By Matthew Pizzolato
My usual reply when
someone asks me to name my favorite Western novel is generally, "Anything
by Louis L'Amour." I realize that is a pretty broad answer considering the
volume of work he published, but I never met a Louis L'Amour novel or story
that I didn't like.
There's a lot of
good ones and it's near 'bout impossible to pick just one. My favorites of his characters are Tell
Sackett, Milo Talon and Lance Kilkenny. I really like The Sackett Brand because it embodies the attitude that I have
toward family and I love all of the Kilkenny novels. The idea of a lone gunfighter who saves the
day and rides off into the sunset is iconic for anyone one who loves the
Western genre.
However, if I'm
going to have to pick just one, then I'd say my favorite Western novel is Flint
by Louis L'Amour. This is a novel that has everything.
The man who assumes
the name of Jim Flint is an orphan who came from nothing due to the kindness of
a stranger and had everything in life, only to abandon it all. He finds love in an unexpected place and
decides he wants to live again.
As a youngster, this
story had a huge impact on me because Flint was the kind of man that I wanted
to be. A man capable of taking care of
himself, yet wanting more out of life than living it alone. He was a somewhat flawed man who overcame his
hurdles by helping other people. It is a
story of hope.
Yet with all Louis
L'Amour stories, Flint if full of great quotes that illustrate the author's
perspective on life.
"He had come to New Mexico wanting no trouble. He had wanted no trouble at Horse Springs, wanted none on North Plain, but long ago he had discovered that one has to make a stand. If a man has to run, there is nothing to do but keep running. And if a man must die, he could at least die proud of his manhood. It was better to live one day as a lion than a dozen years as a sheep."
That quote is by far
one of my favorites in all of literature and one of the best of L'Amour's
lines, and he has a lot of great ones.
Flint is a novel
that I highly recommend. I've lost count
of the number of times that I've reread it.
As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to crack it open again.
Matthew Pizzolato's short stories have been published online and in print. He writes Western fiction featuring his antihero character, Wesley Quaid, that can be found in his story collection, The Wanted Man and the novella Outlaw.
Matthew is the editor and webmaster of The Western Online, a magazine dedicated to everything Western and can be contacted via his personal website or on Twitter @mattpizzolato.
