The Time It Never Rained Mass Market Paperback – April 1, 2008

Long before anyone had heard of online shopping or even personal computers for that matter, I had a favorite bookstore, the largest in Chicago, part of a local chain. Squeezed out by discounters, the store, and the entire business went belly up about twenty years ago, when Amazon had barely been born. The store had a category of books it called "Men's Adventure," all paperbacks, and populated by the books of two authors, Louis L'Amour and somebody named William Johnstone, who wrote the Man Mountain books. That was it, two authors. There wasn't a lot of demand for western novelists in the City of Big Shoulders, I guess.I never dipped into Johnstone, but read a few L'Amour books after 60 Minutes did a segment on him, and it was revealed that he was Ronald Reagan's favorite novelist. Great Presidents can be lousy critics. I gave up on L'Amour after I realized I could not distinguish one story from another, one hero from another, or one brutally written page from another. I had not read a western novel since, with the exception of some by Larry McMurtry, who is thought of not as a western writer, but a general novelist, probably because many of his books are so long. The paperback editions of his novels rested in a completely different area of that old bookstore.It was a writer in my favorite political magazine who penned a blurb praising The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton, and its theme of self-reliance that spurred me to read the book. Even then, I could not imagine how the story of a Texas drought would keep my interest. I was wrong, guilty of urban conceit, and should probably be punished by being docked wages for a day or two. Good thing I work for myself.This is a great novel, with a wonderfully stubborn and decent lead character, Charlie Flagg, determined to see the drought through without help from the government. The idea of accepting help from the feds is anathema to Charlie, and a violation of his personal beliefs. There are also interesting parts of the book too, dealing with the treatment of Mexicans by whites, perhaps the first book since McMurtry's Hud to cross the subject of interracial relations between the two.Kelton wrote with a simple, direct elegance, unhurried, sometimes even spare. The author I can most compare him to was not a novelist at all, but Ulysses S. Grant, whose Personal Memoirs evoke the same style. Both men wrote of what they knew best, Grant war, Kelton the West. The man whose strategy won the Civil War was a reluctant author, writing the Memoirs only because, broke and dying, he wanted to provide for his family. Kelton, a writer all his professional life, fought in, but never led in a war, and never made it into the history books. The thing he did was stir the reader's heart and teach us to respect and love the real working cowboy, not the ones swathed in dramatic mythology. For Elmer Kelton, that was enough.

The subject of this book- the culture and politics of mid century ranching in West Texas- holds no special interest for me. It is all the more compelling testament to the book and its author, then, that I was thoroughly engaged by this world and the characters who inhabit it. I can't think of a better way to say it than that it rang true to me.***SPOILERS***By way of mild criticism, I wish the story had had at least something to say about Charlie's upbringing, his father, his mother, his early experiences. That ethos of his didn't come from nowhere, someone must have given it to him.Moreover, I was very unsatisfied with the ending. I did want a happy ending, I admit, but I was prepared for it to end with Tom's demise by one means or another, in fact it felt like it was setting up for that. What I disliked about the ending is more that it was really hardly an ending at all. Besides Page Mauldin, it seemed as if all the loose threads were left hanging. Did Manuel and Kathy cultivate a romance? Did Teofilo pass away? Did Chuy get out from under the shearing machine? Did he continue to harden his heart in hatred, or did he soften? Bess Winfield? Rio Seco itself? The ranch? Charlie? Mary? All these unanswered questions. I felt like they deserved a closure that they weren't given.One more, very minor criticism. I would have liked to know details like exactly what year events in the book take place- am I imagining the radio broadcast in the background talking about MacArthur's landing on Inchon, or McCarthy's witch hunt? Additionally, I wanted to know the years and makes of all the vehicles mentioned- Mauldin's black Cadillac, what model year was it? They changed quite a bit over the course of several years. The old pickup, was it a Studebaker? Dodge? GMC? Ford? What year? It just helps me form a more complete picture in my mind.

Kelton's book brings back vivid memories of my family's experience of the seven year drought in Texas. His writing style and knowledge of the life of the small time rancher took me back to the shearing shed, the meetings with the banker that enabled us to hold on, and the heartache of dealing with the unpredictably of the weather. This is the second time I have read it, and our region is once again in the grips of severe drought. The book is a masterpiece!

This book reminded me of stories my grandpa would tell. It's a good one

I'm mostly a fantasy book reader, this is the first western book I've ever read. As a born and raised small town Texan, this book really captures the stubborn, independent, old school ways that my dad raised me with, and his dad raised him with. There are so many heartfelt life lessons in this book that brought back so many memories of the meaningful conversations I've had with my dad and grandpa. This book will always be near and dear to my heart. And maybe it's my Texas pride, but it's up in my top 10 favorite books for sure!

Great book by an awesome author. Kind of depressing as we are in a drought , but that is reality! Really great characters. Will read more of Kelton's books.

I was reading 'The Time it Never Rained' only to read the author's sad obituary in the press.I had bought the book to reconnect with my childhood memories of cowboy films, but this has little to do with John Wayne.In fact Kelton's novel is about natural events taking control and his main character's reactions to these situations.As such the author's careful characterisation and slow narrative build-up is truthful and honest. There are no cheap tricks or devices in Kelton's writing - believable fiction a joy to read.

I couldn't put the book down. Kelton was a master of words, his style is so rich and yet understated. He had a great ear for dialogue. And his characters are really alive and three-dimensional. I really did forget this.was fiction. Another amazing thing about this.book.was that nothing seemed superfluous - not one sentence, not one word. Everything was just right. I'm sure I will reread this book and that doesn't happen very often with me.

Roman,der in den 1950er Jahren spielt und wohl auch autobiographische Züge von Kelton trägt. Wer einen Western sucht,sollte sein Geld sparen.