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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
I listened to this Western classic and was delighted by a good narrator lovingly rendering this quirky tale of a determined young woman. I loved the recent film and can attest that it is a faithful rendition of the novel.
Did I read the same book as everyone else? People LOVE this book, including GR friends whose opinions I trust and generally agree with, but I kind of dreaded picking it up each time. I kept waiting for it to get better, to have some sort of payoff. And the last 50 pages, as promised, do contain more action than the rest, but I still just couldn't make myself care about Mattie Ross, who obviously survives her ordeal because she's telling the entire story as a cantankerous, self-righteous, old woman.
I could not get around, over, or through Mattie's narrative voice. She talks like a hillbilly robot. I've encountered characters like her before, like Portis (obvious nod) in [b:Sweetgirl|32875680|Sweetgirl|Travis Mulhauser|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478343332l/32875680._SY75_.jpg|45264436], and they're fine (even charming) in small doses, but an entire novel in this voice is just too much. There's also far too much dialogue in which every. voice. sounds. exactly. alike. What plot there is gets buried in all the talking, talking, talking, and monotonous description.
Overall, I think westerns are just not my thing*, although I did enjoy [b:The Sisters Brothers|9850443|The Sisters Brothers|Patrick deWitt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1291999900l/9850443._SY75_.jpg|14741473] several years ago. Maybe this was a case of bad timing, too, but Mattie made me feel like a cranky old woman.
*Growing up, my brother read [a:Louis L'Amour|858|Louis L'Amour|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1343675199p2/858.jpg] novels, my sister read [a:Jean M. Auel|861|Jean M. Auel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1300759227p2/861.jpg], and I read [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]. I can't help but think these authors informed our worldviews, perhaps more than our upbringing.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-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:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It cannot be overstated how much I needed this book at this moment. I'm only sorry it took me so long to finally read it.
I love it. I'm going to read it again and likely many more times. I love Mattie Ross like a friend and Donna Tartt's reading was perfection. I cried real tears at points, and laughed out loud at others.
My overstressed, sad, and weary heart is so comforted and grateful for the delight this book brought.
Worth all the hype and then some. This book is an absolute treasure.
I love it. I'm going to read it again and likely many more times. I love Mattie Ross like a friend and Donna Tartt's reading was perfection. I cried real tears at points, and laughed out loud at others.
My overstressed, sad, and weary heart is so comforted and grateful for the delight this book brought.
Worth all the hype and then some. This book is an absolute treasure.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
This is in many ways, a perfect novel. It's hard to imagine someone reading this and not falling in love with the amount of charm that oozes from each of its 200-odd pages. The prose is incredible - adopting the exacting observations of its pubescent, puritanical and outstandingly willful protagonist: Mattie Ross. The writing has so much character in it; this is a first-person perspective novel done properly, in which the narrator's voice and the book's tone are inseparable and perfectly in unison. The reader is attuned to the sense that this is a story about a young girl told in retrospect by the grown woman - a stern and erudite Christian worldview is projected onto all things, and yet there are always charming moments of girlhood and youthful exuberance that explode from the prose. Mattie Ross is eager to recount the story to us and entirely convinced of her own invincibility and capability in the rough world which she has only ever seen from the comforts of a brief privileged life. She is proven right and wrong in equal measure over the course of this adventure and it is delightful and comedic and occasionally poignant. This is such an unrelentingly funny novel in the most unexpected ways; the Western setting has never been done quite like this, especially through the eyes of a teenage girl, for whom the grisliness of this world is commonplace, all the while never failing to pass judgement on everything she sees. The amount of times you can laugh per page is altogether more remarkable because of how our protagonist Mattie Ross utterly lacks any sense of humour; her wry remarks about the moral failings of her surroundings translate into fits of laughter for the reader. Some hilarious moments off the top of my head include:
- Mattie Ross continually offering the services of her excellent lawyer to her captors
- The passive-aggressive remarks about a Catholic judge who turns Methodist on his deathbed.
- The proud but noble Texas Ranger LaBoeuf and how no one takes him seriously and is the butt of everyone's jokes.
There is not an ounce of fat in this novel. It is an absolute breeze to read and one only laments that the journey is over too soon. I can't think of anyone in the world that wouldn't love this book.
I got so into this audiobook that I would reread sections of the print book back at home before bed to make sure I wasn't just being seduced by Donna Tartt's deliciously absurd Arkansan accent: a little Texan, a little Deep South, a little Midwestern. It turns out it wasn't just Tartt. Portis is a true master of the form, and gets in and out in probably 60,000 words or so, which more authors should attempt, most conspicuously Tartt herself! Her essay about the book at the end of it was wonderful and got at the heart of why this book is so good, I can't do better than her so if you need a review just click the link.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
If I read this in middle school it would have REALLY influenced me. Nothing I relate to more than a bitchy little girl.