Charlie Flagg, the aging, stubbornly independent hero, endures all the personal and environmental hardships which life and nature impose. Reduced to its basic narrative utterance, The Time It Never Rained is a powerful restatement of the Job story. In The Time It Never Rained, ranchers talk continually about such practical matters as their herds, their crops, and the prospects of rain but beneath such practical matters, Kelton analyzes the ultimate and potential dignity of man when not only survival but humanity itself is at stake. I deliberately used the term “American” novel rather than “Western” because even though the book deals explicitly with the problems of contemporary west Texas ranchers during a period of prolonged drought, Kelton implicitly raises fundamental issues which probe dramatically beneath the parochial concerns of cowboys. $6.95.) Elmer Kelton’s new novel, The Time It Never Rained, is one of the best American novels of the year. POULSEN, University of Utah The Time It Never Rained. Refusing the questionable "help" of federal aid programs, Charlie and his family struggle to make the ranch survive until the time it rains again-if it ever will.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ģ30 Western American Literature This sensitive collection penned by a sensitive man should be read with pleasure by historians, folklorists, and critics of literature alike. To Charlie Flagg, an honest, decent, and cantankerous rancher, the drought of the early 1950s is a foe he must fight on his own grounds. With entire livelihoods pegged on the chance of a wet year or a dry year, drought has the ability to crush whole enterprises, to determine who stands and falls, and to rob workers and their families of food. To the ranchers and farmers of 1950s Texas, man's greatest enemy is one he can't control. Can he catch the thieves, save the ranch, and win his son's love? The Time It Never Rained Bitter landowners plot against him, determined cattle thieves sneak right under his nose, and his own son refuses to trust or even know him. Espy Norwood is a troubleshooter already wrestling with a slew of problems when he lands a job on a ranch on the Texas plains-and more trouble finds him. In the early days of the Texas panhandle, starting a new life is hard, but keeping it is even harder. With Hot Iron and The Time It Never Rained, this omnibus by legendary Western writer Elmer Kelton offers two complete novels of the American West at one low price Hot Iron All books from our inventory are good to like new condition, unless otherwise stated.
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