Observe and Rapport

I get a s**t ton of book recommendations. Most I politely file away.

But every now and then, the universe gets pushy. Multiple people from different corners of my life all insisting I read the same thing.

In this case, the book was Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

I’m not gonna lie, through the first 200 pages I was thinking, “This is the book everyone won’t shut up about?” I kept waiting for the big plot twist, the explosive action, the grand drama. Instead, it just sort of... wandered. Slooowly. It felt like an old cowboy muttering stories around a campfire while making coffee. But like a slow-burn TV series, I figured if I pushed through a few more episodes (or in this case, another hundred pages) something would click. Thankfully, it did.

What makes Lonesome Dove so remarkable is that it isn’t really a page-turner in the modern sense. The plot is almost secondary. The real engine of the novel is the characters: their quirks, their flaws, the way they talk. The characters feel more real than people I actually know. McMurtry lets you understand people so completely that you sympathize with them even when they’re being insufferable.

On the surface, the novel contains all the classic Western ingredients: cattle drives, gunfights, whiskey, outlaws, storms, raids into Mexico, river crossings, and plenty of dirt and sweat. But underneath all of that, the book is really about relationships - friendship, duty, masculinity, loneliness, aging, the quiet sadness of people who never learned how to say what they actually feel.

At the center of it all are former Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, two of the best characters I’ve ever encountered in literature. Gus is charismatic, hilarious, emotional, and endlessly talkative. Call is stoic, emotionally constipated, and seemingly allergic to vulnerability. Together, they form one of the most fascinating and oddly believable friendships I’ve ever read.

Rating: 4.7 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well, suffice to say, this is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. Just a masterpiece from beginning to end.

I often heard it referred to as a “modern retelling of Cain and Abel,” but that is much too simplistic. Steinbeck takes the story and makes Cain (in the form of Cal Trask) the most human character in this book. He’s not driven by evil, but by a desperate need for love from a father who seems to favor his twin brother, Aron. The tension of Cal wanting to be good, but not knowing how, is what makes him unforgettable.

Set in California’s Salinas Valley, the novel traces two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - as they unknowingly reenact the oldest biblical stories: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the eternal pull between good and evil. But beneath all of it, Steinbeck is really asking a deeper question: Are we bound by our nature, or do we get to choose who we become?

That’s where the novel’s most powerful idea (and the inspiration for my next tattoo) comes in: timshel — “Thou mayest.”

Not “Thou shalt” (commandment) or “Do thou” (obligation) but Thou mayest. We have a choice.

It’s a subtle linguistic tweak, but it reframes God not as a dictator, but as a giver of freedom. It means that we have the free will to choose between good and evil, rather than having our destinies preordained. That seems to be the ethos of all of the characters within this book. Timshel gives power back to the individual.

That idea alone makes this book worth reading.

Also, Netflix is coming out with a series for East of Eden starring Florence Pugh. Excited for that to be released.

Rating: 5 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was one of the most fascinating non-fiction books I’ve read in a long time. Ryan Holiday often cites this as one of his most recommended books, and within the first 25 pages, I understood why.

John Vaillant takes us on a journey into arctic Russia in the mid-1990s. On the Pacific coast, bordering China, North Korea, and the Sea of Japan, this stretch of Siberian territory is as remote and isolated as one can get. He describes an unforgiving landscape that’s a mix of forest, jungle, coastline, and boreal tundra with wildlife extending from tigers, leopards, deer, wild boar, Himalayan bears, sea lions, crocodiles, moose, snakes, badgers, and hundreds more. Out here, the only role for humans is survival. Armed with tea, ci******es, and homemade bullets, the small population in the Primorye region lives on very little.

While the book is filled with rich history detailing post-perestroika Russia and the lives of the stoic bunch inhabiting this land, it’s really a story about a tiger.
The Amur Tiger is one of the largest cat species on the planet. The size of a station wagon, Amur tigers evolved to grow thick coats to survive the rough winters in northern Siberia. With night vision six times stronger than a human’s, they stalk their prey as solitary hunters, staying hidden and totally silent right until the moment they pounce. For decades, the people of Primorye lived somewhat peacefully among the tigers in their territory. There was a mutual agreement that as long as they weren’t bothering each other or disrupting their environment, they lived in harmony. That is, until one particular tiger began attacking the villagers — not out of starvation, but out of vengeance.

At the core of the story is the investigation of a unique mauling in 1997 and the team that is dispatched to look into the killing.

Recommending this one to anyone searching for a fascinating tale rich in history, lore, and drama.

Rating: 5 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just gonna peak in quick…