Folly and Glory : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Fitting Conclusion
Review: A fitting end to a great epic story. Larry McMurtry outdoes himself on the last segment of the Berrybender saga and as usual paints the West with his harsh but realistic brush. Even so, I would like to see what happenned to Tasmin and the rest of the clan but that would mean that the author would have to travel to England, a venue he is not as familiar with. However, I will not sell McMurtry short and if he is of mind, I am sure a fifth in the series could be on the shelves next year. I, for one, am hoping.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the last
Review: After reading By Sorrows River, I didn't think I would continue with the series, but I am glad I did. Folly and Glory is much better. Depressing? Yes. There is a lot of death in this book and it is especially hard reading about children dying. The plot was strong, the story moved quickly, and I was sad when it ended. Wish there was one more to the series.

Rating:
Summary: Read the Berrybender Saga
Review: Folly and Glory is the last of the four books in the excellent tale. You must start with the first book, Sin Killer. Each story leaves you craving more. In this book, what's left of the entorouge, leaves Santa Fe where they have been under house arrest, and make their way across the plains to St Louis. Birth, death, indians, desert, rages, affairs, adultry, murder,soldiers fancy balls, Tasamin has twins, Jim Snow lets loose the fury of the word on enemeys. This series is a must read, you cannot put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Great summer reading
Review: I did not intend to read the whole series, the Berrybender Narratives, but it drew me along to the end, Folly and Glory. This is easy, entertaining reading.

Rating:
Summary: This may well be the best of The Berrybender Narratives
Review: It's so nice to see some high-profile Western projects popping up. The first was SIN KILLER, which marked the beginning of Larry McMurtry's four volumes of The Berrybender Narratives. The second was the announced republishing of the works of Louis L'Amour, commencing with a number of short story collections and continuing with the recent publication of a new edition of the immortal HONDO. And the third is the television series "Deadwood," which, in spite of its occasionally gratuitous use of crude, earthy language, may well be the best-written show currently on television. Things now come full circle with the publication of FOLLY AND GLORY, the fourth and final (at least for now) volume of The Berrybender Narratives. It is a pleasure to find that it sustains, and even surpasses, the energy of its predecessors.

The Berrybender Narratives are not something you can jump into. While McMurtry is incapable of writing badly, this series is best read from the beginning, as it is most definitely a sequential narrative. FOLLY AND GLORY begins with the Berrybenders under a forced yet luxurious house arrest in Santa Fe, Mexico. The mood of the party, particularly Tasmin Berrybender's, is somewhat subdued due to the murder of Pomp Charbonneau at the hands of a deranged Mexican Army captain. The party as a whole, however, passes the time in relative comfort. Their somewhat idyllic incarceration is abruptly ended, though, when it is learned that the Mexican authorities plan to arrest them --- for real this time --- and, in all probability, execute the entire party. Lord Berrybender plans to proceed to Texas, and the party effects a hurried exit out of the compound. Danger and death await at every turn, not only from pestilence but also from a party of slavers.

Meanwhile, Jim Snow has as his wont been absent more than present, guiding a wagon train and procuring a weapons shipment for the always overbearing and self-centered Lord Berrybender. When an attack by the slavers results in the death of two members of the party, Jim Snow becomes The Sin Killer once again, exacting a dark and terrible but fitting vengeance upon the slavers. Snow's action also indirectly results in a complication that will affect his wife Tasmin and the rest of the company, forcing Tasmin to make a decision regarding her future and that of her offspring.

FOLLY AND GLORY may well be the best of The Berrybender Narratives. McMurtry is perfect here, capturing the feeling of danger and casual brutality that was part of the everyday existence of the frontiersmen in the mid-19th century. FOLLY AND GLORY also neatly weaves its way through one of the major historical events of the period, while a number of real-life figures make brief but important cameo appearances. FOLLY AND GLORY is, ultimately, the capstone of what may well be McMurtry's penultimate work in a career that has been marked by creative summits.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Rating:
Summary: Glory and Folly
Review: The final piece of the Berrybender Narratives, starts out strong, picking up where the the last three left off. McMurtry does his usual job of excellent story telling in the first half of the book, and mixes in the bizarre, quite consistent with this series.

It then seems as he decides he doesn't have the energy to keep going, and he fast forwards to the end. New characters are introduced, but never inspected; hundreds of miles are covered in a page or 2; and the book wraps up very quickly.

In my opinion this was the weakest of the series and a disappointment. Not as many laughs, and a race to the finish.