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    Hombre
    Hombre
    Hombre
    Audiobook4 hours

    Hombre

    Written by Elmore Leonard

    Narrated by Richard Poe

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Grand Master Elmore Leonard is justifiably acknowledged as “the best writer of crime fiction alive” (Newsweek)—and, in fact, one of the very best ever, alongside other all-time greats like John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker. But he has also many acclaimed masterworks of American western fiction to his credit—including Hombre, the basis for the classic Hollywood motion picture starring Paul Newman. Set in Arizona mining country, Hombre is the tale of a white man raised by Indians, who must come to the aid of people who hate him when their stagecoach is attacked by outlaws. As thrilling as his contemporary novels of crime, double-cross, and murder in Detroit and Miami, Hombre is Elmore Leonard at his riveting best—no less than one would expect from the creator of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Justified).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 21, 2017
    ISBN9780062683014
    Hombre
    Author

    Elmore Leonard

    Elmore Leonard wrote more than forty books during his long career, including the bestsellers Raylan, Tishomingo Blues, Be Cool, Get Shorty, and Rum Punch, as well as the acclaimed collection When the Women Come Out to Dance, which was a New York Times Notable Book. Many of his books have been made into movies, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight. The short story "Fire in the Hole," and three books, including Raylan, were the basis for the FX hit show Justified. Leonard received the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN USA and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He died in 2013.

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    Reviews for Hombre

    4/5

    137 ratings16 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Rightfully so, Elmore Leonard is best known for his crime fiction, but Leonard was not always a mystery writer. He began his career, in fact, as a writer of western novels and short stories, and he made significant contributions to that genre. And, just as with his crime novels, several of Leonard’s westerns were chosen by Hollywood producers to become major movies of the day. Hombre, written in 1961, was one of those so chosen, and in 1967 it became a feature film starring Paul Newman as “Hombre,” a white man who had been raised by his Apache kidnappers. “Maybe he let us think a lot of things about him that weren’t true. But as Russell would say, that was up to us. He let people do or think what they wanted while he smoked a cigarette and thought it out calmly, without his feelings getting mixed up in it. Russell never changed the whole time, though I think everyone else did in some way. He did what he felt had to be done. Even if it meant dying. So maybe you don’t have to understand him. You just know him.”As a boy, John Russell was taken from his family by Apaches who made him one of their own. Now, Russell so easily passes for Apache that the light color of his eyes is the only startling thing about his physical appearance. Russell continued to live with the tribe even when it was eventually forced onto the reservation, so for all practical purposes he considers himself to be Apache - not white. But now, John Russell, sporting a fresh haircut and dressed as a white man, is on a personal mission of his own, and he finds himself on a small stagecoach making its final run across that part of Arizona. When the other passengers realize who John Russell really is, they want nothing to do with him — even to forcing him to ride atop the coach with its driver. The passengers include a young woman who has just been recaptured from the Apaches who had held and abused her for several weeks, another woman and her Indian Agent husband who has a secret of his own, and an intimidating cowboy who bullied his way into the stage at the last minute. Russell, who has little other choice, tolerates the abuse, but he’s listening to their words — and he’s taking notes. But then everything changes. Suddenly, the passengers are begrudgingly depending on John Russell to keep them alive. And John Russell is probably just as surprised as they are to find himself defending a bunch of people who hate him so much. Bottom Line: Hombre is significant in the degree to which it exposes the exploitation and deadly abuse suffered by the Indian tribes at the hands of those who continually invaded their lands, and it is highly sympathetic to that point of view. It is also a novel about the foolishness and hypocrisy of any kind of racism that happens to have been written in the midst of America’s civil rights movement of the fifties and sixties — and the timing was no accident. This is a reminder of just how good and impactful a western novel can be, and I highly recommend it.
    • 4/5
      John Russell was raised as an Apache and is generally treated as such by the townsfolk near where he lives and works as a horse wrangler. He has a business matter to settle a few towns over and so joins the passengers on the last stagecoach due out before the station closes down. The passengers are an eclectic bunch consisting of the former clerk of the station who’s off to look for a job elsewhere, the Indian Agent from a nearby reservation along with his wife, a young girl recently rescued who just wants to get back home and a thug of a man who bullied his way into the final place for the trip. When the others find out who Russell is they don’t want him riding inside the coach with them but this is a decision they may come to regret when they are held up by a bunch of outlaws who leave them in the middle of nowhere without horses or much water. After the way they treated him will he help them or leave them to the mercy of the outlaws who are about to return to finish them off?With themes of survival and prejudice this is a fairly simple tale of the old west where the rule of the gun was the only law. It’s the first of the author’s westerns that I’ve read being more familiar with his thrillers but this still retains the snappy dialogue and fast pace that is synonymous with his work. While there are some very good action sequences that’s not all there is to this book as we get to examine the characters and ethical decisions they make through the eyes of the clerk as our narrator for this tale. A quick and enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Who knew that the author of dark, comedic crime novels like Get Shorty and Raylan also wrote pretty darn good westerns too. This little book is often sited as one of the top 25 crime novels, and as I've been trying to read some of the books on that list, I read this one. My love of Lonesome Dove has started this quest. Although this book doesn't have the scope of Lonesome Dove, it has a lot going for it. It's short, but full of action and full of realism. It all begins with the introduction of one of the toughest guys you'll ever see in a western - John Russell. He looks like an Apache, but he has startling blue eyes. Russell had chosen to live with the Apaches for a time when he was young, but he was adopted by a white rancher when he was about 12. The rancher has died and left John his ranch, and the book begins with him trying to get back to claim his inheritance. He's thrown in with a motley crew of white people as they take a stage to the town closest to the ranch he's heading for. The stage is robbed and the rest of the book is a battle of wills between the robbers and John Russell. As Mendez says at the beginning of the book to his employee Carl - "Take a good look at Russell. You will never see another one like him as long as you live." And by the end of the book we still don't know John Russell, but we know what he was made of. It's an edge of you seat little western thriller that is packed full of action and human interaction.
    • 3/5
      A fun little tale.
    • 5/5
      Hombre - Elmore Leonard *****I love books like this. A relatively simple storyline, straight to the point dialect and plenty of action. The plot isn’t slowed down with daft love interests and the men are proper men who wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes...John Russel was raised by the Apache but has now decided that he wants to return to civilisation and live as white man, he boards a stagecoach hoping this will be the next step in his chosen path. He becomes embroiled in a bitter fight that leaves him and the other passengers marooned in the desert. He must make a decision whether to stay and help or look out for himself. Coupled with racial tensions and the obvious prejudices of the time, every character has his or her flaws. This book really is a nailbiter until the last bullet is fired.Would I recommend? Definitely. Leonard reminds me very much of James M Cain, the same sort of blunt writing that just reaches out and grabs your attention. It is surprising that a novel with so few pages can have such an impression. This may have been my first by the author, but I can guarantee it won’t be my last.
    • 5/5
      Truly a great read that ended as it should have. A gem sitting on my shelf I finally took off when I needed a beach book. 190 of the best pages I have ever read. Classic westernWill surely read 3:10 from Yuma now and watch the Paul Newman movie as well.
    • 3/5
      A short, solid western, but not a standout for me.
    • 4/5
      Let me start with this admission. I have never seen the movie. Seems kind of unheard of considering I enjoy movies, I enjoy older movies, and I enjoy Westerns. But I just haven't had the opportunity with this classic. But that's not a bad thing. In fact, except for a very few exceptions I would say it is much better to read a book, get the nuances, and then watch the movie. (You're talking about someone who is not going to watch any of Game of Thrones until he has read the entire series.)And now admission number two: This is the first book of Elmore Leonard's I have ever read. The most embarrassing part about that admission is that I really had no idea there was an Elmore Leonard until his passing. Reading the accolades and learning about his body of work, I gave myself the mission of making up for that significant failure.So my approach to this book was about as blank canvas as might be possible considering the author and the specific piece.Let me start the actual discussion of the book under review with one of the most obvious statements that might be made. This Elmore Leonard guy can write. Now, for those of you who have already delved into his works and marveled at his craft, I have just said something akin to "Lincoln did some cool things " or "That Gandhi was kind of a nifty guy" or any other ridiculously obvious statement you can imagine. But if you, like me, haven't tasted of the talent, then you have a wonderful surprise (so good it is still a surprise even if you are warned) ahead of you.The characters come to life, the mood and locations feel real, and, the absolute best part of it all, the story moves nicely. Succinctness that speaks volumes.The only "bother" with this particular case is that it is a story that seems to suffer from what time has done to our perceptions of the West in general and Native Americans in general. In addition, this story has a hint of 60s rebellion (it is the Old West, so it can't be that specifically, but it has some of the "vibe" of the time) that dates it slightly. I guess the continued tribute to Leonard's writing is that, in the hands of any other author, this would all probably come crashing down over time. The book in hand has, as I've said, hints of age, but not enough to make the reader do more than slightly pause.The quick synopsis of the story is that there is one last stage out of a dying town. It is evident that the characters involved all have "something going on." What that something is becomes part of the overall reveal of the story, but it includes a plot to rob the stagecoach. One passenger is John Russell, a man who is part Apache. The other passengers refuse to accept the half-breed. The robbery occurs, they need his help, and it becomes a story of their survival and begrudging willingness to use the help that is offered. Yes, a very basic plot. And even the twists and turns are not of the "Wow I can't believe that happened kind." Again, what was new in the 60s has now become somewhat expected. And yet, that writing...It is easy to imagine why this was a best seller as well as being picked up for a movie option. My first toe-dip into the world of Elmore Leonard has proven what most say to be true. And, spoiler alert, I've already begun reading more. He just keeps on giving.
    • 4/5
      An excellent book made into a movie that followed it very closely starring Paul Newman. It just doesn't get any better than that. It's a western, very realistic & gritty.

      Leonard's characters are all flawed in such interesting ways. The hero is a halfbreed who resents the hell out of the world & makes life hard on himself because he won't communicate. It's not stupid, but understandable the way Leonard writes it. The logic of each character is remorseless. Like a train wreck, you can see it coming but it is inexorable, so all you can do is watch in fascination & wonder about the details.
    • 3/5
      A good, tightly plotted, and character study Western by a master of the genre. The movie has the added advantage of Richard Boone, but the novel's quite good.
    • 3/5
      Good. I read this after viewing the movie, and it's impressive to see how closely they match -- proving that Leonard is so good at dialogue that it can go directly to the screen without changes. I recommend both the book and the movie.
    • 1/5
      I never read mysteries, I never read Westerns, I never read thrillers. I read this in order to think about something that would contrast against the books I usually read. It was an interesting exercise. It's a "classic Western" (although it's not at all clear what that expression means), written, distantly, in emulation of Hemingway.Leonard wants to demonstrate the simplest form of moral judgment, one that depends on avoiding passions and complexities, and minimizing communication. His protagonist, Russell, says very little, and emerges as a hero. That's a common trope in Westerns; it reminds me of Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, and many others. But why would such a character be interesting? The kind of reader who would be satisfied by a book like this would have to feel a need to simplify character: to such a reader, people would appear unhelpfully or uninterestingly complex in real life, or in other novels, and so it would be desirable to find the most basic types of people. The intricacies of psychology, morals, and ethics would have to appear as deceptive, irrelevant, or even dangerously ill-conceived. There would be a fear of ambiguity and weakness, of moral and social entanglement, and of relationships. All those apparent problems are easily solved by a characters so unavailable to society that they can only appear as heroes or a villains.In terms of writing, Leonard has a special interest in brief moments of decisive action. He expands them, in slow motion, and that produces a characteristic effect of drama: but why is he interested in them to begin with? Maybe he feels, somehow, that real human interaction takes places in those compressed moments. But of course it doesn't: it takes place slowly, painfully, incrementally, over lifetimes. Life would be simple if it happened mainly in an instant.
    • 4/5
      Hombre by Elmore Leonard is a classic gem of a western tale. This author, known for his thrillers, has also written some of the best westerns around. This is a simple story of a loner who helps the survivors of a stagecoach robbery, but in Leonard’s capable hands a story of prejudice, survival and moral honesty emerges.Hombre is John Russell, a man who was raised by Apaches but lives in a white world that doesn’t accept him. Told he is not “white” enough to ride in the stagecoach, he is banished to ride upon the roof. After being robbed and left in the desert with no transportation or water, these same people turn to him and expect him to save them.Once can’t help but picture Paul Newman as Hombre, a role he made famous in the movies. Every time the character’s piercing blue eyes are mentioned, I saw Newman’s face. This is a quick read, but though short in page numbers, there is a powerful story here and one that I really enjoyed.
    • 4/5
      I rarely read Westerns, although I love "Lonesome Dove" (which I guess is in a class all by itself.) This novel, made into a movie starring Paul Newman, is lean and excellent. The prose is unassuming and the characters true. It's a fun, quick read that makes you want to read another Western, even if you don't think you like Westerns.
    • 3/5
      Part of the interest in the book lies in its movie connection. EL experiments with using the first person perspective, but not the main character, Russell or Hombre. The need to add some colour to the narrator's character often seems gratuitous. Often the strength of EL's people lies in the revelation of their inner thought processes. The use of the narrator closes this option, so Russell appears most of the time in a two dimensional perspective only. The possibilities inherent in the contrasts within his character therefore remain mostly possibilities. We might expect the narrator, as the direct cause of Russell's death, to reflect remorse in some way, but this does not occur. Unlike later EL books, the dramatic and uncertain interplay between the central male character and the woman or women never occurs. The emptiness of Russell's life, neither Anglo, Mexican or Apache, tends to paralyse the narrative rather than at least injecting pathos. The self-sacrifice of the central character without clear motives becomes meaningless, but this is never transposed to a broad comment about life. By the time of Valdez, much of this stuff had been sorted out and the essential EL taughtness had appeared.
    • 3/5
      I loved the film Hombre especially the parts played by Paul Newman and Frederic March and I was curious to read the book to see was there any difference between the novel and the movie. I was not disappointed as the film did reflect the book accurately.The genre of the western with the clash between good and evil with the added twist that the main character is a "white man" brought up by the Apache Indians. The use by the author of a narrator to tell the story and advance the plot adds to the enjoyment of the novel