Hombre Audiobook By Elmore Leonard cover art

Hombre

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Hombre

By: Elmore Leonard
Narrated by: Richard Poe
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About this listen

Grand master Elmore Leonard is justifiably acknowledged as "the best writer of crime fiction alive" (Newsweek) - and, in fact, one of the very best ever, alongside other all-time greats like John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker. But he has also many acclaimed masterworks of American Western fiction to his credit - including Hombre, the basis for the classic Hollywood motion picture starring Paul Newman.

Set in Arizona mining country, Hombre is the tale of a white man raised by Indians, who must come to the aid of people who hate him when their stagecoach is attacked by outlaws. As thrilling as his contemporary novels of crime, double-cross, and murder in Detroit and Miami, Hombre is Elmore Leonard at his riveting best - no less than one would expect from the creator of US Marshal Raylan Givens (Justified).

©1961 Elmore Leonard (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
Crime Crime Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Westerns Exciting Suspense
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Critic reviews

"Narrator Richard Poe's steady, resonant tone; subtle accents; and superb timing bring out the sagebrush and tumbleweeds in this Western classic...the combination of Leonard's naturalistic writing style and Poe's baritone voice makes this a gripping listen." ( AudioFile)
Complex Character Study • Moral Questions • Complex Hero • Tense Situations • Subtle Storytelling • Dramatic Performance
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The performance of the story by Richard Poe is simply outstanding in every way, it’s dramatic without being overblown and he clearly delineates the voices of the many characters. The book is short, more of a novella, so when it was made into a great film by Martin Ritt not much had to be left out of the movie version. However there were many subtle changes from the book, some characters were consolidated and new ones created for the film which was all very fascinating to discover from hearing this original version. I enjoyed it immensely.

Classic Elmore Leonard Western

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Great book. Great narration. The kid and Russell were voiced to perfection. Hombre is one of greatest characters in Western pulp fiction!!

Even better than the excellent movie.

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Already said it .... Nicely done (but apparently the rating system requires more words) .

Smokin' great Western

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I defy any reader to put this book down. great audio book. all characters are memorable.

terrific

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A not quite fully satisfying story -- unusual for Leonard -- but a well told tale. And a superlative performance by narrator Richard Poe.

A classic Elmore Leonard western story

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Was looking for a book along the lines of something similar to the Hateful Eight, but this somewhat fell short of my expectations. Still a very good book. You’ll enjoy it if you like westerners.

Good but not great.

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Superb scene report throughout with convincing dialogue. Be sure to enjoy the film rendition, Paul Neuman at his best.

“We all die, it’s just a question of when.”—Johnrussell

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“Hombre” is a finely crafted, complex character study. It’s about a man named John Russell, some bits Mexican, some bits European descent, what the people of the time
Would call “white.” Russell though is Apache raised. He is a riddle the narrator really wants to figure out.

Russell becomes the unlikely hero of a band of people who don’t much like him after a stagecoach robbery leaves them stranded and on the run. The group must turn to Russell because he is the only one who can lead them out of the Arizona desert to safety.

From the description above it sounds like this should be a standard western action adventure. Leonard however has done something far more subtle. “Hombre” leaves almost everything to the reader to decide. You get a sense that Leonard has his own thoughts about Russell and his charges, but he never forces those on us. In this way he is like the hero, is that the right word, at the heart of “Hombre.” John Russell never tried to make people share his thoughts or convince you. That is your business.

Elmore Leonard’s finest western.

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well like the writer said meet John Russell. Such a great story and read very well

outstanding

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What made the experience of listening to Hombre the most enjoyable?

Suspenseful, surprising.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Actually listened to it all in 2 sittings

Any additional comments?

Early work by Leonard very different from his later books but still really good.

Early Elmore Leonard starts slow, gets really good

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