Rating: 
Summary: Mob justice in the Old West
Review: Walter Van Tilburg Clark's classic novel begins like many Westerns: two ranchers, Art Croft and Gil Carter, ride into the town of Bridger's Wells. They stop at the saloon, have a few drinks after which a poker game begins followed by a fight. Things change quickly when a young man storms into town with a tale of murder and cattle rustling. Though he hasn't actually seen any of the events he's describing, the young man's tale is strong enough to insense the men in the bar. They form a lynch mob and go after the murderers and rustlers."The Ox-Bow Incident" is told through the eyes of Art Croft. From him, we see and hear Farnley who is dead set on forming the mob to exact justice; of Osgood and Davies, who both try to convince the group that justice can only be handled properly by the law; and Art himself who has doubts about the lynch mob but goes along, like every other man. This is a story about who determines what is right and wrong and how justice should be determined with all the facts instead of partial truths and one-sided ideals. It deals with the mob mentality and its consequences. Not your typical fare with a Western. Clark expertly handles the subject matter, and as I was reading, I felt as though I were part of the mob, knowing the mob is not right but powerless to do anything to stop it, swept along for the ride and the outcome. A definite classic.
Rating:
Summary: A Western With Big Ideas
Review: Walter Van Tilburg Clark's The Ox-Bow Incident stands as a classic and has earned that standing. It is peopled with all the usual characters of a western novel but this time the usual themes of rugged individualism inherent in such works are turned on their heads. The author puts all of these stock characters to use in showing his ideas concerning lynching and the true spirit of the west. Each chapter reads like a set piece with much dialogue. It often feels like it is trying to work as a play but, for full effectiveness, it was right that it be set as a western novel, the place where many of the myths of the West first became established. The novel picks up momentum and finds much tension and emotional truth strew among all the larger examinations of ideas. It is gripping, both in the gut and in the mind.
| 
