The Man from Laramie

by T.T. Flynn

Will Lockhart, a lone rider from Laramie, refuses to leave the town of Coronado, New Mexico until he finds the gunrunner whose thirst for blood money had killed his younger brother. Reissue.

Genres: Westerns

261 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Daniel Villines · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Man from Laramie is nicely entertaining, but not much more than that. It’s a story, but the writing fails to bring it to life. The sense of place is watered down by fictionalizing what must have been northern New Mexico. The characters are all cemented into who they are at the start of the book and they don’t change throughout the novel. The plot is straight forward with the basic gist being a stranger enters town and stirs up trouble by being a good guy. When you consider Zane Grey’s ability to capture a sense of place and Elmore Leonard’s ability to capture the fluidity of human nature, The Man from Laramie falls by the wayside of quality Western writing.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, I didn't like this one.

Like, okay, it started out fairly solid, and the writing was engaging, but it felt like the same plot points repeated over and over, and Flynn didn't do anything to really move the plot forward until the very end, at which point I had mostly lost interest and was only finishing it out of some pig-headed insistence by my brain that if we didn't finish the book, we were losing. I don't know what we were losing, but my brain is not always rational about these things.

It also got very high-stakes within a matter of a single chapter at the end--someone is murdered, someone's accused of rustling, someone's accused of all the murders since the start of the book, and a ranch is burned to the ground. And then nothing happens for another chapter and a half, at which point the book starts wrapping things up.

And like, okay, I can and have put up with a lot for genres and authors I like, but this was just boring and felt like it had no real drive behind it.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read enough westerns. With the exception of a couple of Elmore Leonard books and, arguably, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, this is the first classic western I tried. For some reason, I considered the genre better suited for the big screen. Mr. Flynn has proved me wrong, with this lean and powerful narrative of early New Mexico ranching.

The classic elements of the genre are all here : the lonely stranger, the faithful sidekick, the good hearted love interest, the powerful gang/ranch leader without scruples. I was slighty bothered by the portrayal of the Apaches and Indian tribes in general, but not enough to sour me to the story.

Even without the cinemascope and colourful possibilities of the big screen, the novel does well in evoking the sweeping vistas of Coronado with an economy of words I would like more authors to display.

I guess I will search for more classic western stories after this one.

[D ALLEN · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read, especially if you loved the film so one might visualise James Stewart as Will Lockhart and not be disappointed in the written character. Slight spoiler alert: two of the characters in the novel were combined into one in the film, not uncommon in screenplay versions but the characters generally are well drawn. There are two powerful female characters at least one of whom is a rancher, the other is related to the other big landowner. There are family tensions, treacherous and nasty villains of all descriptions, sheriffs, cavalry, indians, a half-breed former scout and the usual assorted townsfolk all adding up to a most readable tale of justice and revenge with a touch of romance.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very solid Western that was also made into a great movie starring James Stewart.

I really enjoyed how the very presence of the protagonist stirred up all kinds of trouble.

There are some notable differences between the novel and the film, though, so if you've seen the film and enjoyed it you should read this. Some great characters / character depth (especially for the genre) and enjoyable intrigue make for a very enjoyable read.

Underrated, this, methinks.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because of the Jimmy Stewart/Anthony Mann western. I enjoy reading a film's source novel and seeing how the book was changed to make it work as a film. Very often, good books are spoiled when transferred to the screen. In fact there are very few "good" books that have successfully made the transition. ("Gone with the Wind", Deliverance, The Maltese Falcon being a few of the exceptions.) However, solid well crafted genre works often translate well, and Man from Laramie is a great example. In fact, I would argue that the film is better than the book. The screenwriter made a couple of major changes, combining characters and deleting some unnecessary subplots, and created a much cleaner and stronger story.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good western, but it is more than that. The story is really one of greed and treachery. Will Lockhart is a ranch owner with his own problems. The man who came from Laramie has problems of his own. This is a tangled, twisted story that readers can get lost in.

[Curtiss · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the few Western novels in which the movie version (starring Jimmie Stewart, James Kennedy, Cathy O'Donnell, and Donald Crisp) improved upon the novel; mostly by leaving out some of the confusing subplots.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable western tale of justice.

[Larry Holshu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the movie but the movie is a classic western. A must see and read.

[Mark Zodda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good western. Kindle editing leaves a lot to be desired.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Western. Old movie with James Stewart also very good. I've seen it a couple of times.
The book is great without having seen the film. Much like Louis L'Amour.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book and if the movie had of ended like the book it would have been a much better movie.