. Πάρκερ με τον ίδιο επίσης τίτλο.
Η ιστορία είναι αρκετά απλή: Ο Ματ Φλέτσερ είναι ένας βουβαλοκυνηγός που λατρεύει τα άλογα. Τέλος πάντων, κάποια μέρα αποκτά το άλογο της ζωής του, ένα εξαιρετικό Απαλούζα. Σχεδόν μοναδικό στο είδος του, εκπαιδευμένο από Ινδιάνους, πρόκειται για ένα θαυμάσιο άλογο. Όμως... ένας εγκληματίας, δολοφόνος και καλός στο σημάδι Μεξικανός, το βάζει στο μάτι. Και τελικά το κλέβει. Έτσι ο Φλέτσερ κάνει έναν αγώνα για να βρει τον Μεξικανό και το άλογό του, να πάρει το άλογο πίσω και να τιμωρήσει όπως όφειλε τον Μεξικανό εγκληματία.
Αυτή είναι υπόθεση, ανατροπές στην πλοκή δεν υπάρχουν, αλλά δεν έχει σημασία. Πολύ καλή γραφή καλού παλπ επιπέδου, μου φάνηκε αρκετά καλύτερος των Μάστερσον και Χίκοκ - άλλων παλπ συγγραφέων γουέστερν που διάβασα φέτος. Οι περιγραφές γεγονότων και τοπίων καλές, οι διάλογοι και αυτοί καλοί, οι χαρακτήρες δίχως ιδιαίτερο βάθος, η δράση ενδιαφέρουσα και οι δυνατές σκηνές μπόλικες, όμως... το δεύτερο μέρος του βιβλίου ήταν λίγο κουραστικό και θα μπορούσε να ήταν μικρότερο σε μέγεθος. Γι'αυτό και το βιβλίο έχασε έναν πόντο στη συνολική βαθμολογία. Το πρώτο μισό μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ, πάντως.
Μεταξύ των άλλων τριών βιβλίων του Μακλέοντ που έχω στα αδιάβαστα, είναι και το Οι εκατό καραμπίνες, που έχει γίνει και αυτό ταινία με πρωταγωνιστές τους Τζιμ Μπράουν, Ράκελ Γουέλς και Μπαρτ Ρέινολντς. Θα είναι το επόμενο βιβλίο του Μακλέοντ που θα διαβάσω.
Αρκετά κλασικό έργο το οποίο έχει γίνει και ταινία, το 1966, με πρωταγωνιστή τον μεγάλο και τρανό Μάρλον Μπράντο. Η άλλη ταινία, η πιο σύγχρονη, με τον ίδιο τίτλο και με σκηνοθέτη τον Εντ Χάρις, δεν έχει καμία σχέση και βασίζεται σε βιβλίο του Ρόμπερτ Μπ. Πάρκερ με τον ίδιο επίσης τίτλο.
Η ιστορία είναι αρκετά απλή: Ο Ματ Φλέτσερ είναι ένας βουβαλοκυνηγός που λατρεύει τα άλογα. Τέλος πάντων, κάποια μέρα αποκτά το άλογο της ζωής του, ένα εξαιρετικό Απαλούζα. Σχεδόν μοναδικό στο είδος του, εκπαιδευμένο από Ινδιάνους, πρόκειται για ένα θαυμάσιο άλογο. Όμως... ένας εγκληματίας, δολοφόνος και καλός στο σημάδι Μεξικανός, το βάζει στο μάτι. Και τελικά το κλέβει. Έτσι ο Φλέτσερ κάνει έναν αγώνα για να βρει τον Μεξικανό και το άλογό του, να πάρει το άλογο πίσω και να τιμωρήσει όπως όφειλε τον Μεξικανό εγκληματία.
Αυτή είναι υπόθεση, ανατροπές στην πλοκή δεν υπάρχουν, αλλά δεν έχει σημασία. Πολύ καλή γραφή καλού παλπ επιπέδου, μου φάνηκε αρκετά καλύτερος των Μάστερσον και Χίκοκ - άλλων παλπ συγγραφέων γουέστερν που διάβασα φέτος. Οι περιγραφές γεγονότων και τοπίων καλές, οι διάλογοι και αυτοί καλοί, οι χαρακτήρες δίχως ιδιαίτερο βάθος, η δράση ενδιαφέρουσα και οι δυνατές σκηνές μπόλικες, όμως... το δεύτερο μέρος του βιβλίου ήταν λίγο κουραστικό και θα μπορούσε να ήταν μικρότερο σε μέγεθος. Γι'αυτό και το βιβλίο έχασε έναν πόντο στη συνολική βαθμολογία. Το πρώτο μισό μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ, πάντως.
Μεταξύ των άλλων τριών βιβλίων του Μακλέοντ που έχω στα αδιάβαστα, είναι και το Οι εκατό καραμπίνες, που έχει γίνει και αυτό ταινία με πρωταγωνιστές τους Τζιμ Μπράουν, Ράκελ Γουέλς και Μπαρτ Ρέινολντς. Θα είναι το επόμενο βιβλίο του Μακλέοντ που θα διαβάσω.
October 14, 2008
This is a solid, old-fashioned Western about friendship and men who live by their own code of ethics. I loved the friendship between the two central characters, Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole. It raises interesting questions about right and wrong and how far one should go to follow the law, even if it means breaking other laws.
On a side note, I finished the book two days ago, and saw the film with yesterday and I must say the film is actually richer and more enjoyable than the book! The actors (Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen) were able to really flesh out the sparce writing and add nuance to the characters that wasn't always on the page.
In conclusion, read the book if you can, but see the film for sure! I'd give the film 5/5 stars.
On a side note, I finished the book two days ago, and saw the film with yesterday and I must say the film is actually richer and more enjoyable than the book! The actors (Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen) were able to really flesh out the sparce writing and add nuance to the characters that wasn't always on the page.
In conclusion, read the book if you can, but see the film for sure! I'd give the film 5/5 stars.
May 4, 2009
A quick read. Pretty standard western now made into a movie. I haven't read Parker's Spencer for Hire books, and if they're anything like this I doubt I will. I read it because I saw the movie preview and I like westerns, but this is just too simplistic. Mostly dialogue, with a very simple plot and characters. That said, it was enjoyable enough to keep me turning the page. But it's no threat to Lonesome Dove, or Elmore Leonard's westerns.
November 28, 2008
This was a very fast read. A classic Western style book with a few more twists and turns on the standard morality code of the old West. Very enjoyable and almost verbatim the same as the movie script. The lead characters of Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole are just what you want to find if you're a fan of Westerns.
September 17, 2010
This one surprised me. It's a western and I happened to catch the movie on a free HBO weekend. The movie was thought-provoking and I wondered if the book had more detail.
It turned out that the movie stuck pretty close to the book (a rarity) with one added dimension of a wild horse herd that tied it all together. The very last sentence in the book says it all.
It turned out that the movie stuck pretty close to the book (a rarity) with one added dimension of a wild horse herd that tied it all together. The very last sentence in the book says it all.
February 26, 2009
I love this series even if it was a western!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews