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One of the best of its kind Dec 3, 1999 (12 of 13 found this helpful)
Larry McMurtry, probably America's most uneven 'great' writer, produced at least one masterpiece of contemporary storytelling, The Last Picture Show. This book is so true to its time and place, so honest in its language and its character's actions, that one comes to feel that these are real people that one has known - and maybe loved - for a long time. The story is so direct and the characters are so simple and ordinary that the emotional empact of the book comes as some surprise. One doesn't expect that the stuff of great emotional intensity could be built on such a prosaic foundation.
All of McMurtry's really good books have been turned into better than average cinema. I think it's a toss up as to whether the movie or the book is better in this case, but there can be no question that the book is an American classic and will be read with pleasure (and tears) by generations.
Now, if we could just keep him from bad sequels - like Texasville . . .
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Brutally honest and masterfully written. Apr 29, 2004 (10 of 11 found this helpful)
Great writers write about what they know and the places they know. It's not a surprise that McMurtry sets so many of his stories in Texas. But that does not lessen the universality of his stories. The Last Picture Show is simply the best coming of age story about growing up in post-vietnam north america ever written.
This book is written in a clean direct style. Some may feel that in order to be termed "great literature" a book has to have a wordy and complex style. But to me, the greatest literature is that which most clearly cuts to the essence of what makes its characters human. Those are the characters we relate to in literature. And this book is loaded with them.
In fact it's almost frightening the way McMurtry gets inside the heads of these kids. If you remember anything about growing up you are bound to cringe at least once remembering the time you made the mistake of thinking exactly what one of these kids did.
I don't think this type of amazing story-telling is unique to this novel. Terms of Endearment is an incredible book and seems to have not been mentioned by most other reviewers. Of course Lonesome Dove is bound to have admirers as well.
In all, this is a great novel that is simple on the surface but has layers of complex undertones for those willing to explore them.
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1950s Texas setting; universal small-town themes abound Nov 4, 2004 (12 of 14 found this helpful)
Wow. Like the movie that was based on it, this book is one of those almost-forgotten gems of modern art. Other folks here have outlined the plot--such as it is--and the characters. I am just here to add my own endorsing reflections, for what they're worth.
Larry McMurtry really nailed it on the head where small-town America is concerned. The ties that bind, the price you pay for being different in ANY way, and how, in Lois' words, "anything gets old if you do it often enough." (I grew up in a town that had a "show" that didn't get movies until a year or two after they'd played in the big cities. And I had a teacher or two as lazy as Coach Popper (none as chauvinistic, however). People who went to "off" to college were the exeption rather than the rule--much as it was in Thalia. We had boys and girls like Duane, Sonny, and Jacy, too--though I don't remember hearing of any were close to their livestock. . .if you know what I mean:)) At least two of the characters here had married young--because that's what you did and what else was there to do, really--and settled into lives of boredom and routine. While I can't say I thought all the actions of the young and not-so-young characters here were necessarily smart or well-thought-out, there was never a moment that I didn't understand what they were thinking.
Much has been written about Sonny, Duane, Sam the Lion, and the other menfolk here, but I also thought McMurtry did an especially good job of developing all four of the main female characters here--especially Lois, and secondly Jacy--both of whom had spirit and passion much too large for the time and place of their lives. I liked these women in spite of myself! I will now have to read Texasville to find out what happens to them and everyone else.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys character studies or stories about small-town living (though you might enjoy this more if you left the small town like I did).
Very well-written. This did whet my appetite for more of Larry's work!
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Outstanding Jul 25, 2004 (8 of 10 found this helpful)
Larry McMurtry is the quintessential author on all things Texas. In the Fall semester of college, 1985, his novel, "The Last Picture Show," was assigned reading in my Literature class. I had never heard about the film version, and I am very glad. I believe this is a novel about good versus evil; only the "evil" here is the righteous, narrow-minded, bigoted, bible-beating, and monotonous, which represses all in its path, and the "good" is the carefree, spirited, reckless, and adventurous, which is supposed to lead all to happiness. The only problem is in 1951 Thalia, Texas, the "good" was still supposed to be taboo; hence the conflicts for this great novel. McMurtry tells this tale with humor, drama, and warmth. The things that make us human are worthwhile, even if others do not condone them. For most in this story, sex and love are the things that they believe make their lives worthwhile, but for Billy, the mentally challenged friend of Sonny, sweeping is what made him human. In the end, only Sonny could see this tragedy of his death while the "evil" spat and farted in the wind making excuses for the tragedy. This novel moved me, and I have read it several times. I highly recommend it.
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Has earned a top-notch spot on my bookshelf. Jan 6, 2005 (5 of 6 found this helpful)
I'm 17 and have lived in a small town all my life, although my town is a little less depressing than the community of Thalia. The theme of this book is the trappings of small towns, the loneliness of them, and the bittersweetness of youth, which I could relate to all too well. I had not read McMurtry before, but was instantly smitten by the 50's setting and the author's excellent characterization. The book reads swiftly, thanks to the compelling characters (and their many love affairs), who are likeable but still recognizably flawed, yearning for what they can't have, and settling to get what they can.
This is not your typical coming-of-age novel. It is a beautifully crafted work of Southern lit that I think even a city-dweller could relate to; although it is predominantly about being stuck in Thalia, it's also about feeling so lost in a place you know so well. My first McMurtry novel to read is now one of my favorite books.