{"id":530,"date":"2025-11-02T18:37:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T18:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/?p=530"},"modified":"2026-01-11T15:56:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:56:31","slug":"riders-of-the-purple-sage-by-zane-grey-1912","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/2025\/11\/02\/riders-of-the-purple-sage-by-zane-grey-1912\/","title":{"rendered":"Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (1912)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251102_080249-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251102_080249-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251102_080249-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251102_080249-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251102_080249-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251102_080249-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was a very well written book. It is a classic western. The description of the various scenes was its strong point. (I also learned some things like how milling can stop a stampede and wonder if the term is related to a circular millstone with lines that turn in on themselves.) However, the characters and plot were also very strong. From a current perspective a criticism might be that some of the story was a bit stereotyped and formulaic, but this was written in 1912. It probably feels this way because this set a standard that other Westerns later copied. That being said I felt like a large part of the ending was predictable and a bit on the unintentional dark side (however, I am trying to not put spoilers here) mixed with positive outcomes. Overall I recommend this book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When reading this you might be interested in Moki steps carved into cliff sides and ancient Pueblo dwellings. I put a couple of links below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Links: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Riders_of_the_Purple_Sage\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Riders_of_the_Purple_Sage<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Riders-Purple-Sage-Zane-Grey\/dp\/1500564796\">https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Riders-Purple-Sage-Zane-Grey\/dp\/1500564796<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moki_steps\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moki_steps<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ancestral_Puebloans\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ancestral_Puebloans<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vocabulary: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Acclivity p. 36 \u2014 An upward slope. The opposite of declivity. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Akin p. 9 \u2014 similar or related. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Canter p. 163 \u2014 the second fastest three beat gait of a horse (just behind a four beat gallop). <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Colloquy p. 118 \u2014 conversation, sometimes implying a serious dialogue. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Confab p. 176 \u2014 informal private discussion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Coquetry p. 100 \u2014 flirting. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Descried p. 20 \u2014 catching sight of a distant object by looking carefully. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Desultory p. 224 \u2014 unfocused, occasionally, lacking a plan, wandering or without enthusiasm. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inimical p. 174 \u2014 antagonistic, unfriendly, hostile, obstructive. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inviolate p. 52 \u2014 safe.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Knell p. 90 \u2014 the sound of a bell. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Languor p. 84 \u2014 weak, sluggish, hot, humid. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lassiter p. 8 \u2014 This one had me wondering. It is the name of a character that is an infamous gunman in the book. However, it is also used as the name of a famous pistol in <em>Firefly<\/em>. I wondered if there might be a connection but when I looked it up it says the film gun was named after a friend of Joss Whedon. <a href=\"https:\/\/firefly.fandom.com\/wiki\/Lassiter\">https:\/\/firefly.fandom.com\/wiki\/Lassiter<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lassitude p. 75 \u2014 weary and without energy. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>League (distance) p. 33 \u2014 About a mile. It has a variable definition. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/League_(unit)\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/League_(unit)<\/a> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Levity p. 108 \u2014 not taking things seriously enough. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pique p. 99 \u2014 stimulate or excite, can range from causing anger to curiosity. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Propitiation p. 146 \u2014 appeasing. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quirt p. 25 \u2014 a short braided riding whip. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rod (distance) p. 89 \u2014 16 1\/2 feet. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rod_(unit)\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rod_(unit)<\/a> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Skulking p. 68 \u2014 stealthily keep out of sight, avoid notice. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Soliloquized p. 42 \u2014 talking to yourself out loud. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sorrel (horse) p. 161 \u2014 reddish coat. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sublimity p. 90 \u2014 majestic. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Swale p. 149 \u2014 a low spot between ridges that may be marshy and or shady. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Temerity p. 101 \u2014 confident and bold. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Upbraided p. 143 \u2014 scold, berate, find fault. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vacillation p. 154 \u2014 indecision between two choices. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vamoosed p. 145 \u2014 to leave in a hurry. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Verdure p. 5 \u2014 fresh green lush vegetation. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wended p. 68 \u2014 to slowly go by an indirect route to a location. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This was a very well written book. It is a classic western. The description of the various scenes was its strong point. (I also learned some things like how milling can stop a stampede and wonder if the term is related to a circular millstone with lines that turn in on themselves.) However, the characters [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literature","tag-books"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251102_080249-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":542,"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions\/542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floyds.space\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}