The Virginian

by Owen Wister
306 pages

This is a Western classic.  The Virginian is a true cowboy, but he's got the heart and soul of a true gentleman.  He lives by the Western code of honor, which is very different from that of the East.  Unfortunately, his code of honor causes conflict with his sweetheart's Eastern sensibilities and threatens to destroy their future together.

I LOVED this book.  I never thought I'd say that about a western, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down.  My only complaint is that the southern dialect of the Virginian is a bit hard to understand in places, but this book is so beautifully written that it makes up for it.  Wister really made me think about ethics and whether things are always as black and white as we make them.  This book has given me a lot to think about, and I may re-read it at some point in order to digest it more fully.