A review by michelle_leitheoir
The Kid by Ron Hansen
3.0
A thoroughly researched and sympathetic portrayal of arguably the most famous outlaw of the Old West. Punchy dialogue and gritty characterization breathed life into this 100-year-old story in a way that made it feel real. This wasn’t the romanticized dime novel sheriffs-and-outlaws type of book I was somewhat expecting. It was dusty, bloody, and sad. It blurred the lines between good guys and bad guys. It felt honest. I guess that’s a good word for it. It didn’t excuse or condone Bonney’s lawbreaking, but it made me feel the sort of frustration and desperation and anger that could make a hot-blooded young man without much guidance in his life think it was the only just option.
I will say it took me a long time to get used to Hansen’s on-again, off-again approach to fictionalizing the history, though. Sometimes it reads like a history book. Sometimes it reads like a novel. Stylistically, that didn’t gel very well, and it tempted me to abandon it a time or two. Hansen writes both styles very well. VERY well. As a reader, though, it’s less jarring to stay in one place. I think it would have read more smoothly as a pure, 100% novel with some of the historical notes in either an epilogue or an author’s note. It never quite found that balance between narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Such a fine line between those two, and this one just hopped over it way too many times.
Once I got over my frustrations with the style (and the cast of characters got to be a little more constant - my goodness, it’s aggravating, trying to keep track of who’s who when everyone is getting shot so early on), I really found it easy to immerse myself in the history and ride along with Bonney on his exploits.
I will say it took me a long time to get used to Hansen’s on-again, off-again approach to fictionalizing the history, though. Sometimes it reads like a history book. Sometimes it reads like a novel. Stylistically, that didn’t gel very well, and it tempted me to abandon it a time or two. Hansen writes both styles very well. VERY well. As a reader, though, it’s less jarring to stay in one place. I think it would have read more smoothly as a pure, 100% novel with some of the historical notes in either an epilogue or an author’s note. It never quite found that balance between narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Such a fine line between those two, and this one just hopped over it way too many times.
Once I got over my frustrations with the style (and the cast of characters got to be a little more constant - my goodness, it’s aggravating, trying to keep track of who’s who when everyone is getting shot so early on), I really found it easy to immerse myself in the history and ride along with Bonney on his exploits.