Cowboys and Other Heroes

It's all my grandfather's fault.

The summer I was 13, I spent a few weeks with my grandparents. It was great spending time with them, but a little boring, too. Their idea of a thrilling night was one spent watching the news, and when they weren't watching TV, Grandma was doing crossword puzzles and Grandpa was reading westerns.

By the end of the summer I'd read every western in Grandpa's collection and had acquired a love of crosswords and word puzzles that is still with me.

Most of Grandpa's books were Louis L'Amour novels, although Zane Grey was solidly represented. (And, oh my! Grey's Arizona Ames! I'm not so sure that isn't where my fascination with tormented heroes got its start.)

It was L'Amour's books, though, that had the greatest impact on me. He created a world where men and women were equally tough and honorable, a world where the good guys never gave up, no matter what they confronted.

"My feet were raw and bloody, the flesh churned into a bloody mess by running over the broken rock, gravel, and stubble of the desert. My body was worn with hunger, thirst, and exhaustion to a point where I could scarcely walk. But there was that inside me, whatever it was that made me a man, that was a whole long way from being whipped."

Galloway

Listening to Abba's When All Is Said and Done the other day, one verse struck me as perfect for the sort of people that populated those books.

"It's so strange when you're down and lying on the floor
How you rise, shake your head, get up and ask for more
Clear-headed and open-eyed
With nothing left untried
Standing calmly at the crossroads,no desire to run
There's no hurry any more when all is said and done"

Or, as L'Amour said in The Daybreakers :
"There would be trouble enough, but man is born to trouble, and it is best to meet it when it comes and not lose sleep until it does."



Books:  The Daybreakers, Galloway, Louis L'Amour
              Arizona Ames, Zane Grey
Music: When All Is Said and Done, ABBA

The Walking Drum

The Walking DrumNot soon after my marriage I quickly discovered that to truly understand who my husband was I needed to read some Louis L'Amour.

Since my husband happens to have L'Amour's entire collection this was no problem. In actuality the problem came from stopping... once I had opened the pages to those crisp old copies my husband pounced.

"Try this one," he would say with a sparkle in his eye. "You'll really like this one, too."

And that is how I came to read 'The Walking Drum' by Louis L'Amour and I'll admit... it's good. It's probably one of my favorite books.

Last week I asked my husband, "I need a book/song combo; do you have any ideas?"

He smiled and said, "Yes!"

So here I am introducing you to my husbands first music/book recommendation.

The Walking Drum is essentially the story of a boy searching for his father. Set in Europe during the Dark Ages the book is an epic tale of adventure. Swords and romance can be found at every turn.

The boy, Mathurin Kerbouchard, is the son of a great man respected, feared and admired throughout all the land. At the very beginning of the story Mathurin is found sitting in the remains of his home struggling to come to terms with what has just occurred:

"Nothing moved but the wind and only a few last, lingering drops of rain, only a blowing of water off the ruined wall. Listening I heard no other sound. My imagination was creating foes where none existed.

Only hours ago death had visited this place. This heap of charred ruins had been my home, and a night ago I had lain staring into the darkness of the ceiling, dreaming as always of lands beyond the sea.

Now my mother lay in a shallow grave, dug by my own hands, and my home was a ruin where rainwater gathered in the hollows of the ancient stone floor, a floor put down by my ancestors before memory began."

The song my husband recommends is The Ballad of Paladin by Johnny Western

Paladin, Paladin
Where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin,
Far, far from home

Mathurin goes in search of both his father and the people who destroyed his home. Yet the mere mention of his surname is enough to silence a crowd:

"How many are in the castle," I said, "who plundered the manor of Kerbouchard?"

There was instant stillness, the eyes of all three were upon me. If frightened before, they were doubly so now.

"Kerbourchard is dead," the fat man said.

"He lives," I replied, "and soon he returns. Now an answer to my question."

. . .

"He lives," I said, "and I am his son."

"Hah! The cub! The old wolf's cub!"

Paladin:

Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.
A knight without armor in a savage land.


His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind.
A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin.

When my husband finally found "Paladin" online and played it for me I admit a smile crept across my face. I especially like the part where the song talks about 'the legends of the Paladin' because in The Walking Drum the name of Kerbourchard holds a lot of weight.

Speaking of his father Mathurin says:

"Taking the charcoal he drew a line north to south across Brittany and through the camp of Tournemine. "If you dare to raid west of that line I shall come back here and hang you from your own battlements."

Tournemine's face was rigid with mingled anger and fear, but my father was a man to make men tremble.

My father picked up the table, and with his own hands he broke off the legs and tossed them aside. Picking up the table with it's rude sketch, he placed it on the mantle above the fireplace.

"Leave it there," my father said. "If I ever hear it has been taken down, I shall come back to see you. Do you understand?"

Tournemine, his jaw stiff, struggled for the words. "I understand," he muttered.

Paladin:

"He travels on to where ever he must
a chess knight of silver is his badge of trust
There are campfire legends that the plainsmen spin
of the man with the gun
of the man called paladin"

"I let out a savage yell: "A Kerbourchard!" And sprang at them.

My shout startled them, that unexpected but feared cry stopped them where they stood.

. . . .

I shouted, "A Kerbourchard!" The old war cry of my father's men. It seemed to strike fear into those opposing me.

Paladin:

Paladin, Paladin
Where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin,
Far, far from home.
Far, far from home.
Far, far from home.

I highly recommend this book, but I must note that this was supposed to be the first of a trilogy that was never finished (due to the death of L'Amour). My husband failed to mention that when I started the book so I had no way to brace myself for his riding off into the sunset for another adventure.

Books: The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour
Songs: The Ballad of Paladin by Johnny Western

The Guardian

Raise your hand if you have ever been a fan of Nicholas Sparks.

Keep your hand up if you read his first four books.

Now lower your hands if you lost interest after a while.

Half of you just lowered your hands didn't you?

See the problem with Nicholas Sparks is that his story lines are all fairly predictable after awhile. He's like the Louis L'Amour of love stories....

(Not that I've ever read Louis L'Amour because that would make me a total cowboy nerd. ::looks around surreptitiously::)

Well, for all the possible faults of Nicholas Sparks newer books I would still recommend 'The Guardian.' Sparks really did a good job branching out a little with this story and what resulted was a book I couldn't put down.

It's the story of a widowed woman who is slowly trying to rebuild her life. A year after her husband dies she decides to take a stab at dating, but soon finds out that dating is more complicated than she remembered. There's her husband's best friend who's madly in love with her and then there's that other guy... the one who's stalking her.

But this post isn't about the crazy stalker guy (which makes for a pretty suspenseful plot line) this is about the best friend, Mike.

Mike is awesome. Mike is one of those great guy characters in a book that makes you want to dive right in and take over the girl's life.

Elton John's song 'The One' seems to sum up how Mike feels about Julie:

And all I ever needed was the one
Like freedom fields where wild horses run
When stars collide like you and I
No shadows block the sun
You're all I've ever needed
Baby you're the one

I wanted to give you all a snippet of the book but it turns out I loaned it to a friend and haven't gotten it back yet so you'll have to take my word for it when I say that it's a good book.

Do you have any songs that remind you of a Nicholas Sparks book? Email us and we'll feature it for you.

-Cannwin

PS If you want a really good Nicholas Sparks book may I suggest his memoir "Three Weeks with My Brother." In my opinion his best work. Oh, and if anyone ever asks, I never suggested to my husband that 'our' song was one performed by the Dixie Chicks.


Books/Authors: The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
                         Louis L'Amour
Music:              The One by Elton John