Shane Paperback – March 18, 2014

I liked, probably as many others, was really surprised to see how different this was in the movie. Leave it to Hollywood to have a little pizazz a. Having said that I, enjoyed the book much more than the movie even though I did like (very, very much) the movie it’s my favorite western of all time.

Shane is a classic of course and still perfect. Everyone should read it at least once to understand what America really is. The lies told in the present will soon shrivel, but the truth remains forever in this book about Shane.

Jack Schaefer has set his story at the time of Wyoming's Johnson County "wars" between cattlemen and anyone, like rustlers and homesteaders, who cut into their profits. First published in 1949, the novel also reflects something of the war that had just ended for Americans who fought in Europe and the Pacific. We have a young family struggling to put down roots on the frontier, wanting little more than an ordered life and the opportunity to make a living among a gathering of neighbors who want the same for their own families.But they are prevented by men who want the open range for themselves and their own economic interests, and they'll stop at nothing to get their way. While the father of the family attempts bravely to hold his own, his neighbors are intimidated, feeling threatened and outnumbered. Shane, a man with a shadowy past, arrives in the middle of this conflict, and while he assumes for a time the life of a hired hand, his gunslinger services are eventually needed to defend the lives and property of the family that has given him a home. We see what we have suspected, that he is a killer, and there's no place for him in their sunny, settled world. He must go back on the trail and disappear.Given the time in which it was written, "Shane" is a commentary on the role of violence in a world where law and order, on an international level, had been in short supply. Americans - and especially returning soldiers - had seen this for themselves. The novel carries this disturbing awareness right into the daily life of home and hometown. The mystery of Shane's identity suggests that what he represents in the story is a darker side of ourselves that does not integrate well with the more honorable aspects of self we prefer to acknowledge.The simplicity of Schaefer's tale, and his choice of a boy as narrator, allow readers to fill in a lot of details and emotions that tap into their own deeper fears and desires. The two men joining forces to uproot the tree stump is like a scene from a dream that wants to be understood - it's not just about a tree stump. But what? While the film for all its widescreen glory is not without merit, it's dated in a way the book may never be. In its 250+ pages, it speaks of elemental forces and how we go about living in a world where we are threatened by circumstances beyond our control.Thanks to the University of Nebraska Press for assembling this critical edition which includes several fine essays providing historical background, analysis of the text, commentary and reviews on the film adaptation.

With summer in full swing, it felt like nigh time to settle down to reading a western classic. I’ve owned by copy of Jack Shaefer’s Shane for quite some time, so this was as good of time as any.Schaefer’s classic novel is not your typical Western even though it has its share of the notable staples of this genre—good guys vs. bad guys, depictions of a landscape, epic confrontations and conflict, and the theme of fighting for justice. It has all these elements, but also is definitely a novel that is a coming-of-age tale as it is told from the point of view of young Bob Starrett, who looks at this stranger named Shane coming into his life.Although this novel could be labelled a “young adult” novel (and rightly so), it is a subtleness and depth under the veneer of the surface level storytelling. There’s quite a bit going on underneath the surface, and this is not just because of our young narrator trying to figure out the world. It is also because there is a strong complexity to Shane’s character. He has a mysterious past that is difficult to penetrate because as much as we know about him, there is equally as much we do not know about him. There is a noble, gentlemanly, reserved stoic quality and respectability to him, but also a hard edge, no-nonsense, and dangerous quality as well. At points, from Bob’s point of view, he takes on characteristics of a mythical, heroic figure:“He was the symbol of all the dim, formless imaginings of danger and terror in the untested realm of human potentialities beyond my understanding.”And, of course, the novel on its surface level is about Shane finding his way into the Starrett family’s lives and their conflicts with a rancher who wants to drive the family out of their land and basically push them around. Shane comes into the picture, and there is quite a confrontation. And, as Shane becomes more familiar with Starretts, Bob understands and learns lessons about life along the way.Shane is an old-time Western that has earned it definitive reputation. I know that most are more familiar with the film, but this is a solid classic for Western fans.

SHANEwritten by Jack Schaefer, Illustrated by Wendell Minor, (Houghton Mifflin,1949), 224 p, 12+yrsThe Starrett family’s life forever changes when a man named Shane rides out of the great glowing West and up to their farm. Young Bob Starrett is entranced by this stoic stranger who brings a new energy to his family. Shane stays on as a farmhand, but his past remains a mystery. Many folks in their small Wyoming valley are suspicious of Shane and make it known that he is not welcome. But dangerous as Shane may seem, he is a staunch friend to the Starretts—and when a powerful neighboring rancher tries to drive them out of their homestead, Shane becomes entangled in the deadly feud that will change the Starrett family forever.Themes: Classics, Families, Friendship, Heroes, Wild West

Excellent book! I have watched the motion picture “Shane”, staring Alan Ladd, more than a dozen times. Best western ever!