The Virginian

A Horseman of the Plains

By: Owen Wister

Narrated by: Robert G. Slade

In this romantic and raw adventure set in the untamed wilderness of Wyoming of 1886, an anonymous college graduate ventures out west where he encounters gun fights, lynching, cattle rustlers, high-stake poker games, Indian attacks, and a brave, honest and imposing cowboy known simply as the Virginian. Presented as the archetypal, ideal hero of the "western" genre (which was novelized for the very first time in this same book), the Virginian, a foreman at Shiloh Ranch, carries a strong sense of justice. This wins him the heart of independent young schoolteacher Molly Stark, and finds his sworn enemy Trampas at the end of a gun.

The novel developed many of the central tropes and themes of the western, including morality, faith and honor, and it presents its formidable, unforgiving landscape in stunning detail.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2019 Naxos Audiobooks

80% Love Story, 20% Western Man's Man Guide.

A many worded work where words are spent in ways I might have wished otherwise. For example, probably half a "page" was devoted to the protagonist making camp for him and his lady, while approximately 1.5 sentences were devoted to describing a most significant shoot-out. This may communicate more about me than it does about the book.

Even so, I gave it a "4" (instead of "3") because some of the content requires that you think about what is meant by the dialogue beyond what the words might mean on the surface. In that way, some of the dialogue brings to mind the dialogue of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series.

Classic Western with Surprising Humor

I had no idea there would be so much humor in this story, it was a wonderful surprise. Many of the classic western themes and conflicts are present of course as well as some philosophizing . My only complaint was too much time was spent on the love story in my opinion. Overall a great read and I loved the narrator.

Good listen

I didn't remember him married in the tv series- but I did like the idea- Tramps was a main character in the tv series and not killed by the Virginia

A Good Book of Perpetual Period Small Talk

If you want to know how to talk like a cowboy, this is a good reference. But first, pick your preferred narrator. I noticed that there were a lot of different versions with different narrators, so I picked the one I would enjoy the most. The book was small talk from front to back, which served as the 'long periods of tedium' punctuated by short periods of terror (villains, a shootout, romance), though the small talk was seldom tedious - it was interesting from a historic perspective (and it will be moreso as the past gradually recedes)...