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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
I am amazed that I liked this book so much: I think it was the voice that Portis created. Donna Tartt writes a pretty plot-oriented commentary at the end, and she did mention what an unusual character Mattie is--and I agree. My guess is that she would be nearly impossible to live with, but she's a brilliant addition to this story, and Portis gets her voice right on. Highly entertaining, but I am glad it's a short book. I think Mattie in large doses would be hard to take!
adventurous
funny
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
Love this book. There's a real skill required to making a character like Mattie Ross likeable.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
So much fun. I enjoyed the straightforward narrative a lot
“I was just fourteen years old when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robbed him of his life and his horse and $150 in cash money plus two California gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band.”
This is the story of Mattie Ross, fourteen years old, who hires deputy marshall Rooster Cogburn to bring back Tom Chaney from where he’s hiding in Indian Territory. Mattie is a practical young woman who knows her mind, knows how to get things done, and insists on going along on the chase.
I’ve read very few westerns and I’m really glad I read this one. I’m going to have to check out the new movie version.
This is the story of Mattie Ross, fourteen years old, who hires deputy marshall Rooster Cogburn to bring back Tom Chaney from where he’s hiding in Indian Territory. Mattie is a practical young woman who knows her mind, knows how to get things done, and insists on going along on the chase.
I’ve read very few westerns and I’m really glad I read this one. I’m going to have to check out the new movie version.
I just had to read this novel because it pops up again and again in interviews with writers I admire, who rhapsodize about its perfect prose. In terms of style and period detail and the lack of anything even mildly extraneous, 'True Grit' IS rather perfect - as unflappable and purpose-driven as its teenage heroine.
That heroine, Mattie Ross, is one of the greatest of narrators. At times I had to stop reading and remind myself that this was a fiction written by a guy in his thirties in the hippie era, and not a middle-aged woman writing her memoirs a hundred years back. The word choices, the deadpan, contraction-free dialogue, the way any slangy term is awkwardly inserted in quotation marks - it all reads just like a yellowed, forgotten document you'd find among a great-grandparent's belongings. But Charles Portis infuses the characters and dialogue with a subtly modern wit and commentary.
In spite of its brevity and rollicking pace, I'll admit I wasn't continually blown away throughout the first two thirds or so, when 'True Grit' is just a very good comic Western. But the ending is something else, going from unbearable intensity to an elegy for old America to breaking your heart...in the space of 15 pages. Without a drop of gooey sentiment, this book earns its name.
That heroine, Mattie Ross, is one of the greatest of narrators. At times I had to stop reading and remind myself that this was a fiction written by a guy in his thirties in the hippie era, and not a middle-aged woman writing her memoirs a hundred years back. The word choices, the deadpan, contraction-free dialogue, the way any slangy term is awkwardly inserted in quotation marks - it all reads just like a yellowed, forgotten document you'd find among a great-grandparent's belongings. But Charles Portis infuses the characters and dialogue with a subtly modern wit and commentary.
In spite of its brevity and rollicking pace, I'll admit I wasn't continually blown away throughout the first two thirds or so, when 'True Grit' is just a very good comic Western. But the ending is something else, going from unbearable intensity to an elegy for old America to breaking your heart...in the space of 15 pages. Without a drop of gooey sentiment, this book earns its name.
A young girl in the wild, wild West vows to avenge her father. Many years later, she looks back upon the tale.
I really, really liked this. Direct and ornery. It reminds me of family.
I really, really liked this. Direct and ornery. It reminds me of family.
Read this because I was in the mood for a western.
This turned out to be exactly what I wanted it to be. I loved the main character Mattie, her personality was well written, and I enjoyed the company she had on her journey. The beginning was a little slow but this was easy to read and it took me on a fun little adventure with some outlaws and a trio of people with true grit.
This turned out to be exactly what I wanted it to be. I loved the main character Mattie, her personality was well written, and I enjoyed the company she had on her journey. The beginning was a little slow but this was easy to read and it took me on a fun little adventure with some outlaws and a trio of people with true grit.
No matter how many times I come back to this book, it just always holds up. I do usually read it as a physical but did audio this time which I think caused the lower score (I was comparing it to much to the most recent movie).
This book is so fun. And even given its age, Mattie is written so well given the author is a man. She’s realistic, a child, and a girl, and not once did we have men writing women syndrome.
The Wild West aspect is this is so fun. And yes the opening is a bit slow, but Mattie’s spunk more than makes up for it.
This book is so fun. And even given its age, Mattie is written so well given the author is a man. She’s realistic, a child, and a girl, and not once did we have men writing women syndrome.
The Wild West aspect is this is so fun. And yes the opening is a bit slow, but Mattie’s spunk more than makes up for it.