Louis Lamour Book Reviews

Louis L’amour often explores the differences between lawmen and outlaws. The chances that make one man a hero and another a villain are often very small.

Pete Shoyer is a lawman, but L’amour describes him in a way that is very unlikeable. He wears a badge, but he wears it so that he can hunt men. Men who hunt other men are often referred to as serial killers, assassins, or murderers. But Pete Shoyer is a bounty hunter – looking to make a living.

At the end of the story Shoyer attempts to rob Adam Stark and his family. L’amour demonstrates that something as simple as money can be enough to move some men from one side of the law to another. When Shoyer dies at the end of the story he is still wearing a badge. He still has the right to hunt Swante Taggart. But by this time the reader has lost a great deal of respect for him and feels no remorse when he loses the draw.

Louis L’amour puts out some interesting tidbits about geology that show up in many of his novels.  From “The High Graders” to “Jubal Sackett” or “Taggart” there are hints of how and where to find gold, lead, sulfur or other minerals that play a key part in the lives of the frontiersmen.

Very often the details about the importance of various minerals are forgotten.  Before bullet manufacturing could be modernized, the balls used in muzzle loaders had to be made at home or in small workshops.  Before gunpowder could be processed en-mass, it had to be carefully mixed by the few who understood it and the ingredients had to be gathered where and when they could.

The gold rush was pioneered by those wise enough to recognize the gold for what it was.  Those who didn’t understand the difference between lesser metals and more valuable minerals missed a great opportunity for wealth.

One of the more interesting survival tactics occurs in chapter two of “Taggart” by Louis L’amour.

Taggart finds himself without water, and nearing death in the desert.  He reaches the Tonto but finds that it has run dry.  Just as he is about to expire he hears a couple of porcupines digging nearby in the streambed.  Taggart realizes that they are digging for water and also begins digging in that same spot.  Eventually he reaches water and is able to survive.

I don’t know for sure that this would work, but is certainly seems plausible.  I am less convinced of the behavior of the porcupines than of the chance of finding water in this manner in the desert.  I have myself dug and found damp earth and water in the desert by digging for various reasons and it certainly could be done, especially in a streambed where water is usually found.

I personally would not like to be in Swante Taggart’s predicament, but it something to keep in mind just in case I’m ever dying of thirst in a desert.

Revenge is a compelling theme that runs throughout many of Louis L’amour’s books.  Often it is vengeance for some act that happened while the protagonist was still a very young person.  This revenge then takes the character on a series of adventures that leave him fairly alone and without purpose in the world.  The course of revenge provides the character with the ability to survive, the tools to fight, and a knowledge of bad men.

Both “Kiowa Trail” and “Taggart” feature revenge as a sub-theme and sub-motive of the main character.  They are presented as background information for the main character and apparently have little to do with the main plot of the story, but without the revenge of earlier years the main character could not really exist in their current state.  Revenge provides a great place for a story to build and L’amour is expert in his ability to turn revenge into a thrilling and captivating tale or to use it to embellish a character into something believable and engaging.

Swante Taggart - what an amazing name.  Swante has a bit of history in Texas, but in and of itself just screams volumes.  The cowboy’s name is not Bob or John or William, but Swante.  How many young boys entering school have a name as wonderful as Swante?

There was a boy in my school when I was very young whose name was Taggart.  Taggart is a bit more common, though generally used as a first name rather than a surname.  Still it is not a name that is used often.  Taggart is a bit more bold than Swante.  Together Swante Taggart speaks of someone suave yet strong.  He is a cowboy, but the name suggests that some of the rough edges may have been knocked off already.  He’s smart and determined.

If I had come across the name of Swante Taggart before I had children I would have pushed to have named one of my sons Swante.

Consuelo Stark is one of the flattest characters that L’amour has written.  L’amour introduces her as “a Mexican wife.”  Just two pages later he describes her as “a lot of woman.”  She is portrayed as lacking common sense, obsessed with wealth, and disappointed with her man.

Throughout the story there is no real change in her attitudes or outlooks, even after she discovers that Adam actually stood up for her and didn’t just run away.  There is no evidence that her disposition and disappointment really change.

Of course her attitudes are presented as a juxtaposition to Miriam who is presented much closer to L’amour’s ideal of a woman.  The juxtaposition works out very well.  Unfortunately it comes at the expense of a flat character.  Overall her character makes the story better and it makes the story work.

Adam Stark is a man obsessed.  He is obsessed with the woman he chose to marry.  In many ways this makes him more interesting than the average cowboy who doesn’t want any trouble and moves through life until someone pushes him.

Adam Stark, though definitely not looking for trouble, has an obsession that guarantees that he will find trouble sooner or later.  Most of L’amour’s other characters could just as easily have never had a story to tell.  They could have settled down, raised cattle, or simply never met that outlaw, but Adam Stark is guaranteed to have a story.

He does the outlandish.  He goes into the middle of hostile territory, looking for gold.  If he isn’t scalped he will be robbed.  If not in the wild, certainly in civilization.  He’ll continue to have trouble with his wife.  She’ll push him and he’ll follow her to the ends of the earth.