Part Two : Armed Truce at Khabarovsk
Part There: The Battle of Bakaskaya
Final Notes: From The Diary of Levi Dougherty
Forget that "The Cowboy and the Cossack" is a "Western" novel -- it is a wonderful novel that happens to fall in that genre, that's all. I almost typed "a wonderful novel that happens to take place in the Old West" but that wouldn't be accurate. "The Cowboy and the Cossack" actually takes place in the Old East -- Siberia, to be exact -- where a group of Montana cowboys have come with a herd of Texas longhorns to be driven thousand of miles across this alien landscape.
The characters are beautifully and subtly drawn, and the action and the setting are done with equal skill. The plot is exciting and the relationships between the characters are moving. This one belongs on a bookshelf right next to "Lonesome Dove" and, coming from me, that is high praise. I read a borrowed paperback and, so much did I like this novel, that I have now ordered my own copy for future re-reading. If you don't care for "Westerns", try it anyway (neither of the two women who recommended it to me like "Westerns" either, but they both loved this novel). And if you do like the genre, then I suspect this one will move on to your list of all-time favorites.
Part Two : Armed Truce at Khabarovsk
Part There: The Battle of Bakaskaya
Final Notes: From The Diary of Levi Dougherty
Forget that "The Cowboy and the Cossack" is a "Western" novel -- it is a wonderful novel that happens to fall in that genre, that's all. I almost typed "a wonderful novel that happens to take place in the Old West" but that wouldn't be accurate. "The Cowboy and the Cossack" actually takes place in the Old East -- Siberia, to be exact -- where a group of Montana cowboys have come with a herd of Texas longhorns to be driven thousand of miles across this alien landscape.
The characters are beautifully and subtly drawn, and the action and the setting are done with equal skill. The plot is exciting and the relationships between the characters are moving. This one belongs on a bookshelf right next to "Lonesome Dove" and, coming from me, that is high praise. I read a borrowed paperback and, so much did I like this novel, that I have now ordered my own copy for future re-reading. If you don't care for "Westerns", try it anyway (neither of the two women who recommended it to me like "Westerns" either, but they both loved this novel). And if you do like the genre, then I suspect this one will move on to your list of all-time favorites.
