Okay, so technically Owen Wister's The Virginian is not my very first Western novel. I have read some of Cormac McCarthy's work, but when I read him I wasn't thinking of him in terms of a "western novelist". I can pretty honestly say that had this novel not been chosen as the next Slaves of Golconda book, I would most likely (no...very probably) never have picked this book up off the shelf at the bookstore. But it is good to try new things, so why not a western?
It took me a while to get into The Virginian, and there were times I honestly thought I would never make it to the end--like those chapters on "frawgs laigs"--my eyes would just gloss over. I kept telling myself to persevere--you can finish it, really you can. And sometime after the schoolmarm showed up and the romance took off, I found myself turning the pages much faster and getting into the novel. Okay, so maybe some of it was predictable. I have some vague recollections growing up (and some of that time was pre-cable days!) of those old westerns on TV. There are just certain things you expect to have in a western--good guys/bad guys, a highly moral school teacher-ish woman, threat of Indians, cattle rustlers, and of course the inevitable shootout at sundown. Yes, we had all of this and more in The Virginian.
The story is narrated by an unnamed man from the east who seems to drop in and out of the story, which takes place over several years. At first he is considered a "tenderfoot", but eventually he earns the respect and friendship of the Virginian. The Virginian is a mythic character. He is handsome, talented, intelligent (perhaps not in book smarts, but in the ways of the world he inhabits), fair and yet kind. Enter Miss Molly Wood, the schoolteacher from the east. She has booksmarts, and a certain sense of adventure, as well as a very moral character. I suspect you can imagine the rest. He falls in love with her. She takes some convincing. Intersperse the romance with all the activities you would imagine a cowboy's life to have. All's well that ends well.
Perhaps I am simplifying things too much, but is a fairly simple novel to read. I think its importance lies not with any sort of stylistic treatment of the writing (though perhaps here I am wrong?), but with how it fits in with the cultural history of the American West. While I suspect I won't be buying many more westerns anytime soon I am very glad that I read and (yes, believe it or not--very much so) enjoyed The Virginian. There have been multiple film version of this book, which I am now very curious about. I wonder which is the best of the bunch? Maybe I should seek out all of them. I expect there will be much more discussion about this novel. You can check out Bookworm,Bookworm (Julie) Box of Books, Necessary Acts of Devotion, Pages Turned, and So Many Books for more on Wister's The Virginian. It appears also that The Metaxu Cafe has set up a forum to discuss the novel as well. Enjoy.
An Addendum: Stefanie asked why I liked The Virginian, and since I never really went into it, I will answer here instead of in the comments section. After reading other's posts on the book it looks like it was not always well received by all readers. I can understand why it didn't always work for them and certainly appreciate their perspectives. Had you asked me when I first began reading this if I was enjoying it, I could pretty easily have said, no, not too much. I was having a hard time getting into the story. The writing used to reflect both the Virginian's southern dialect and the cowboy-speak grated on me at first. I guess what won me over were a few things. Quillhill and Julie (Bookworm) mentioned the descriptions of an untrodden, unspoiled Wyoming, and I loved them. They reminded me of a book I read earlier this year called Catherwood by Marly Youmans. I like the idea of an America where you might walk or ride and not see anyone else for days. I know Americans love cars, but we will never know what it was like to live in a time and place where there are no automobiles--clean air, quiet--you get the idea (and I realize that by the time this was written, automobiles were probably close to being manufactured, but they hadn't gotten to Wyoming yet). I suppose to be honest I am also a sucker for a nice old fashioned romance. I did find Molly somewhat irritating, but I guess she needed to be that way to a point to make the story work. At the end, though, after everything that happened--if she was going to not marry the Virginian I was going to have to through the book across the room. Her capitulation was a little weird after such strong feelings, but oh well. The Virginian, has been described as a Mythic figure, and he most certainly was. I was in love with the man, thank you. I don't think he could possibly exist outside fiction (sorry guys nothing personal, but I have to be realistic,and probably there are not a lot of women like Molly), but I guess that is what books are for (to some extent--to transcend reality). It was just the story--the romance and adventure (as far fetched as some of it may have been), that made me keep turning those pages instead of sneaking it back into a pile somewhere apologetically saying I just couldn't get into it--maybe the next book? So, what is the next book?