Warlock (New York Review Books Classics) - Oakley Hall

only the beginning

Warlock is the first in a trilogy by author Oakley Hall, the second novel in the trilogy being Badlands, followed by Apaches. I was simply awed by the writing of Mr Hall, and the universal human truths he reminds the reader of. I can see that more than a few writers must have read Oakley Hall's novels, most especially Cormac Mccarthy. Warlock was published in 1958, and Badlands was at least 10 yrs later, followed by Apaches, which was at least another decade later. Mr Hall also does the fine Ambrose Bierce series of novels, and with a career spanning 5 decades, he is still underated and underapreciated by the general public. do yourself a favor and discover this most excellent writer.

4 and 1/2 stars, actually.

back in 1958 it seems that an excellent book like this could actually be a finalist for the pulitzer prize (which this was). nowadays, gender and racial political correctness would put a squash to any such justice. oh, well. anyway, i have not consumed a lot of westerns in my reading days. 9 of them, if i have counted correctly. "warlock," by oakley hall, is my 2nd favorite of the lot (1st place going to "true grit," by charles portis). mr hall's book is a vastly superior reading experience than cormac mccarthy's "blood meridian," which has been touted by many as the best western out there. "warlock" embraces both the cliches of the western and the prototypes of its characters, while at the same time being anti-cliche and turning prototypes on their heads. how can this be? i don't know. it just is. i'm not smart enough to figure out or put into words the whys and the hows. here's my advice: read the thing.

More than it seems, as magical as the title

Like Lonesome Dove and Deadwood, Warlock takes the western genre and refuses all the cliches, creating the possibility of actually understanding history in the terms of men, women, their frailties, and the power of the land. It goes beneath the obvious surfaces, reweaves actual history, and adds a level of writing expertise that makes it an American classic along the lines of what Hawthorne does to the Gothic in The Scarlet Letter. I couldn't put it down. In it, you see the roots of McMurtry's work and Deadwood, and even intersections with John Ford. For those who love the Western, you must read it. For those, like Pynchon, who want to groove on characters, sentences and a fictional world made vivid and compelling, check it out. A wonderful, satisfying and heartbreaking read.

maize

Page 408 of Warlock contains the following:

"Men are like corn growing. The sun burns them up and the rain washes them out and the winter freezes them, and the cavalry tramps them down, but somehow they keep growing. And none of it matters a damn so long as the whisky holds out."

I don't usually read books that talk about whisky and cavalry, but this one was really good. Although a lot of the writing is like the quote above, the plot is a fairly sophisticated examination of the practical complexities of human morality. At first glance, the two main characters seem to be from the wild west boilerplate, one good guy and one bad guy. But the good and the bad are close friends, and they actually identify with each other qutie a bit. There's also an ugly guy who turns out to be the closest thing the book has to a hero. In contrast to the standard cowboy-movie theme, the characters struggle with the difficulties of figuring out what it would even mean to be good, bad, or ugly in a place that has no real laws and exists permanently on the brink of extinction. Apparently the book was made into a movie, but I would bet that it didn't translate well.

He's Still Alive! Find! And Bestow Money/Awards Upon!

NYRB remains one of the few companies I will buy books from directly instead of used online- and that's because they put out titles like this. Anyone looking for the core text of shows like Deadwood, Rome, even the Sopranos, need look no further than Oakley Hall's imaginative way with the character driven plot and then, lo and behold, you realize everyone's cribbing from Hall! Ok, of course not point by point, but this book is a masterpiece of interlaced action and rumination, except the rumination slowly goes off course, becomes too self assured, and ultimately reveals said ruminator's short comings when compared with what's happening on the ground and the actual facts of the mattter. And all of this intentionaly done! And done for no other purpose than to please and entertain the reader! Oakley Hall loves you and he loves America! Stick with this book. If it at first it seems too epistolary, have faith, it hardens, it becomes concrete and third person. And yes it is even stupidly moving, in the best tradition of the Americas, and it will make you want to be a better person, while at the same time revealing what a chump you are for even worrying about yourself, when your fellow man stands apart in need.

Special note, I have no idea what Robert Stone's intro really has to do with the book itself or really anything, but it sounds like something a Dog Soldiers character would have come up with so that's kind of neat.