Midnight Cowboy by James Leo HerlihyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Having not seen the movie, I had no idea about the story line. It is surprisingly sad, with the loneliness of Joe Buck. I found the first part, how he grew up to be the saddest part. How can a boy who is ignored grow up not quite understanding human relationships; how to get along with people? Joe is a very naive man, but does learn, and knows himself at least to some degree. Even before getting to New York he proclaims he is stupid, that he doesn't know a thing. Once in New York his naivety made me so worried for he was clearly going to be taken advantage of, it was just a question of how bad was it going to get.
One thing I enjoyed in this book is the language, the writing. The descriptions are surprising and pleasant to read. Or in my case, listen to as I read this as an audiobook. The narrator did a superb job, with aptly differentiating various characters.
We have foreshadowing, dreams to give us information that Joe doesn't acknowledge in himself. The writing, really, is very good. This is one of those books that would give you more on a second reading. I don't know if I will, I mean some of the subject matter, Joe trying to be a hustler, and such, well, not my typical read. In spite of that this book was a good read. Perhaps I will instead look for another book by the author.
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