The Beauty of the Days Gone By
West Texas in the 1860s is as dangerous (if not more so) for people than the war-torn eastern part of the country during its civil war. The Comanches have driven the Apaches out and staked claim to the vast land as their own nomadic hunting ground. The few American settlers and cattlemen in this region risk deadly attacks on their persons and property.
RL Terry returns to his homestead from a ride to discover his family is brutally attacked, scalped, or dying and his two young sons missing. Over the course of many years, with the help of other friends and the US military, he searches for his boys who have been taken for assimilation into the Comanche tribe. The story unfolds mostly through the eyes of rancher Charles Goodnight, reflecting on his life and RL’s quest as he ages into the early 1900s, with the help of a caring young woman and fascinated historian. Over the decades, covering a vast amount of territory, constantly changing events, conditions and advancing expansion and technology, RL perseveres in the search for his sons.
This is a long book written in a literary style. The author’s extensive research on the terrain, people, culture, and technology of that era in Texas is ample and impressive. The characters are written in an intensely detailed and vibrant manner. However, the lack of quotation marks to structure the dialogue makes it difficult to determine who is speaking to whom. The book also switches back and forth between times, events, and speakers with no clear transition or explanation and features quite long sequences of omniscient narration. That said, if the reader can get past the non-standard style, there is much to savor in this gritty western saga.
