If Blood Meridian was the 'real' American West, the blood and the grit, the corruption the depravation and the complete lack of morals in something which could only loosely be described as society, Riders of the Purple Sage is perhaps the opposite – the glorification of the West. Zane Grey's (and no, it's definitely Grey rather than Gray) novel is credited as being the archetypal western, which inspired a lot of the genre.
And while I don't have anything to judge it against really, it wasn't just a caper or a romp, there's a lot more here than just pulp. For a start, it's got several strands of plot which weave around each other before tying at the end. And it's got real feelings and themes too. Honour plays a large part, not just in the sense of chivalry, but in the codes of the land. And intwined with that is religion, which looms large over a lot of the book. Set in Utah against the backdrop of Mormonism, Jane Withersteen's struggle against her religion and upbringing is vaguely reminiscent of a Graham Greene 'lite'.
The plot is also interesting, bringing the characters together and seeing them change and the relationships between them grow. It's also not a straight up happy ending, it *is* largely a happy one and things fall into place, but not in a perfect way – it's better than that – and sacrifices are made. Much like when I read The Maltese Falcon, I knew it was so copied and so important within the genre because it was good and it did a lot of things right. I wasn't blown away by it and I'm going straight out to acquire more, but it was an entertaining read, so that's the main box ticked, and it maybe broadened my horizons in some small way and you can't argue with that either.
Book number: 41
Title: Riders of the Purple Sage
Author: Zane Grey
Category: Books with colours in the title
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