Lonesome Dove and Life's Journey Through Uncertainty

The Art of Manliness

Philosophy, Education, Society & Culture

4.7 • 14.8K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2022

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you've been listening to this show or reading the AoM website for awhile, then you likely know what my favorite book of all time is: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

It's therefore my real pleasure to be able to talk all about that novel today with Steven Frye, professor of American literature and author of Understanding Larry McMurtry. We last had Steve on the show to talk about The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In this episode, we unpack Lonesome Dove, beginning with some background on McMurtry, and the style and themes he explores in his work. From there we turn to Lonesome Dove, and its surprising influences, from Jane Austen to Cervantes. Steve and I explore the characters of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, how they can represent the archetypes of the Epicurean and the Stoic, and what we can learn from their friendship. We also talk about the complexities of other characters in the novel, and end our conversation with why Lonesome Dove, despite not having a stereotypically happy ending, is such a life-affirming book.

A spoiler alert here: We are going to reveal plenty of plot points in this discussion, so be aware of that if you haven't yet read Lonesome Dove.

After the show is over, check out the show notes at aom.is/lonesomedove

Resources Related to the Podcast

Connect With Steven Frye

Steve’s Website

Listen to the Podcast! (And don’t forget to leave us a review!)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Brut McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.2	If you've been listening to this show, or reading the A-Wim website for a while, then
0:14.4	you likely know my favorite book of all time is Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
0:19.9	It's therefore my real pleasure to be able to talk all about that novel today with Stephen
0:23.9	Fry, professor of American literature and the author of Understanding Larry McMurtry.
0:28.4	We last had Steve on the show to talk about the road by Kormack McCarthy.
0:31.7	In this episode, we unpack Lonesome Dove, beginning with some background on McMurtry and the
0:35.9	style and themes he explores and his work.
0:38.2	From there, we turn to Lonesome Dove and its surprising influences, from Jane Austen
0:41.6	to Serbantes.
0:42.6	Steve and I explore the characters of Augustus McRae and Woodrow Call, how they can represent
0:46.5	the archetypes of the Epicurean and the Stoic and what we can learn from their friendship.
0:50.6	We also talk about the complexities of other characters in the novel and inter-conversation
0:53.8	with wide Lonesome Dove despite not having a stereotypically happy ending such a life
0:58.2	affirming book.
0:59.2	A spoiler alert here, we're going to reveal plenty of plot points in this discussion,
1:02.8	so be aware that if you haven't yet read Lonesome Dove.
1:05.5	And why have you read Lonesome Dove yet?
1:07.2	Go out by a copy, read it, come back, listen to the show.
1:10.1	Out at the shows over, check out our show notes at a-wim.is slash Lonesome Dove.
1:15.6	Alright, Stephen Fry, welcome back to the show.
1:26.8	Well, thanks for having me, Brett.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Art of Manliness, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Art of Manliness and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.