The Western genre is said to have first emerged in the 1850s in the Mid-West Americas. By the 1900s western themes were popular nationwide as America got their western fix from western film, novels, theatre and Penny Dreadfuls, short stories, in small paper books sold usually to the middle class. These stories were often very dramatic with lots of love and death making for the western world the perfect setting.
The genre’s appeal is usually related to action, romance or crime (or a combination). Whilst there may be some character development, the genre holds little focus in generating original characters but instead uses the same typecasts again and again. The protagonist is usually a semi-nomadic cowboy, gunslinger or bounty hunter who will face the antagonist, a grizzly bandit, murderer or corrupt towns-person (the sheriff can never be trusted). Their confrontations will include gunfights in the frontier city and booze-fuelled brawls in the saloon but ultimately all will end in a showdown at high noon where a figure of authority will shout “Draw” and the resolution will be found there.
The theme ‘Wild Wild West’ highlights all the classic theme we love about the Western genre. In this blog we will showcase some great western novels that Western fans and readers new to the genre will all love!
No comments:
Post a Comment