Folly and Glory

Folly and Glory by Larry McMurtry

Part 4 of the Berrybender Narratives by Larry McMurtry. Many readers just never “got it”. That’s understandable. This is, after all, the man that gave us the “Lonesome Dove” tetralogy. Apart from the stories in both series taking place in the old west, similarities are difficult to find. It’s safe to say, though, if you liked the first three Berrybender books, you’ll find this one enjoyable as well. Now that these books have been around awhile, I can safely give the advice that it’s best to read these four books without taking too much time off between them. There are a LOT of characters between the pages, and if you wait an entire year to read each successive volume, you might find yourself a bit lost trying to remember who is who.  (I read someone’s negative review on Amazon where they read this one WITHOUT reading the other three!  Please please do NOT do this!)

This book picks up (I think) about a year and a half after volume 3 concludes. The story’s center, Tasmin Berrybender, is having her familiar conflicts of love and lust. She now has three children, as she has just recently given birth to twins – a boy and a girl.  The girl, ‘Petal’, is really the only disappointment of the whole book. She’s about 18 months old, yet has the brains, mannerisms, and vocabulary of a six-year old. Larry McMurtry is trying too hard to make her a replication of her mother. Sadly, her mannerisms just don’t wash as a believable toddler.

Other than that, though, the story moves around in a similar fashion as the others.  There’s lots of death, sex, starvation, lust, Indian attacks, and on and on and on. I found that the characters in this book were the easiest to keep track of, compared to the first three books. Maybe because McMurtry has killed so many of the originals off by now?  Or maybe it’s because, after four books, the personalities have finally congealed in my memory. 

With all the craziness that happens in these misplaced people’s lives, I felt the book had a fairly decent conclusion. The author mixes up a well-known historical event into the last few chapters where some of the characters find themselves participants of, but this is a minor distraction.  I think most people, if they give these books a chance, will find an awful lot to enjoy. Just try to forget that the author is the same guy that made us fall in love with Gus and Call several years ago. And, for goodness sake, have a sense of humor.