[Non-Sequitur]

"He rode into our valley in the summer of '89. I was a kid then, barely topping the backboard of father's old chuck-wagon. . . . In that clear Wyoming air I could see him plainly, though he was still several miles away. There seemed nothing remarkable about him, just another stray horseman riding up the road toward the cluster of frame buildings that was our town. Then I saw a pair of cowhands, loping past him, stop and stare after him with a curious intentness."

I first read Shane over 30 year ago, and I've read it dozens of times since. Excellent suggestion. And the boy's name is Bob. Why they changed it to Joey for the movie I'll never know.

[PJ-Comix]

That is one interesting difference from the movie. Bob is an older man narrating his memories of his youth. This is one reason why Shane has much more depth than the movie. BTW, although I though Alan Ladd did a fine job I thought that the actor who played Chris, Ben Johnson, would have been perfect in the role of Shane. But as I said before, the book is MUCH BETTER than the movie.

And for you folks who don't like Westerns. Don't worry. This one is DIFFERENT.

[PJ-Comix]

One reason why I started off with Shane as an assignment is that I want to establish my credibility from the get-go. Yes, it is a Western and yet it transcends that genre so folks that hate Westerns will still enjoy it. My main requirements in the book assignments is that they be BOTH interesting and surprising. Yeah, I could assign yet more Clancey or King (and I enjoy them both) but where is the surprise? The purpose of this Freeper Book Club is to try out books that you might not be familiar with.