Warlock (New York Review Books Classics)

A fictionalization of some genuine happenings in the old west, this one tells the story of events (over a relatively brief period of a few months) in a western boom town called Warlock, so named for one of the many silver mines whose output draws and sustains its disparate and often unsavory populace. Denied a town patent through the inattention of the territory's senile military governor and law enforcement by an uninterested County Sheriff who prefers the relative safety of the county seat to dealing with the bad men who plague Warlock, the town's businessmen and notables determine to take matters into their own hands. Without authorization or legal standing the citizens' committee sends for a gunfighter who has made a name for himself elsewhere as a lawman for hire. And Clay Blaisdell comes, along with his close friend, the somewhat disreputable gambler Tom Morgan. Like Wyatt Earp and his dissolute gambler buddy Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Blaisdell soon sets about restoring order with some back up from pal Morgan. But Morgan is a strange and somewhat dark character, taking as much pleasure in being disreputable as Blaisdell seems to take in enforcing the law (even when he has no legally recognized authority to do so).At roughly the same time Blaisdell assumes his role of town marshal, a public spirited townsman accepts the Deputy Sheriff position in Warlock after having been shamed to see the last Deputy run out of town without a fight by a rowdy bunch of local cowboys from nearby San Pablo. The cowboys, led by Abe McQuown and his rancher father, the crippled and bitter Ike "Dad" McQuown, include a number of tough customers who, when not out rustling cattle or killing Mexicans across the border, aren't above backshooting or just blasting away at anything that moves in order to have their way with the townsfolk of Warlock. As the Clantons and McClaurys fought for control of Tombstone against the Earp brothers and their town allies, so does this loose group of McQuown cowpokes insist on their right to dominate the cowed town of Warlock.But Blaisdell soon backs them down, aided by Morgan who covers his back and a recently arrived former member of the McQuown gang, Johnny "Bud" Gannon. The cowboys are taken aback by their comeuppance and decide to get even, leading to a gunfight at the Acme Corral (yes, it's based on the OK Corral story) and the deaths of several of their number. But killings lead to more killings and further bad blood as the remaining McQuown group plot their revenge. Johhny Gannon, whose kid brother was among those killed at the gunfight, has signed on as a second Deputy by now but believes Blaisdell had sincerely tried to avoid killing those who opposed him in the gunfight and so refuses to take up a blood feud against the marshal, leaving the McQuown crowd to think him "yellow" while the townsfolk suspect he is just a trojan horse for his former comrades from San Pablo.Caught in the middle, Johnny Gannon wrestles with his own demons of fear, guilt and self-doubt as, it turns out, Blaisdell is wrestling with his. Tom Morgan's demons go much deeper than theirs though for he, in fact, identifies with his personal devils and so brings suspicion on the upright city marshal he calls his friend by taking several unsavory actions. Into this mix comes Kate Dollar, an ex-prostitute Morgan once pimped (like Doc Holliday's own Big Nose Kate, she is described as being beautiful with a prominent nose). Kate is hell bent on bringing Blaisdell down for a harm he once did her as a result of Morgan's machinations. There is also a sub-plot of aggrieved miners and greedy capitalists running in the background and another concerning the town's ongoing efforts to get itself legitimized, stymied at every turn by an uninterested County Sheriff and the senility of the military governor.Against it all Blaisdell plays out his hand, alternately becoming hero and villain in the eyes of different groups in town and among the cowboys themselves. The characters in this tale are legion though mostly well-limned as they ponder the reasons anyone does anything and switch, like some alternating current of emotion, between hating, fearing and admiring the billiant and self-contained gunman they have brought in to control the unruly bunch out of San Pablo.But even the cowboys are not entirely bad men. Some are worse than others but all are susceptible to the wounds Blaisdell's dominance in Warlock has inflicted on their pride and too quick, for that, to believe the worst of the marshal and of the two Deputies (especially of Gannon, their former comrade) who have taken on the role of augmenting the marshal's efforts to keep the peace. But it is Morgan's own demons which fuel the main plot as they drive him to add further difficulties to Blaisdell's situation while thinking he's aiding his old friend. Blaisdell, an honorable man himself, cannot see the bad in the gambler nor can Morgan understand the marshal whose sole aim seems to be upholding a law when he is not institutionally sanctioned to do so. The ever present Greek Chorus of an old and crippled "judge-on-acceptance", an often drunken town scold and, perhaps, former jurist, makes the lives of all and sundry unpleasant as they deal with the escalating violence, reminding them all that neither Blaisdell nor the committee have legal standing to undertake what they have done.As the killings multiply, Blaisdell's stock with the townsfolk rises and falls while Morgan's continues to plummet (to his own contrarian delight) -- though even he has his moments. After aiding the marshal at the Acme Corral shootout he is briefly hailed as a second hero and basks in the same adulation so often accorded Blaisdell. But Morgan poisons the well, as if for spite, and rapidly regains his position as the marshal's feet of clay.Overall this is a lengthy and complex tale, highly nuanced for this genre and quick to turn the tables on the usual stereotypes. Where Blaisdell fits the bill of the strong silent hero and even seems to want to play the part, we're told he's arrogant and proud as well, despite his affinity for the niceties of justice and the law, and like so many others in this novel, he, too, is wracked with self-doubt. As the story ends it's Blaisdell who rides off into the sunset as the conventions of the genre provide, but not in the way we are accustomed to seeing our heroes depart. This is no  Shane  after cleaning up the town for the poor sodbusters by shooting the dread gunfighter, Wilson.There's plenty, though, to this tale, even if it does get off to a rather slow start and seems to throw too much into the pot at times, what with miners' unrest, capitalist maneuvers to cut their pay (due to collapsing silver prices), a town doctor who can't decide whether to be a union leader or love the woman Blaisdell covets, and the final, unexpected arrival of the cavalry -- though this time the cavalry manages to play a somewhat disreputable role in the whole business. The story is full of twists and turns but its strength lies in its portrayal of a deeply flawed humanity, everyone doubting him or herself and the intent of others, while fame and admiration are but fleetingly on offer, as quickly withdrawn as given. In the end it falls to the "black rattlesnake of Warlock", Morgan himself, to free Clay Blaisdell from the trap of his own code of honor and the public opinion on which it depends but, being Morgan, the gambler must finally play out what can only be a losing hand.Years ago there was a movie made from this book ( Warlock ) with Henry Fonda playing Blaisdell, Anthony Quinn playing Morgan and Richard Widmark playing Johnny Gannon but, as it is with Hollywood, the film necessarily simplified a very complex story. In some ways that simpler version was better*, I think, for this book suffers from a case of the "too muches": too much plot; too many characters; too much self-doubt; too many big moments; too much probing of the deep questions; and, certainly, too much angst. The details of the novel suggest that the author had read deeply of the public record concerning the events in Tombstone in Wyatt Earp's day where competing newspapers of the time left us a record of deeply conflicted viewpoints concerning the bloody conflict between townsfolk and cowboys which the Earps found themselves involved in. This fictional version is a fit reimagining of those events but, in the end, the real story resonates more strongly in some ways than this tale of Clay Blaisdell, Tom Morgan and the other players on Warlock's stage.Stuart W. Mirskyauthor of  The King of Vinland's Saga _____________________________________________________________________________________* Interestingly, on the evening after I wrote this review, I caught a showing of the film Warlock on cable (the first time I'd seen it in some thirty years) and I have to say that it's not nearly as good as I remembered. Perhaps on reconsideration, the book really is better despite its busyness of plot and character and the incessant angst, self-doubt and ever shifting opinions among its many characters and groups which seems excessive to the point of unreality in a book aimed at what Robert Stone, in his introduction, calls literary Realism! Tom Morgan, as played by Anthony Quinn, comes across, moreover, as a very strange bird indeed, more a figure of whining self-pity than the darkly menacing, if conflicted, killer he is in the book.

I learned of this book's existence thanks to a TikTok video about revisionist Western novels. I'm so glad I did. This story is based on some real places and people but is larger than any of them. It takes a hard look at myth and legend and chooses instead to try to get at truth through fiction. I finished this novel feeling like I needed to clean the dust off my boots. I'm not wearing boots.

"Warlock" is a dark reimagining of the familiar legend of the showdown at the OK Corral at Tombstone in the Arizona Territory. Author Oakley Hall has fleshed out the time and the place, writing from the perspective of the 1950's. This is a much more complex story, a journey into darkness and the imperfectability of men (and women).Fans of Oakley Hall will likely find no surprises in his delivery. For others, patience is called for during a slow build of the tensions at the heart of of the story. The end product may, or may not, be what you thought you were signing up for. Recommended.

Incredibly relevant today for something written in the 50s. But, as that was the McCarthy era, maybe not such a mystery. The underlying story is how to bring order absent a viable governing infrastructure.And, it's a terrific western. The writing is first rate literature.

No, this novel has nothing to do with Charlie Sheen. Instead, it's one of the four great (20th century) Western novels, along with True Grit, Butcher's Crossing, and Blood Meridian.Instead, it's a literary version of the TV show Deadwood. A 19th century frontier town struggling with issues of law/justice/order, union organization in mines, and the politics of incorporation into the United States. The attention to political and personal power dimensions within Warlock is impressive. It can be a difficult read at times because the ensemble cast is extensive, and remembering information about 15-20 townspeople (and bandits) can be frustrating. Perhaps a guide a la 19th century Russian tomes might have been helpful.For anyone well-versed in Western mythology, this is a goldmine. I have as of yet been unable to figure out the connections between the politics of the period (the last 1950s), the author, and the political and cultural perspectives that Warlock portrays and supports, but it would be fascinating to compare Warlock to the more popular manifestations of Western mythology which were so popular in the 1950s (in TV and film), such as The Wild Bunch, Gunsmoke, High Noon, and the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The fundamental dichotomy between Clay Blaisdell, the hired gunslinger-marshall, and Bud Gannon, the outlaw turned deputy (with a heat of gold), underscores the question of frontier justice.A combuination of War and Peace, Deadwood, and perhaps some Steinbeck, the novel doesn't feel the need to openly ruminate on the manifold questions it raises. Like the conversations of its characters, it retains gritty and direct without explicit explications of its implicit meaning. This is a good thing.Were it not for its title, Warlock mightbe appreciated for the novel that it aspires to be -- and is -- and one might make the point that it should receive more academic or scholarly attention. More to the point, it should be read and appreciated for the tremendous novel that it is.

I came to this book knowing neither of its literary recognition, nor of its having been filmed. It seems to me to be a novel of quite outstanding quality, poised somewhere between myth and reality. As a western it stands beside McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” and “The Border Trilogy” and McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove”, and they don’t come any better. Like “Blood Meridian” it is based in part on actual events and as another reviewer notes, we are certainly reminded of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday via two of its central characters Clay Blaisdell and the charismatic Tom Morgan.It is rare to discover so thought provoking and subtle book that at the same time moves at such a compelling pace and is so incident-packed. Given time, I could have happily devoured the whole at a single sitting. Without question it is a western but like all great novels – and I have no qualms in placing it in that category – it transcends the genre. With great skill Hall filters events and their significance through the consciousness of several characters. Most prominent in this role stands the one character almost totally removed from the action, the store owner Goodpasture, whose journals work throughout to prevent any easy, moral perspective on events. However, we are also taken inside the minds of others: not only observers like the Judge, but also those at the heart of the action: Bud Gannon, Morgan, David the doctor and the ambitious young miner, Jimmy Fitzsimmons.Outside Warlock and the mines, there are two other key locations, San Pablo, where the now near-outlawed cowboys live in uneasy alliance, and Bright City, whose authority over Warlock both threatens and stabilises. Characters we encounter only from the outside are the two key women: Miss Jessie Marlow, so instrumental in the fortunes of Clay Blaisdell, and Kate Dollar, both shrouded in mystery by virtue of their distance and laconic utterances.The array of sharply-individualised characters is remarkable. From Abe McQuown and father, Jack Cade, Curley Burne to Carl Schroeder, Pike Skinner, Mosbie, General Peach and many others. The novel never once relinquished its hold on me. I know that I shall return to it again and again. A really exciting discovery.

It's not just me that thinks it's a great novel. This book was a finalist for the prestigious Pulitzer prize in 1958. And despite having great literary credentials, it's extremely readable. I found it hard to put down and leave - but it's a decent sized book; you won't read this in one sitting.I'd seen the film of the same name starring Richard Widmark et al, so knew the background and characters, but the book is so very much more detailed and complicated. Everyone has his or her own agenda. The marshal is determined to go by the rules, as he sees them; his friend Morgan has complete disdain for the rules. The Deputy, Gannon, is determined to hold to his integrity despite the hostility from everyone around him. The women have more of an important role here too, and are very complex, well-drawn characters. It all hangs together very well. Part of it is written as journal entries in the first person, and the rest as third party viewpoint. For someone like me with very little knowledge of US history this is an insight into how frontier towns struggled to come into existence (this novel is set in 1881). I was gutted to finish it and am reading it through again. It's worth it. This is the best book I've read in many years.

Full of insight and bruised nobility.

Excellent western, one for the purists.

The town council of a mining town hire a marshal to control the cowboys from a nearby ranch. Clay Blaisdell, who is evidently modelled on Wyatt Earp, is a no-nonsense enforcer of his own rules, who will and does kill anyone who crosses him. Another main strand to the story is the miners in dispute with the mine owners and manager.There are a number of other subplots, involving the inner thinking’s of a number of very finely drawn characters. The good are never perfect and the bad are not totally evil. The book is very well written.It is somewhat surprising that it does not feature in many lists as one of the finest westerns written. That is perhaps because it is a little “literary” and insightful of human nature, rather than just recording their deeds. But there is no doubt that it is of the western genre with plenty of action. At least it is recognised by the New York Review of Books.