The Virginian; A Comic Book Edition of Classic American Westerns Novel

How the west was spun

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By the time it was published and favourably reviewed in , however, Wister had evolved a richer, more charismatic character who could carry a full-length novel, in the humorous and resourceful person of the Virginian himself The underlying theme of the novel - the difference between the settled east of America and the burgeoning west - is reflected in the Virginian's wooing of Molly Stark Wood, the schoolteacher at Bear Creek. Recruited out of her staid Vermont upbringing, Molly is horrified by frontier injustice and acts of violence such as the hanging of a cowboy for cattle rustling.

Rereading The Virginian now, it is harder to accept the narrator's assertion that, when the Virginian returns to Molly after the duel, and she silently receives his embrace, "what they whispered then with their kisses, matters not. The author's daughter, Fanny Kemble Wister, called The Virginian "the prime romantic novel of the wild west". Today, aspects of that romance appear dated. If Wister's romanticisation of the west, and simplification of conflicts such as the range wars of the s, mean that the novel has its limitations, Wister was still responsible for awakening a consciousness of the region in a vast number of readers who had never yet "gone west".

Wister did not intend to create a documentary account of life in the west, which he knew was in a state of flux. Book has been finely bound in dark green leather over marbled boards. Wear along the board edges, but leather is in nice shape. Oddly enough the spine has the date "" in gilt at the bottom, but the title page states Perhaps this was date it was bound. Also has stamp of Baldwin-Smart Petersham, Mass on same endpaper. Binding is tight, covers and spine fully intact. No foxing in this copy. Top edge gilt in good condition. Embossed, decorative leather covers and spine.

Fiction; Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Murder In Print Published: Very Good Condition Edition: Yellow cloth covered boards with red text and border, outlined in gilt.

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Picture of revolver in holster, tangled in rope on front cover. Previous owner's name partially erase on front endpage. Black and white frontispiece illustrated by Arthur I. Note on verso of title page states: Set up and electrotyped April, Reprinted June, twice, July, four times, August, three times, Wear to corners, top and bottom of spine. Collectible - Good Edition: Rome, ; Ex Typographia Perego-Salvioniana, Permissu Praesidum, bound in full calf, bookplate on front end-page, minor rubbing to corners, contents are fine, Fine Bindings. A Horseman Of The Plains A Horseman of the Plains Owen Wister Vintage Copy; Second Printing.

Very Good in a Good dust jacket. Various tears on front and rear panels. Rare Book Cellar Published: Antique look with Golden Leaf Printing and embossing with round Spine completely handmade binding extra customization on request like Color Leather, Colored book, special gold leaf printing etc. Reprinted in with the help of original edition published long back []. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume.

We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books.

We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure in old look so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. Normal Hardbound Edition is also available on request. Advanced Book Search Browse by Subject. Find Rare Books Book Value. Maybe Minerva Teichert should illustrate some future reprinted edition. This classic is considered by many to be the first 'Western'. It certainly has most if not all the tropes now considered to be standard for that genre! The hero, whose name we never learn, is a young man of about 24 when the story opens and at that time, he has already been on his own for 10 years and has traveled and worked in most of the West.

Overall, I liked this book more than I had expected. Even if you think Westerns aren't for you, this one is worth trying. My enjoyment of this one was rather uneven; there were parts where I couldn't put it down, and other parts where I just had no interest at all. It was a nice change from the types of novels I normally read, though.

Beware of the Frog! This is what, as I would recommend, should be put as a warning appendix to the title of Owen Wister's famous Western novel "The Virginian", which was first published in - because, as I felt, one third of the novel in some way or other centres on the preparation and consumption as well as the "harvest" of our amphibious friends. The most famous version derived from the book is probably the film starring Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. However, directors of "The Virginian" generally took a lot of liberties with this novel, basing their films rather loosely on Wister's tale.

If you ask yourself why these directors may have felt that they had to re-invent the story instead of carefully sticking to the original, you might come to a conclusion that will not go down well with public opinion, which is inclined to hold the book in high esteem as the starting point of the most American genre. This unpopular conclusion is that "The Virginian" is a botch of a novel that may probably still be of interest to the scholar, though hardly to the literary pleasure-seeker - a conclusion that clearly ranks it with Cooper's five novels.

First of all, it must be noted that Owen Wister is not much of a story-teller. Most of the action taking place in "The Virginian", for example the infamous lynching scene, is presented to the reader via time-delayed teichoscopy, i. This device, which may be useful in plays, usually destroys quite a lot of tension in a novel, and is most cleverly applied in order to shed some light on the character reporting an event.

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Secondly, the tale is told by a first person narrator who is alien to the old West and its ways and who by and by earns the respect of the eponymous hero, as he emancipates himself from the reputation of the tender-footed greenhorn. Unfortunately, Wister more often than not feels the need to narrate events that took place in the greenhorn's absence, which imbues the narrator with a God-like omniscience at times and which allows him to even go into detail with regard to the most intimate conversations between the Virginian and his lady-love.

Wister's failure to stick to perspective likewise detracts from the appeal of the book. You may say that Melville did the same thing in "Moby-Dick", but then Wister is no Melville in terms of depth and style, and where Melville still keeps up his narrative flow, Wister clearly runs dry more than once. Thirdly, the characters he describes are hardly able to create interest.

His scoundrel, the sly and cowardly farm-hand Trampas, remains colourless and flat. The Virginian's love interest is a pasteboard character, and his hero has nothing to do with the grim, hard-nosed loners, or the bitter men that ride the Westerns of Anthony Mann or Budd Boetticher. Neither is he a mysterious knight-like Shane.

The latter will always recognize the former when mistaken for it. Both will be with us until our women bear nothing but kings. For by it we abolished a cut-and-dried aristocracy. We had seen little men artificially held up in high places, and great men artificially held down in low places, and our own justice-loving hearts abhorred this violence to human nature. Therefore, we decreed that every man should thenceforth have equal liberty to find his own level. By this very decree we acknowledged and gave freedom to true aristocracy, saying, 'Let the best man win, whoever he is.

That is America's word.

The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains

That is true democracy. And true democracy and true aristocracy are one and the same thing. If anybody cannot see this, so much the worse for his eyesight. All in all, "The Virginian" is quite similar to the afore-mentioned frog in that you might have difficulty in keeping this book in your hand and that, like many a bloated frog, it will be found smaller than assumed. Jul 10, Lisa Harmonybites rated it it was ok Recommends it for: Hardcore Lovers of the Western of Scholars of the Same.

Recommended to Lisa Harmonybites by: This book, published in , has been hailed as the first Western. The Virginian of the novel is the forefather of Hondo and Shane and every other strong but silent cowboy found in films. The Virginian's pistol came out, and his hand lay on the table, holding it unaimed. And with a voice as gentle as ever, the voice that sounded almost like a caress, but drawling a very little more than usual, so that there was almost a space between each word, he issued his orders to the man T This book, published in , has been hailed as the first Western.

And with a voice as gentle as ever, the voice that sounded almost like a caress, but drawling a very little more than usual, so that there was almost a space between each word, he issued his orders to the man Trampas: There is some amusement in finding out where all those elements of the Western came from--the poker game that leads to a quick draw, the beautiful school marm and more.

However, despite its venerable age, I can't call this a classic. True classics live because they have rounded characters who feel real, male and female both, instead of being filled with stereotypes. And they endure because of strong prose styles. This novel can boast neither. This is the kind of book that indicates obscenities with blanks but allows racial epithets to be casually flung about. It's told by an unnamed first person narrator about the unnamed title protagonist, at times drifting into a kind of third person as events are narrated the point of view character never witnessed.

Mark Twain this ain't. There is some some smile-worthy humor and a fine turn of phrase here and there, but overall this reads like a rather creaky, if bloated, dime store novel. Jan 28, Rodney rated it it was amazing Recommended to Rodney by: This book may turn some off because its style of writing is over years old. I enjoyed it thoroughly, however, and feel that it is an American classic.

As many have stated, it is the consummate western, yet owes much to books that have come before it. It has a strong romantic strain reminiscent of an Austin novel, but can also be tough and gritty. The book is also quite philosophical and is a great source for quotes. Someone who is looking for a L'Amour western should steer clear of "The Virgi This book may turn some off because its style of writing is over years old. Someone who is looking for a L'Amour western should steer clear of "The Virginian," but it is great read in a classic style. I particularly enjoyed reading about some places where I've travelled in Wyoming and Montana.

The Tetons were prominent towards the end of the book. I would like to find the spot mentioned in the last chapter of the book. I recommend "The Virginian" in the Barnes and Noble Classics edition about the only version still in print. There are great footnotes and endnotes as well as a wonderful introduction. Jan 27, Ruchama Staples rated it it was amazing Shelves: After reading several hysterical excerpts of this book to my husband, obviously the baby swap was one, the missionary another, I decided to simply start over and read it aloud to him from the beginning.

He wouldn't let me put it down. This ranks among our all-time favorites! I think I enjoyed it all the more because I had an engaged and enthusiastic audience in my husband. This was great fun together. Dec 05, Charles rated it liked it Shelves: I definitely enjoyed it. It is certainly slow moving by modern standards and with many asides that don't pertain to the main thrust of the story, but most of those were interesting reading and often quite funny.

Wister had a witty way of writing. You can defnitely see how the conventions of the western novel were developed in this one, and The Virginian is a prototypical western hero. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a lot. Sep 28, Cherie rated it it was amazing Shelves: I listened to this as an audio book from my library. It was wonderfully written. The stories had me laughing out loud or holding my breath waiting to see what was going to happen next or sobbing.

The story of the baby swap was my favorite. I could still see all of their faces as I listened to Gene Engene read the book to me. Apr 04, Maciek rated it really liked it Shelves: The titular Virginian is propably the most badass character ever created in fiction. The country teacher can't help falling in love with him, and the author obviously couldn't help it too - the manner in which he describes the Virginian and his actions are hilarious and awesome at the same time. The story is a fairly straight-forward one and contains many of the elements which we have come to associate with the traditional western story.

The tall, handsome stranger who comes to work on a cattle ranch in Wyoming remaining unnamed throughout the novel ; the lovely young school marm from back East who provides the spark for romance; the villain and his cohorts who must eventually find justice at the hands of this handsome stranger. Unlike many westerns that followed this novel, it takes place over several years and we get to see the characters grow and change as they are impacted by their experiences.

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The romance plot and the conflict between The Virginian and his enemy are the main two plots in the novel but other themes such as revenge, violence, and friendship are also explored. In many ways, the book serves as a classic character study. This book is not for everyone. Sometimes, subplots seem to wander off course.

I suspect that if I was not such a fan of western fiction, however, I might not have let myself delve in deep enough to appreciate its nuances and allow myself the opportunity to appreciate the art. By Owen Wister 21 19 Mar 28, The Virginian 1 3 Mar 11, Classic Westerns vs the Modern Thriller 2 9 Aug 22, The Virginian Western 24 16 Jan 18, His father, Owen Jones Wister, was a wealthy physician, one of a long line of Wisters raised at the storied Belfield estate in Germantown.

Education He briefly attended schools in Switzerland and Britain, and la Owen Wister was born on July 14, , in Germantown, a neighborhood within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Education He briefly attended schools in Switzerland and Britain, and later studied at St. Wister graduated from Harvard in At first he aspired to a career in music, and spent two years studying at a Paris conservatory. Thereafter, he worked briefly in a bank in New York before studying law, having graduated from the Harvard Law School in Following this, he practiced with a Philadelphia firm, but was never truly interested in that career.

He was interested in politics, however, and was a staunch Theodore Roosevelt backer. In the s, he opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. Writing career Wister had spent several summers out in the American West, making his first trip to Wyoming in Like his friend Teddy Roosevelt, Wister was fascinated with the culture, lore and terrain of the region.

On an visit to Yellowstone, Wister met the western artist Frederic Remington; who remained a lifelong friend.

When he started writing, he naturally inclined towards fiction set on the western frontier. Wister's most famous work remains the novel The Virginian, the loosely constructed story of a cowboy who is a natural aristocrat, set against a highly mythologized version of the Johnson County War and taking the side of the large land owners. This is widely regarded as being the first cowboy novel and was reprinted fourteen times in eight months. Personal life In , Wister married Mary Channing, his cousin. The couple had six children. Wister's wife died during childbirth in , as Theodore Roosevelt's first wife had died giving birth to Roosevelt's first daughter, Alice.

Wister died at his home in Saunderstown, Rhode Island. He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Books by Owen Wister. Trivia About The Virginian: Quotes from The Virginian.

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