I love Western movies. It’s long been one of my favorite genres. So it’s somewhat unusual that I have only read 2 or 3 Western novels. I decided to venture into the Western with what is considered one of the best, if not the best, ever written. That is, Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage.
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Written in 1912,
it takes place in 1870s Utah. There are
two main interlocking stories. First is
Jane Withersteen, a wealthy single Mormon woman who is battling between her
faith and her longing for freedom, and Jim Lassiter, a gunfighter known for
killing Mormons looking for the man who killed his sister. The second main story surrounds Bern Venters,
a rider, and Bess, the mysterious Masked Rider he almost killed but nurses back
to life. This second story, which
becomes “Adam and Eve in Eden” is far less interesting than the intrigue of
Jane, Lassiter, and the Mormon hierarchy trying to wear them down.
I really wanted
to like it. I liked parts of it, but
there were also parts that got under my skin.
One thing that bothered me to no end was the chapter titles which often
spoiled what was going to happen. At
least I could sympathize with the authors clear dislike of Mormonism. I might someday read the sequel, The Rainbow
Trail, but not likely too soon.
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