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Unless I am losing my mind, I am next to certain that there have been substantial revisions to at least one chapter in Lonesome Dove. I first read the book in 1989, as overwhelmed as most readers. In chapter 57 (present numbering), when Gus encounters the band of renegades/Indians who are holding Lorena, a gun fight ensues, with Gus taking shelter behind the horse that he slaughters for that purpose. However, in the version I read, Gus takes long range shots at the renegades, who are amused at the futility of it. One stands up to taunt him, convinced of his safety. Gus uses a land sight to shoot a mortar type bullet that hits him in the abdomen. The scene appears in that form in the miniseries. Ity is not a screewriter's invention - it tracks the version in the novel, at least the one I read.
I could certainly be in error, but the scene, as beautifully written as everything else in the book, was one of the signature scenes in the novel. I remember being struck by how close the film version tracked it. Can anyone help me here?
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Lonesome Dove by Larry Mcmurtry
fdber, July 3, 2010
Unless I am losing my mind, I am next to certain that there have been substantial revisions to at least one chapter in Lonesome Dove. I first read the book in 1989, as overwhelmed as most readers. In chapter 57 (present numbering), when Gus encounters the band of renegades/Indians who are holding Lorena, a gun fight ensues, with Gus taking shelter behind the horse that he slaughters for that purpose. However, in the version I read, Gus takes long range shots at the renegades, who are amused at the futility of it. One stands up to taunt him, convinced of his safety. Gus uses a land sight to shoot a mortar type bullet that hits him in the abdomen. The scene appears in that form in the miniseries. Ity is not a screewriter's invention - it tracks the version in the novel, at least the one I read.I could certainly be in error, but the scene, as beautifully written as everything else in the book, was one of the signature scenes in the novel. I remember being struck by how close the film version tracked it. Can anyone help me here?