Book Review - The Last Picture Show: A Novel by Larry McMurtry

Title: The Last Picture Show: A Novel
Author: Larry McMurtry
Year: 1999
Page: 288
Genre: Fiction

New to me author? Yes
Read this author again? Probably not...
Tearjerker? No
Where did it take place? US
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from the library

Summary (from goodreads.com):
In The Last Picture Show Larry McMurtry introduced characters who would show up again in later novels, Texasville and Duane's Depressed. This first volume of the trilogy drops the reader into the one-stoplight town of Thalia, Texas, where Duane Moore, his buddy Sonny, and his girlfriend Jacy are all stumbling along the rocky road to adulthood. Duane wants nothing more than to marry Jacy; Sonny wants what Duane has; and Jacy wants to get the hell out of Thalia any way she can. This is not a novel of big ideas or defining moments; over the course of a year Duane and Jacy make up and break up, Sonny begins an affair with his high-school football coach's wife, and the only movie house in town closes its doors forever. Yet it is out of these small-town experiences--a nude swimming party in Wichita, a failed sexual encounter during a senior trip, a botched elopement, an enlistment--that McMurtry builds his tale and reveals his characters' hearts. No epiphanies here, just a lot of hard-won experience that leaves none of his protagonists particularly wiser, though they're all a little sadder by the end.

First Sentence:
Sometimes Sonny felt like he was the only human creature in the town. 

  
Why did I pick this book?
Book club pick for August. 

My thoughts:

• This is definitely NOT a book I'd have picked to read. But that's part of the charm of joining a book club so you are exposed to books you don't know about, and at least to give it a try! And you get to hear others' perspectives - while you get that from reading online reviews, but it's nice to be able to have a instant interactive conversation

• I read about 2 or 3 chapters and just lost interest. I have to say, I can vividly "see" the story as I read, but the topic, characters or plot just bored me... I did google spoilers for the book, and let's just say, after reading a 500 summary, I felt satisfied in knowing how the plot went without having to read it (though there are some, let's say, disturbing, pieces of the story that didn't make it to the summary, but I heard about it from the book club discussion! Still, didn't feel like I missed out on anything!)
   
• There is a movie for this book too but I doubt I'd watch it.  

• I guess I am just not very interested in learning about what teenagers did in small towns in the 60's... 

• Would I read other books by this author? Don't know... not if his other books are similar... if it's another book club read, then I'd give it a try. Probably not one I'd pick over others.

 
Rating: 0 Star - Did Not Finish

 

Have you read this book? 
If you have, I would love to hear what you think! I'll link your review here if you wish!