Legend of the Painted Horse - Hardcover

Combs, Harry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385312016 ISBN 13: 9780385312011

Publisher: Delacorte Press, 1996

Synopsis

As America leaves behind the battles on the Western frontier and turns to a new type of conflict in World War I, young Steven Cartwright leaves the mountains and ranches of Colorado to become a crack fighter pilot over the battlefields of Europe. But Steven returns from war a hardened young man, seeking strength from his old friend Brules who taught him about life, love and survival.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

It's difficult to believe that this artless novel comes from the author of Brules and The Scout, to which this is a kind of sequel. In the Rocky Mountain wilderness in 1950, Steven Cartwright, a 52-year-old Colorado rancher, sits by a campfire, hopelessly smitten by his beautiful 24-year-old companion. Hoping to charm the young woman, Cartwright, who was once the young protege of legendary frontiersman Cat Brules, launches into an apocryphal tale about how the painted horse came to America. This artifice is quickly abandoned, however, as Cartwright commences to render a big, gaudy portrait of himself as an aviation pioneer and authentic all-American hero. Beginning with his eastward migration to Yale at age 18, Cartwright recites a litany of feats in the classroom, social clubs and football fields?and of learning to fly in his off time. With the U.S. entry into WWI, he was commissioned by the Navy and, overnight, became a legendary pilot. Modestly confessing his successes with the ladies, he includes his role in the early formation of Pan Am Airways and his heroism in WWII. In a dime-novel denouement, Cartwright describes how he put the war on hold, speeding to the bedside of the dying Brules in under 40 hours?just in time to tell him he has proof that the old man is his grandfather. Finally, our hero grudgingly confesses he won the Medal of Honor. The wide-eyed heroine avows her lifelong adoration, and the history of painted horses goes a-glimmering. Readers may want to note that Combs himself, who is an octogenarian rancher, was an aviation pioneer. As a quaint history of early aviation, this is mildly amusing, but as the final chapter in the saga of heroic Cat Brules, this Walter Mitty-like tale is a big disappointment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

By a mountain campfire's light in 1950, middle-aged Steven Cartwright tells his life story to 24-year-old Becky, who as a child was adopted by his mother. This storytelling technique is similar to the one Combs used much more effectively in his earlier novel, The Scout (LJ 5/15/95), in which an old mountain man, Cat Brules, narrates his own story to young Steven. The Legend of the Painted Horse comes off as a mishmash of the author's research (e.g., how the paint horse was introduced into North America by Norsemen), a reprise of Steven's relationship with Brules, and incidents engendered by Combs's own extraordinary experiences, most of which would interest the reader on their own merits. The stilted dialog and haphazard presentation of Steven's narrative soon squelch a promising opening scene. Not recommended.?Robert P. Jordan, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0385312016
• ISBN 13: 9780385312011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 257