After watching and thoroughly enjoying the 1883 and 1923 film series on Paramount+, I decided to read Lonesome Dove. I recall watching the miniseries 35 years ago. It was excellent.
The further I got into the book, the more I remembered how much I enjoyed the miniseries those many years ago. I proceeded to purchase it on Amazon Prime. After watching the first episode, Marie and I continued to watch the remaining three episodes on consecutive nights. Phenomenal. As much as we enjoyed 1883 and 1923, Lonesome Dove was superior to both.
The strength of the 1988 Lonesome Dove miniseries is the characters. Most notably, Tommy Lee Jones as Captain Woodrow Call and Robert Duvall as Augustus McCrae, two retired Texas Rangers. I search my mind and try to find any actor perfectly cast in a role like these two. The closest I can come up with are Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. The entire Lonesome Dove ensemble falls in the same category as Jones and Duvall, each perfectly cast in his or her role.
We often say the book is better than the film. While this may be the case with Lonesome Dove, I decided not to finish reading the book. That is how much I enjoyed the film.
If you enjoy a good story, good writing, and superior acting, I invite you to revisit Lonesome Dove. You will be glad you did.
Fifty-one years ago – nearly to the day – I read Leon Uris’s novel of Berlin in the aftermath of WWII, Armageddon. I still retain that first edition though the dustcover no longer exists. I read the book over a weekend in the spring of my senior year at the United States Air Force Academy. I am a slow reader, but I devoured this 632-page novel in two days, a personal record. 
