Riders of the Purple Sage: A Western Duology

We have two of the characters isolated for an extended time in a lush wilderness. We have a young single rich Morman women she cares for Gentiles while fending off unwanted advances from the elders in the Mormon church these elders wear guns and kidnape babies. It all sounded a bit much for a cowboy yarn. So I read on in awe.
The other remarkable thing about the book is its attitude toward the Mormon religion, Gee I wonder if they really were that horrible? What on earth would currant day mormons think of this western I wondered. Funny how the Gun totting child stealing Bishop rang true. I hated him and was glad he got blasted away. The hero is an avowed "killer of Mormons". I suppose, this could reflect a prejudice of the time, and I kept wonder how my present-day Mormon friends would regard this novel.

Grey is not a great writer and in particular, he cannot do dialogue. In fact, the dialogue initially was so awful if iI hadn’t been a book banger read I would have been tempted to close the pages.

However, I'm glad I stuck with it. It is such a wonderful and strange story and has such a perfect sense of place and tone. Weird but it actually works. I can not imagine how he could have written this. Do you think he used some of his dentist drugs to fire up his imagination? Anyway I really loved the descriptions and the fabulous Hero

Truly I found this an amazing book. Written in 1912. by a dentist that loved the Frontier. His books have been adapted into 112 films. This particular book was his best selling novel I found out. After I finished the book I was still shaking my head at the amazing story line.

Steadfast belief in Mormonism has begun to cause Jane, a single Mormon woman , to loose her wealth. A kidnapped woman whose brother, bent on revenge,searching for the culprit finds more than revenge in Cottonwoods Utah. Cattle thieves, gunfights, love and danger ,added to more kidnapping make for high adventure in the old west. All that and more from a master wordsmith makes this novel a must read for anyone who loves westerns.

The writer painted a vivid setting that put me there in all the action. The story line reminded me of the Ole Hop a long Cassidy movies I Ioved to go to every Saturday at the tower theater in Reno back in the fifties, Yeah, I'm that old. But still enjoyed this book, I really wanted to follow the hero's and heroines trail after they burned the ranch, I wonder if there is a sequel to this, anyone know?

Good old style read by America's prototypical western novelist. You will not like it if you are a Mormon, as the Mormon bishop, Elder and dark oppressive town are the big villains. Definitely not politically correct today. Bu the book is full of terrific Southern Utah imagery.

I wanted to read it because it was his first novel after writing a biography set in the North Rim of the Grand Canyon that started his career.

Read all the way through his works. You will love them.

not finished yet but am really loving the landscapes.. i just returned from traveling out west and so am really enthused about the western background.. the plot moves quickly and it keeps my attention... my grandfather read all of Zane Grey's novels and liked them all.

We listened to the audio version of this while driving and camping all over southern Utah. This book is excellent and I highly recommend it. The writer has a unique style in describing the Utah environment and listening to this greatly added to the overall experience of our trip.

Written in the first quarter of the 20th century, the novel portrays Grey's interpretation of the history of Mormon life in pioneer days and the interactions with non-Mormons. The best aspect of the book for me was the beautiful description of scenic southwestern landscapes.

Mormons, good and bad, played a large role in this story along with the gentiles in their vicinity. I have no idea if any Mormons in power would have done the things described, but many of the prejudices, conflicts and gender issues among all involved seemed realistic from my knowlege of history. As a story about a bygone era written in a later bygone era, it is helps to have a historical perspective to enjoy it.

Back to the days when extensive landscape descriptions frightened neither writer nor reader, this famous Zane Grey Western has not aged particularly well. I am not a Mormon but I was offended by its unrelentingly negative portrayal of their society. The plot is OK but moves a bit too slowly. Not that the book is devoid of charms: the landscape descriptions are fresh and unusual, the good guys and gals are very likable, the life of cowboys appears realistic in the sense that it is not unduly romanticized, so I would not rate it any lower than three stars and many readers might be more generous.

Politically incorrect for the current times. Zane Grey painted a beautiful portrait of the geographical area of southern Utah. The story was interesting and entertaining. The use of adjectives was excessive.

As a longtime reader of westerns, I've really disappointed myself in that I never read this book before now. If you are worried that a 100-year-old story will be hard to read, forget that notion. It's an easy read. And I couldn't put it down.

I liked the story line and the characters. At first I was disappointed - it moved so slowly and the style of the author was difficult at times to read but ultimately I found it very good and would read another Zane Grey.

I found reading this story hard going. I realize it was written as the Mormans would speak in those days. The story did capture the hardship and different nationalities trying to live together in those times

There have been just a few classic Western Story writers, but Zane Grey was my favorite. His descriptive skills are so enjoyable and I honestly believe that is why his books have remained so loved. Readers should re-read his classics to understand these skills

This is a melancholy remembrance of the old west, if it ever really existed. I bought it for my grandson, and he really liked it. I recommend this book to anyone who has a heart for nostalgia for a simpler time. It may not be Shakespeare, or Sir Walter Scott's "Heart of the Midlothian," but it is literature for the common man.

Riders of the Purple Sage is an American Classic. Zane Grey, who counted Theodore Roosevelt among his friends, establishes the time honored theme of the Mysterious Stranger (in this case Lassiter) arriving in the nick of time to prevent innocents suffering at the hands of Bad Men. This novel, along with Owen Wister's The Virginian set the tone for all future western writers.

This book was enjoyable in its simple naivete. Zane Gray's simple style would not be likely to satisfy a sophisticated reader used to more elegant novels, but it is entertaining and suspenseful until the end. The end however was a bit of a let down and inconclusive. I'm hopeful that he wrote a sequel answering my questions.

For many reasons, this is arguably the best western novel ever written. Great story line, lots of tension, and very descriptive. I found it hard to put it down--I kept getting to bed much later than usual because I couldn't put it down. A MUST READ for any fan of the genre, it will definitely interest fans of American, particularly western, history.

The author's writing style as well as his articulation is nostalgic, but well done. I am an older reader and did not have the opportunity as a youngster to read any of Zane Grey's books. I am clearly impressed with his style of expression.

Before last night Zane Grey was only a name known to me through TV's Zane Grey Theatre. I now learn that Pearl Zane Grey was a dentist who wrote nearly 200 western-style novels and died 10 years before I was born. Until I started this novel I had not suspected a Mormon connection or the State of Utah as a setting. My knowledge of what constitutes the West in American mythology is limited but I'm learning that it was a moving target as civilization and manifest destiny moved westward. It has just been in the last days that I learned that Mexican Immigration was an issue in Arizona in 1914. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised as next to Texas it has the longest border and geography favours it as a crossing point. Driven out of Missouri at a time when the only good Mormon was considered a dead one the Brotherhood are here painted as being as intolerant of `Gentiles' as the people who forced them to move west.

I'm finding this book a heavy read in spite of the fact that it's under 150 pages. [Research shows the page count is out by 200 pages.] For one thing there are extended physical descriptions of the landscape and the people. As others have pointed out the dialogue is somewhat stilted and there seem to be long periods in which little seems to happen. Somehow a bit more economy of expression would have helped. Throwing the Mormons into the mix added nothing to the story which seems to be somewhat light on plot. The author really didn't like Mormons!

A western classic by one of the premier western novelists! I have read this book several times and discover something new each time. Writing style is archaic by todays standards but easily read and understood. Will I read ir again? You betcha'.