consistently pairing unwilling/determined or incompetent/competent characters: roscoe & july/louisa/janey, jake & lorena, zwey & elmira, ben/july & clara, etc. — perhaps some of the most memorable relationships are ones of dependence or manipulation

no sensual and 'good' sexual encounters — all are bleak in some way (transactional, non-consensual, etc.). even women that have had better luck and come to own land, do what they like (louisa, clara) don't recall sex fondly or have 'normal' relationships with it at present (chore, obligation, means to an end — typified by clara thinking ben's erections signal his need for a boy, contemplating impregnating herself via her catatonic husband). the singular exception to this rule: jake's initial encounters with lorena, where he bathes in her room and she actually enjoys sleeping with him, appreciates his body and his behaviour. even so, this comes after us knowing exactly what kind of man jake spoon is, knowing that he has no intention to make good of his promises — and it seems both characters understand that some transaction is taking place (jake sweet-talking her to get laid, lorena acquiescing because she believes he'll take her with him)

few good prospects for women: elmira is lorena's shadow, having made the choice of settling for less; grass is greener, always. lorena thinks constantly of xavier. clara, who could have had anybody, settled — choosing gus would have meant choosing gus, but choosing ben meant choosing herself. she made the best choice, but it still wasn't a good one

lot of emphasis on animal behaviour, appearance, interaction; many chapters ending on notes about this — adds to the just-so nature of this world, perhaps? almost anticlimactic when chapters end quietly like that

newt's bravery — holding onto sugar despite dixon's whippings — actually moved me to tears

roy suggs being insulted that he wasn't hung second, because he's the second-oldest, even though this happened completely accidentally due to his younger brother's horse being skittish; and augustus saying "you're right and i'm sorry" — law out here is so strange and arbitrary, and this was the moment where that really struck me

ending: call returns to lonesome dove, where bolivar has remained striking that bell with his crowbar; xavier has burned down the dry bean ("they say he missed that whore") — not sure how to feel about this! initially underwhelmed, but i think it fits the theme: discontent is everywhere and all that happens is that sometimes it shifts its weight around. all this talk about the land changing, about being on the precipice of something, how these men need an uphill battle — only to end on a man who couldn't stomach his own misery, who couldn't live with unmet desire. i don't know! it is brutal