A wonderful epic

I don't usually like westerns, and I have no idea what possessed me to buy a copy of "Lonesome Dove" at the bookstore one day. I think that I had been having a bad week, and I wanted a long book to sort of lose myself in for awhile. At 1,000+ pages, "Lonesome Dove" seemed to fit the bill.

The two main characters are Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae. They are former Texas Rangers who are now trying to drive cattle from Texas to Montana. The book is set in the late 1800's, when much of the land between the two states was still unsettled.

The author does a wonderful job of describing everything. As I read the book, I had a clear picture in my imagination of what all of the characters and the landscape looked like. He goes into great detail explaining how things were back then, and explains a lot about the Indian culture as well.

He also draws you into the story of Call and McCrae, two best friends who won't admit that they are best friends, not even to themselves. At first, the reader can't help but wonder why these two put up with each other. But the author does a wonderful job of slowly explaining the dynamics of their relationships, both with each other and with the women who have influenced their lives over the years.

This book made me laugh out loud and it made me cry out loud, too. Rarely can a book bring me to tears, but this one did. Even after reading over 1,000 pages, I never wanted this story to end.