Introduction
Louis L’ Amour was a talented man: “ He was a merchant seaman, miner, professional boxer, a recipient of the presidential Medal of Freedom and an author of over 90 novels” (Swaim 1). He wrote books including Crossfire, The Walking Drum, Trail, Hondo, Last of the breed and Sackette’s land. He was one of the best writers as well as one of best seller who sold over 225 copies of his work.
His talent was nurtured by his family background. His parents had a library where he started reading at a young age. He had heard many stories of pioneers and Native Americans. His books are now in many different languages and have been made into 30 films (Liukkonen 1).
An analysis of Louis L’ Amour writings reveal violence and boldness to be the means of wealth and freedom acquisition.
Louis L’ Amour
In “ Radigan”, Louis L’ Amour brings out the story of a man who was very hardworking. His hard work had earned him a ranch. Later on, the rancher Tom Radigan was faced by a tough battle that threatened to take away his land. Angelina Foley was determined to take away the labor of Tom Radigan by claiming to be the legal owner of the ranch. This beautiful woman went further and hired gunmen to fight him from the ranch. This was a significant writing that reflects our society today.
Violence of people to gain what they have not worked for is the order of the day. This story still finds a place from the past to present (Peters 1). “ The broken gun” book is characterized by violence. Dan Sheridan was doing a research on the disappearance of the Toomey brothers and other 25 young men who had disappeared at Arizona with a herd of 4000 cattle. Manuel Alvarez had sent a note to Dan Sheridan which said that he had information about the brother’s disappearance but he was brutally murdered before he passed the information (Lamour 1). This story ventures in brave men and women who stood out as leaders. Louis writings had poetry and words of wisdom within them His quotes are important in the society from the past and even today. They gave instructions and guidance which are key elements in leadership and success.
He said in Sackett’s Land that, “ I would not sit waiting for some vague tomorrow, nor for something to happen. One could wait a lifetime, and find nothing at the end of the waiting. I would begin here, I would make something happen” (Goodreads 1) Another inspirational quote said that a time comes when a person sees that everything is finished but is the beginning of something. He also encourages people to read by saying that when one learns he is able to know the level of his ignorance (Goodreads 1). Louis L’Amour writings are mostly straight to the point.
He developed most of the stories gradually without first setting the stage. This can be well explained by his story, Down the Long Hills when he starts by, “ When Hardy Collins woke up, Big Red was gone. Hardy had picketed the stallion Himself, and with sudden guilt he remembered that in his hurry to return to the supper fire he had struck the picketed-pin only a couple of sharp blows” (Jacobsen 1). His style keeps the reader glued to the book as one gets the suspense to know more. He unveils his thoughts and ideas in a clear manner that a person is able to understand. However his creativity is consistent with simplicity (Jacobsen 1).
Intelligence of this man was seen where he is writing about other professionals in his story. In his story of “ Ride the River”, he brings out a teenager, Echo Sackett who got an inheritance form a far off relative. Echo Sackett’s character is upright and reliable. The betrayal of the lawyer to this intelligent girl was seen when his motive was to get away with this girl’s inheritance. His hunger for wealth and money caused him to compromise his value and taint his career. He was supercilious in his work.
The lawyer, Mr. White has coldblooded gangs who attacked Echo Sackett so as to get the money she had just received (Johnson et al 1). “ Kilkenny” was another novel that expressed violence and intelligence of the characters. The man known as Kilkenny was famous of his ill deeds. He decided to escape from his residence to a place that he could not be known by people. He set off to Colorado so as to have a new start. Soon after, a man named Jared Tetlow followed him. Tetlow learnt that Kilkenny had been involved in the killing of his son and was so furious with him.
This caused him to take matters in his own hands as he sought to revenge against him (Johnson et al 1). This novel is interesting to the reader as it has suspense all through. He mostly used third person to narrate this story with its setting gin the ranch.
The intelligence and the struggle to bring one’s justice are brought out clearly, though the characters took the wrong option of violence against their enemies. Survival strategies were well explained in most of L. Amour stories. In his story of Last of the Breed, Major Joseph Makatozi was a man who was brought up Idaho Snake River.
He was well trained on survival tactics and hunting during his childhood. This helped him because at some point of his life; he was arrested and needed these skills to help him escape from the prison. As a pilot in the U. S.
Air force he was shot, arrested and imprisoned in Siberia. He was determined to escape from the prison which he successfully managed because of his skills. He walked through the cold forest with very low temperatures. He met other people in the forest, a beautiful woman and her father. This story was significance as it showed how a person can overcome challenging situations. The essence of sharp skills is upheld in his novels. The motivation of the story was power (Johnson et al.
1). A society where murder is thriving its way in the community is a theme in the novel “ Borden Chantry”. Borden Chantry was formerly a rancher who changed his career to become a policeman. His new job was characterized by various events of getting out the criminals from the society.
He had new interactions with the drunkards, thieves and murderers. At one instance he found himself in a fix. He wanted to get the killers of a man who had been murdered in the streets.
After an intensive research in the area, Chantry came to discover that the murderer was just a person in that community. The murder was panicking and it became clear to him that he was not going to escape at that time. This criminal got the informants who were giving information which could lead to his arrest.
The murder was in short of time and the only thing that was left for him to escape from Chantry was to kill him. This story also displays the events that the police go through showing the risks involved in the nature of their work (Johnson et al 1). Young boy Johannes Verne, 6 years old together with his father were travelling to California in the novel, “ Lonesome Gods”.
This was a journey to take the young boy to his grandfather since the father had a grave disease. As they approached the grandparents place, his father was shot by the men of his grandfather’s ranch together with their grandfather. Johannes father was left at the scene to die while Johannes was taken by them to a distance of forty miles. This boy thrash about to live and was determined to survive. This story setting in the desert and a young person is an expression of great challenges that people face in life regardless of their age (Johnson et al. 1).
Conclusion
The writings of Louis L.
’ Amour are mostly set in nature. Deserts, ranches and forest were his major settings. His writings are straight to the point, spiced with poetry. Many characters were involved in violence and killings. Criminals and police fights are seen in his stories. Defense skills are upheld and reveal that violence and boldness to be the means of wealth and freedom acquisition.
Works Cited
Goodread.
Louis L. Amour. Goodreads, 2011.
Web. May 30, 2011. http://www. goodreads. com/author/quotes/858.
Louis_L_Amour? page= 2 Jacobsen, Roy. Writing Clear and Simple. Writing Clearly, 2011. Web. May 30, 2011.
http://writingclearandsimple. com/2010/01/07/three-writing-tips-from-louis-lamour/ Johnson et al. Louis L’ Amour Books. All Readers, n. d. Web. May 30, 2011. http://www.
allreaders. com/topics/Topic_2284. asp Lamour, Louis. The Broken Gun.
Powels, 2011. Web. May 30 from: http://www. powells.
com/biblio/1-9780553248470-2 Liukkonen, Peter. Louis L’Amour (1908-1988) – originally Louis Dearborn LaMoore; pseudonyms Tex Burns and Jim Mayo. Kirjasto, 2011. Web. May on 30, 2011.
http://www. kirjasto. sci. fi/lamour.
htm Peters, Tony. Book Review- Louis L’Amour- Radigan. Authortony, 2011. Web.
May 30 2011. http://authortonypeters. blogspot. com/2010/01/book-review-louis-lamour-radigan. html Swaim, Don. (n.
d.). Audio Interview with Louis L’Amour. Wired Books, n.
d. Web. May 30, 2011. http://www. wiredforbooks. org/louislamour/
