When I saw the prompt for A Western on the Popsugar Reading Challenge, I thought now would be a good time to read one of Louis L’Amour’s books. He was after all, considered a master of the western genre. I sold so many of his books when I worked in bookstores.

Deciding which one to pick was hard. L’Amour has written over a hundred books, and when I was in the library, I didn’t want to take the time to research which of his books was the best. (The library has poor cell service, too.) So after scanning the shelf quickly, I decided on How the West Was Won. I’d heard of that.

I wish I hadn’t.

The book starts slowly, except it doesn’t really. Each scene has got plenty of action, but it just reads slowly. Do you know what I mean?

I got 50 pages into it, and was having to make myself sit down to read it. That’s not a good sign. Then I read the additional information at the end of the book, about how the book came to be.

I discovered that L’Amour was doing the novelization of the book for MGM, and he grew to hate the book because they kept having him revise the story based on how they were shooting the movie. It took him months and months to get the finished book off his plate. Sounds like a horrendous business all the way around.

I wasn’t willing to give up on the story yet. It could have some redeeming qualities. So I decided to check out the movie. The screenplay won an Oscar in 1962. How bad could it be?

Bad.

Not even Debbie Reynolds and Jimmy Stewart could keep me watching. And I love Jimmy Stewart! But his acting was so strangely wooden I couldn’t keep watching.

So I’m giving up. I think. The book’s due back to the library on Sunday, and I may try to finish it, but I am not going to make myself. Not sure if I’m going to try for another western later on or not. There’s a reason I generally don’t read westerns.

Life is too short to make myself read things I’m not enjoying.

No stars. Can’t rate things I haven’t finished.