Till I had completed class 9, I had not read a single novel. And it is then that a friend of mine shoved a book into my hand and told me ’Read it!’. It was called ’Flint’ and was written by some ’’Louis L’Amour’’. This friend of mine was an avid reader of this author’s books. So, I picked it up and read it...and believe me, from the time I started it, I did not want to put it down. I would carry it to school and read it in my free time (sometimes even during class times!)...till I completed this book, and then I started hunting others. Since then, I have read about 70-75 of his books (I think he has written about 122 novels!!)...most of them atleast twice over!! What is great about Louis L’Amour? His stories are about real people who existed in the ’Wild West’. He interweaves facts along with bold story lines and a fantastic narration of the countryside to make his novels a cut above!! Check out this little sentence that I just came across The last shadows wilted away to conceal themselves shyly among the reeds and under the overhanging branches to wait the courage that night would bring them. The way he writes about the land, his description of a place, his minutely-detailed fights in the saloons, the fast gun draw...he writes them all so superbly that at times you find yourself slowing down, and at times you are hurrying through. It is as though he controls the speed of your reading with the way he builds up his story. You can almost imagine the happenings as the story unfolds. You can smell the acrid gunpowder, feel the hot breeze on your cheeks, taste the salt in your mouth, hear the click of a horse hoof on a stone. He takes you there to the Wild West!!
Years have passed since that day when I was in Class 9, and I am sure I have read many many more Louis L’Amour’s than my friend had. For even to this day, when I travel on the crowded trains to my place of work 9in Mumbai), I carry along with me a Louis L’Amour. And people hustle and bustle along...stamp my shoes, swear around me, but I am far away....with Louis L’Amour...in the land of the Indians and the cowboys...back in the Wild West! The above portion was written out of my passion for Westerns...especially Louis L’Amours! I have read other western writers...and only one comes close...Oliver Strange, who writes about a man called SUDDEN!! The other writers are way way below!! For those of you who like the facts... - Some of his books are a collection of short stories...equally gripping but not complete novels.
So, if you are planning on buying one, check it out! - They are a little expensive these days...about Rs 150 or so, I guess... - His grandfather was killed and scalped by the Sioux (a red Indian tribe) - He has compiled biographies of over a thousand gunfighters of the West - Several of his novels have been made into movies (check site https://louislamour.com for more info) - He has won 51 of 59 fights as a professional boxer Lastly, it would be my dream to buy his whole collection of books. So if any of you have some and are planning on selling them, or if you know someone who is....contact me!! I’m sorry to do this here...but that is how crazy I am!! P.S I was surprised that he did not exist on MouthShut before this!!