The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford audiobook

I fell in love with this book on the first page, with the opening lines, “He was growing into middle age and was living then in a bungalow on Woodland Avenue. Green weeds split the porch steps, a wasp nest clung to an attic gable, a rope swing looped down from a dying elm tree and the ground below it was scuffed soft as flour.”There begins a master class in description that continues until the novel’s end, and the environment becomes almost as large a character as the protagonist himself as Hansen blends fiction, myth, and fact in the telling of final years of Jesse James.There’s a beautiful pace to the story that matches that of the era. The story rarely gallops but instead focuses on the key moments in the build up to the critical event of the title. And this should not be considered a criticism. This is not a story of gimmicks and quick cuts, of action and surprises, though there is enough gun-play to satisfy fans of the western genre. The title ensures that you are already party to the story’s biggest surprise. Instead you enter into this world as a historian fly on the wall, have your senses ignited, and observe the downfall of a man many thought was great, at the hands of a lesser man who felt himself bound for greatness. It is a novel about the building of icons and the iconoclasts who would face them, with the final third dealing with the Ford brothers' celebrity after the assassination. In re-telling the story this way Hansen reveals the differences between fame and notoriety, and the pitfalls of grandiose youth wanting a shortcut to celebrity still present in society today.If there’s a criticism at all it’s that the typeface in the paperback version is quite small, making the book seem endless – though perhaps this is a gift in a strange way too. But if you can deal with this, and accept the pace and heavy description this is a rewarding novel about a fascinating time in history.

What makes this book is the language. Though I am no authority, it has effectively captivated the language we would expect from the time. Hansen is definitely a researcher and it shows, but on top of that, the story seems removed from the contemporary. It breathes forward to us from another time, even though it was probably composed on a computer. The language and tone, generating that removal from the contemporary, provide the elevated platform to be awed at, Jesse James is a realized mythological character here. Robert Ford is aptly awkward and I am not entirely comfortable to how much I find myself relating to him.A great read.

Ron Hansen entitled this remarkable book "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" not because he agrees that Robert Ford was coward, indeed, Bob Ford spends much of the last third of the book attempting to prove that he was not a coward, instead, Hansen seems to be drawing our attention to the fickle attitudes of a public that romanticized Jesse and demonized Bob. Yet Hansen's Jesse James, while one of the most compelling and well wrought characters ever committed to a novel, is far from a hero. He is a simple thief, a murderer, a man that beats children and expresses no regret for it. Eventually these sins warp him into a man wracked by superstition and paranoia. The title seems to draw attention, not to Ford's alleged cowardice, but to his other sins; his pride, his vanity, his wrath, and, most importantly, his envy. A murderer at the age of twenty, Robert Ford's name forever became synonymous with the death of Jesse James. An outcome which Ford in his youth and naivete actively sought, thinking it would bring him fame and glory. He discovered instead that the act gained him the loathing of an entire country. As one segment puts it; "No account he'd ever read had the grace to remark on when or where he was born, who his kin were and how he was raised; they never remarked on the Moore School, Blue Cut, the grocery store, his agreement with the government; it seemed enough to say that Bob Ford was the man who shot Jesse James, as if his existence could be encompassed in that one act of perfidy."The tragedy of Bob Ford is not that he went down in history as a coward. Hansen demonstrates throughout that the judgments of history are arbitrary and to court its favor leads only to misery. Rather Hansen seems to hint that the true tragedy is that Ford never came to recognize his sins as such; defending his actions when confronted, putting up a wall of pride, constantly defending his honor with further acts of violence. Even until the very end Robert Ford is unable to utter the words that would absolve him of the burden of guilt, words of humility and contrition that proved beyond his reach even in the face of death.

"Jesse sat low in the chair with his boots kicked out, drew off the soft red cap by its cotton ball, then reached out and snuggled Tim close to his chest. He said, 'Let me tell you a secret, son: there's always a mean old wolf in Grandma's bed, and a worm inside the apple. There's always a daddy inside the Santa suit. It's a world of trickery" (138)."In order to satisfy the many requests for his picture, Bob agreed to sit for a studio photograph in the second week of April. He wore green wool trousers and a gray tweed coat that was buttoned just once at the short lapels and then curtained away from a green vest. He resisted sitting on a chair and suggested instead a gracefully scrolled and sculpted staircase, seating himself on the fifth step, his right hand dangling slackly off his right knee as his left grasped a gleaming Peacemaker, a photographer's prop, that was artificially rested on his left thigh and calling attention to itself. He looked like a grocery clerk accidentally caught with a long gun in his hand. A correspondent asked why, if Bob was right-handed, he'd gripped the gun with his left, and Bob answered, as if nothing further needed saying, 'Jesse was left-handed'." (239).

Ron Hansen was the first living author of (semi)fiction I'd read in years. I'd seen the movie and LOVED it - my favorite of the year. It reminded me of "Thin Red Line" and I was not surprised to find that the director of Assassination, Andrew Dominik, had been involved with Malick.The movie is S... L... O... W..., so if you're looking for Bruce Willis type action, skip it. There's a voice over and that's what drove me to the book. I hoped that same poetry would be there and it was.Who uses the words 'moat' and 'dungeon' as verbs? Hansen does. His language takes you right in to the midst of the story in a way I've never read before.One of my greatest longings is to know the American past, so I'm always reaching for anything that helps me glimpse how it may have been. Hansen delivers.I tried to read Desperados after that, about the last living Dalton brother, but couldn't quite get into it.

By far one of my best reads this year. Maybe even of all time. I had watched the movie adaptation and was always drawn to the narrator monologues and how poetic and well crafted they were. It was only until recently that I discovered they were lifted from a novel written by Ron Hansen. His command of the language at the time, his descriptions and beguiling way he offers up beautiful phrases is sublime. Part history, part fiction, this book serves as both a wonderful anatomy of James and Ford as well as a bible to which most writers should reference in order to guide them should they find themselves lost. Savour every word and immerse yourself in every page because very few books like this exist. Even if you're not concerned about the life of Jesse James, read it to see how legends can be articulated in the most perfect way.

Ron Hansen’s 1983 debut novel is meticulous in its Western realism and historical worldbuilding. Neither revisionist nor postmodern, but a secret third thing. Hansen uses detailed social history to breathe life into unsung characters and doomed bystanders. The mix of muted elegy and unvarnished violence is faithfully captured in Andrew Dominik’s 2007 film adaptation with cinematography by Roger Deakins.

It's all about the tempo, the plot was skillfully set, alittle bit slow, the interactions, and the outcomes...concerning the movie, cinematography was really great, the music, and as aspecial note Cassey Affleck performance...

I really enjoyed this book. Really good blend of history and narrative, and Mr. Hansen took time to really dedicate his audience to understanding of the characters.

Excellent read

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, written and directed by Andrew Dominik, based on the novel by Ron Hansen8 out of 10A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... and http://realini.blogspot.ro/This is a remarkable film.With two Academy Awards nominations, including for Best Performance by an Actor in a supporting role, the movie was acclaimed.It has 25 prizes and a total of 65 nominations, with a nod from the Golden Globes, for the same Casey Affleck.He was excellent in role of the Coward Robert Ford and is the winner in the Leading Actor category at the latest Academy Awards.Brad Pitt portrays a suspicious, haunted, violent, perhaps depressed Jesse James that asks at one moment:- Charley, did you ever consider suicide?He was talking to Charley Ford, Robert or Bob’s brother, on an ice covered lake, on which they were advancing cautiously.Jesse James expressed a rather unfavorable opinion of charley, whom he considered to be rather dumb.Nevertheless, charley feels better to be around with than his brother, Robert that used to have a fascination with Jesse James.He has a box in which he keeps newspaper cuttings and photographs mentioning the band led by the outlaw.At one point we are told by the interesting voice over – Hugh Ross is the narrator and he does an excellent work-that:- The two most famous people in America are Jesse James and Mark Twain- People on the street are more likely to identify Jesse James than anyone else- if I am not mistaken…In the first part of the film, we witness a train robbery, involving the outlaw, his brother Frank James portrayed by the always outstanding Sam Shepard, Charley ford, Wood Hite- a cousin of the leader, played by Jeremy Renner.After this incident, the gang separates and there are frictions and animosities between various members.Dick Liddil and Wood Hite visit the latter’s father, married to a woman that seems to be fifty years if not more, his junior.This is an occasion for some laughs and tense, erotic, awkward situations, starting at the table, where the old man has to use a strange device placed in his ear in order to try and hear what is said around him.Wood Hite warns his companion Dick not to get any ideas concerning the young woman and says out loud-She knew what she was getting into, for he was in the same state when she married him, so careful with what you plan.Before going to bed, Dick talks to the young wife and they are clearly attracted to each other, beyond the kind words they exchange.The two young men share the same room, with Dick Liddil getting ever more restless in bed and pretending he has to use the privy…Well, he actually does want that, but it is to get together with the sensual, inviting young host, who is sitting inside.She invites the young man to join her, for she does not mind him and this was potty humor, from an awkward scene.The two young men are fighting over this and the disregard proved for the warning and Wood Hite even tries to murder his former mate.It makes sense for Jesse James to kill a few people along the way, manifest himself violently and help Robert Ford become ever more upset with and even hateful towards his former idol that likes to push him around.This is an unusual drama that even if it takes place in the “West” could not be called a western, with psychological insight, beautiful scenery and great performances all around.

The story begins with Frank and Jesse James, whose relationship was strained to antagonistic, gathering a bunch of local rubes for one last heist. The story ends with the death of Robert Ford nearly a dozen years later. In between Hansen weaves a fascinating tale of intrigue and violence surrounding many of those who robbed the Chicago & Alton Railroad on Sept. 7, 1881, five years to the day after the James and Younger gang got shot up trying to rob a bank in Northfield, Minn. Written by Ron Hansen, this book came to my attention after watching the movie by the same name. This story is so well done that I carried the book with me for two weeks and read it when I could. When we find good books, it is actually exciting to open the pages and knowing we have great stories waiting for us makes life a little brighter.One of the things that I liked best about the writing was Hansen's telling the story in the language of the period, roughly 1880 forward. Consider Hansen's description of the gang that Frank and Jesse James gathered for their final robbery of a train near Blue Cut Missouri:"Here thirteen men squatted with coffee and idled or cradled shotguns: croppers and clerks and hired hands, aged in their late teens and twenties, wearing patched coveralls and wrinkled wool trousers and foul-looking suit coats that exposed their wrists, or overcoats the color of nickel, of soot, that assorted weeds had attached themselves to. They were hooligans, mainly, boys with vulgar features and sullen eyes and barn-red faces capped white above the eyebrows. They were malnourished and uneducated; their mouths were wrecks of rotting teeth. Consumption was a familiar disease , they carried infirmities like handkerchiefs; several were missing fingers, one was sick with parasites, another two had lice, eyes were crossed or clouded, harelip went undoctored."I had creative writing instructors who might have give low marks to Hansen's writing for the amount of "telling" (vs. showing) in his writing, but it worked for me. I found his descriptive passages vivid and creative. Published in the early 1983, the book was fine spice to my life. I encourage you to put this book in your hands.

Look, I don't know how much of the "novel" THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD is true; I don't know how much of the dialogue and interaction and actions of the characters actually took place, or were embellished by a very gifted Ron Hansen. But does it matter? The account of the final days of infamous outlaw Jesse James (and the subsequent final days of his killer) is "historical fiction", in any case (the definitive oxymoron, if you ask me). What does matter is this tightly written tale is as fun a read as I've come across in years. Hansen has vividly captured the flavor and pysche--and grit--of post-Civil War Americana. His prose recreates the flare and panache of the 19th Century dime novel; his book is heavily (and delightfully) populated by descriptive passages such as this: 'Zerelda gazed at Bob and mushed vegetables with zig-zag motions of her gums, her lips protruding like the clasp of a purse. She looked to Jesse and said, "I don't know what it is about him, but that boy can aggravate me more by just sitting still than most boys can by pitching rocks." ' Depicting the final train robbery of the notorious James Gang, followed by the band's break-up (and some of its members exited stage left involuntarily), THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD is a fascinating look inside the head of Jesse Woodson James--a calculating, diabolical killer, yet devoted and cherished family man. As a bonus, we get to climb around inside the head of Robert Newton Ford, an undistinguished nobody who yearned for attention. Surrounded by a cast of very colorful characters--most of whom die prematurely--this is a fabulous novel, an absorbing, entertaining read. Any truth, as they say, is somewhere in between.

I saw the film adaptation of this book several times before reading the book. I love how it tells the story and how it was shot. The photography and music were spot on and the acting was nice too.After reading the book, it feels like the movie was made to be a sort of companion to the book rather than an adaptation. The two lean on each other and thrive as one piece. They act as a sort of collaborative diptych.While the book has beautiful meandering descriptions of people and events, the film focuses (obviously) on the visual language. When I first saw the film I felt like it viewed as a book that I was visualizing as I read it. When I read the book, I had the film to fall back on mentally to aid through some of the scenes. They both came more alive with the existence of the other. The book describes people and events that couldn't be fit into the film and adds a sort of multi-faceted richness to it.Something that particularly interested me was the way that the dialogue in the film is almost verbatim from the book, but moved around to make a more linear, cohesive story that worked visually instead of the textual story that could afford more bouncing around.It's difficult for me to judge these as two separate pieces because of how they work so well together.