Reviews - True Grit | The StoryGraph

2.25k reviews for:

True Grit

Charles Portis

4.08 AVERAGE

johanna_dombrowski's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

diana_cv's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

billturner's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

jamesnotjim's review against another edition

5.0

It’s pretty great. I had heard as much. Having lived for many years in Arkansas, it’s fun to read a book set here. Portis has many gifts as a novelist, and I look forward to trying some of his other novels. There’s a quote on the back of my paperback copy that sums the novel up well: “Charles Portis could be Cormac McCarthy if he wanted to, but he’d rather be funny” (Roy Blount, Jr.). I would submit that McCarthy is quite capable of humor. But it’s still a fitting quote. And, likewise, Portis is capable of seriousness. I think, with True Grit, he manages to create both a great western and an entertaining, offbeat parody of the same.

If you're into audiobooks, Donna Tartt, author of The Goldfinch, provides an excellent narration and contributes a nice essay on the book itself.