I almost gave up on this book. It's a little heavy handed with the dramatic descriptive phrasing, which always drives me crazy (hello, White Oleander).
But I'm glad I hung in there, because I ended up loving the story.
Two friends leave their home in Texas on horseback, and ride to Mexico in search of a new life. Along the way they meet some folks and have some adventures.
I was very moved by the spare writing style. There is not a lot of dialogue, and much is put into describing the landscape. Textures and sounds. The mood of the book is hard to describe, but I'll say it is kind of like an ache. There clearly won't be an ending with white doves and balloons, and I kept waiting for someone to die. It's the kind of book where you just know someone is going to die. Despite my somber description, there is something of a happy ending, and I felt it suited the story and characters well.
The book reads very masculine to me. Living off the land, using your wits to survive, working and sweating in the sun... it struck me as being the kind of thing a man would wish for. Especially a man who currently wears a suit to work and spends 50 hours a week in an office toiling under a florescent light. This book is the opposite of that.
At its heart, this is an adventure book. Love, friendship, adventure. And horses. Thumbs up.
