Posted on 03/28/2021 8:19:43 AM PDT by Twotone
Larry McMurtry died this past week, in the small town where he was born and spent almost all his life - Archer City, Texas, where his greatest film was partly shot. He was principally a novelist, but Hollywood came a-callin' early, turning his very first book into an effective vehicle for Paul Newman, Hud (1963). It wasn't long before McMurtry was being asked to do his own adaptations of his novels, and by the time of the telly version of Lonesome Dove he was a bona fide famous screenwriter. His blockbuster was Terms of Endearment (1983), which Kathy Shaidle wrote about for us here. His masterpiece was his very first screenplay, which I reviewed four years ago:
The Last Picture Show is set a long way from the glitter of Houston, in a northern town up near the Oklahoma border that does not show the state at its most appealing - a desolate, decrepit Main Street, tumbleweeds bowling down it, dusty pool hall, flimsy screen doors banging in the wind, you know the drill. It's a simply constructed tale on a familiar theme, following the final year of high school through to the dawn of adulthood. But I have always loved this film, since I first saw it when I was about the age of its protagonists, and it has stayed with me over the decades.
So, once you exclude Terms of Endearment and The Last Picture Show, what's left? Well, there's always the film for which he won an Oscar, a decade-and-a-half back, by which point he was an admired enough screenwriter that he was being asked to adapt not just his own work but that of others - in this case, a short story by Annie Proulx. Brokeback Mountain (2006) was touted as the first gay western:
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Yes it does. Steyn does have a way of summing up the essence of whatever he is writing, or talking, about. I find him an exceptionally interesting person because of his take on just about anything, especially US history and current political corruption, in all forms, in America. Glad Mark is on the side of this Republic.
Can you post a link to where this was announced? I noticed that Mark hasn’t been in the “guide” rotation of late, unless I missed something.
I hope he gets a radio (or show) deal of his own one day. Even if he got the gig of permanent replacement, he’d always be in Rush’s shadow and answerable to EIB. I think he’d chaff under that.
“I always wondered what would make a man prefer homosexual sex over heterosexual sex.”
Trauma.
Same-sex attraction disorder can be induced by the trauma of a homosexual rape, seduction, or molestation in the pre-adult years—which for some boys could run into the 20s.
As for “bisexuals,” a mental disorder can be more severe or less severe.
One of the lines used by homosexuals attempting to seduce a boy is that a homosexual is limitlessly promiscuous. He never has to put up with a female saying “no” ever again.
I thought I liked the article, but then I was left thinking he had quit writing before he was finished.
bookmark
Indeed it does.
And, lest we fail to be clear, it is the latter of the two possibilities that is the answer to the question.
“Cornhole Mountain.”
Good one!
Of course you’re aware that there’s a popular horseshoes-like game called cornhole.
I about fell out of my chair a few years ago when a DJ said that word, shortly after which I realized that he was referring to that game that I’d not heard of.
Dictionary.com still has only the “classical” definition of the word.
Unamaginable that the word could come into use as the name of a game.
Can you provide the link to that thread? I did a title search but nothing came up. Thanks
He is multi-gifted.
Mark Steyn is Canadian born.
Two sheepherders diddling each other. And their sheep are no longer nervous, but the rams are sweating it out.
That is true...radio host, writer, singer, music critic, raconteur and more. He’s amazing.
At least he can’t make any more rump ranger movies for libtards to fawn over.
Steyn's writing can be quite humorous.
Reading Steyn's reviews tends to increase
one's vocabulary.
I learned a new word from his article -- "distaff."
I learned ‘distaff’ from watching horse races. :-)
Thank you for that post.
I ignore BM and pretend it doesn’t exist.
And with that, I have to say....Lonesome Dove is epic, and is a truly great American west novel.
I’ve also read two books of McMurtry essays, and they are superb also. His descriptions are so vivid, they have illuminated my experience of Texas. It does seem at times he’s a bit more acerbic and critical of Texas than I would be, but that just runs off of me like water off the ducks back. I don’t mind someone softly pointing out Texas’ flaws and exaggerations and shortcomings, so long as they are doing it in a way which is vivid and powerful - if for no other reason, because his writing makes me love Texas so much more.
Which is sort of what happened with Lonesome Dove. He sought to “demythologize” the Cowboy - ie, by describing the characters in a cattle drive in all of their humanness.
What did though, ironically, is create a new, more accurate mythology which STILL reveres the cattle drivers, but also seems them more accurately, ie, as human beings and all that that entails.
Then there is the wonderful achievement in his life of bringing some 400,000 books to Archer City, his hometown. I understand that the collection has been winnowed a bit, and that it is manageable and will be managed by his descendants. That is a work any conservative must admire, and admire immensely.
I would never claim that McMurtry is one of us, or perfect, or anything like that. But I’ll say that his writing (not the gay stuff) has enriched me immensely and while he was old and his passing was not really a surprise, it is a time for reflection, and with not a bit of sadness at his passing.
I’m very grateful for the life and work of Larry McMurtry.
But I’ll never open or watch the gay book/movie......
Not sure how to post a link. The poster used the name “Mark Steyn.” It was posted a couple of days ago in a thread discussing the future plans for “The Rush Limbaugh Show”. I have also heard Steyn say this, more than once, on “The Mark Steyn Show.” Steyn’s shows are all available on steynonline.com
Thank you
I like Ms Proulx’s books not because of the characters or the plots but because she’s spent much of her life roaming the same turf I have — Vermont, Quebec, Newfoundland — and she’s got a tremendous ability to capture the essence of the land, and in particular the way a harsh terrain shapes the character of its people.,,, she did a better job than most liberal progressive artsy types do of accepting country folk as they are. “I lean toward realism, not myth,” she says.”
Wow, this is a superb description of what McMurtry does. In fact, this is EXACTLY what McMurtry does, in his essays (especially about Texas) and also in Lonesome Dove.
Super realistic, very human.
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