You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
It's kinda nice when a classic lives up to the hype.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An elevated pulp masterpiece.
The fun great narration but breathy at points.
The fun great narration but breathy at points.
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:
Yes
Headstrong, independent, and sometimes witty, Mattie Ross is a fourteen-year-old girl whose sole mission in True Grit is to find and kill Tom Chaney, the man known to have murdered her father. Portis has created a girl of tenacity and the very grit she spends the opening of the book seeking in a U.S. Marshal to aid her in finding Chaney. Her choice is Rooster Cogburn, a marshal known for being without fear and "the meanest one . . . a pitiless man, double-tough."
The introduction to the character and mettle of Mattie is nearly perfect. Her courage and forthrightness in the face of the murder of her father, the negotiations relating to the ponies Frank Ross had purchased just prior to his death, and the hiring of Cogburn to hunt down her man oozes with determination and stalwartness. She is one of those children who was born an adult.
Cogburn is a very typical, nearly washed up, drunkard of a man, yet his complexity isn't limited to just being this. He is warm, sarcastic, humorous, boastful, and dependable—and he's also calculating, capable, cold, and humorless. He's a wonderfully lived in person, and his time on the page is always necessary and essential to the plot. Cogburn is a wonderful complement to Mattie, and she to him. Her fondness for him, despite the faults she proclaims to dislike in others, is evident and you see how her opinion of him grows, wanes, and solidifies as their journey leads toward the book's ending.
Portis writes vividly, capturing a roughness in the characters littered throughout, as well as in a period of time when the United States was in transition and unsure of what it would grow up to be. And yet there is a timelessness to True Grit that transcends the cowboy era of the West and could be set nearly anywhere, at nearly any time, and still maintain the quality of the story and characters.
The introduction to the character and mettle of Mattie is nearly perfect. Her courage and forthrightness in the face of the murder of her father, the negotiations relating to the ponies Frank Ross had purchased just prior to his death, and the hiring of Cogburn to hunt down her man oozes with determination and stalwartness. She is one of those children who was born an adult.
Cogburn is a very typical, nearly washed up, drunkard of a man, yet his complexity isn't limited to just being this. He is warm, sarcastic, humorous, boastful, and dependable—and he's also calculating, capable, cold, and humorless. He's a wonderfully lived in person, and his time on the page is always necessary and essential to the plot. Cogburn is a wonderful complement to Mattie, and she to him. Her fondness for him, despite the faults she proclaims to dislike in others, is evident and you see how her opinion of him grows, wanes, and solidifies as their journey leads toward the book's ending.
Portis writes vividly, capturing a roughness in the characters littered throughout, as well as in a period of time when the United States was in transition and unsure of what it would grow up to be. And yet there is a timelessness to True Grit that transcends the cowboy era of the West and could be set nearly anywhere, at nearly any time, and still maintain the quality of the story and characters.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Always loved this movie. I named my cat Rooster Cogburn, if that tells you anything. Loved the newer version as well. Loved the book even more. Mattie is a force. Fav book of the year so far.
I used to teach middle school English -- more accurately it was called Language Arts, and really it should have been called Writing because we didn't read anything all year except for textbooks, workbooks, and the occasional faded Xerox copy of a sample essay. Anyhow, the state standards broke everything about the art of writing into simple, gradeable standards that translate easily into scoring rubrics. High on the priority list was "Sentence Fluency", which basically meant we looked for variety. More accurately, we had a list of "do's and don't's". (The fact that the school district used apostrophes for pluralization in their writing guidelines was a bitter irony that made me cringe)
DO use a mix of long and short sentences.
DON'T start every sentence with the same word or phrase.
DO use different tenses (past, present, future).
DON'T use run-on sentences or sentence fragments.
And so on.
Charles Portis would score very poorly if we applied that shitty middle school rubric to "True Grit." Which is nonsense, because this book is fantastic. All the rules I asked my students to parrot back to me go out the window so Portis can create a wholly believable voice for his protagonist, Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old Old West girl with more sense (and more cojones) than most of the weak-willed, weak-minded grown ups she encounters. Mattie sounds like Tom Sawyer with more backbone, and I believe Twain would think highly of what Portis has done here. It's an adventure story with a bit of cheek, and a liberal sprinkling of country wisdom throughout.
4 stars out of 5, only because there's a little slump in energy in the middle--too much repetitive haggling and deal-making--before the real action starts.
DO use a mix of long and short sentences.
DON'T start every sentence with the same word or phrase.
DO use different tenses (past, present, future).
DON'T use run-on sentences or sentence fragments.
And so on.
Charles Portis would score very poorly if we applied that shitty middle school rubric to "True Grit." Which is nonsense, because this book is fantastic. All the rules I asked my students to parrot back to me go out the window so Portis can create a wholly believable voice for his protagonist, Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old Old West girl with more sense (and more cojones) than most of the weak-willed, weak-minded grown ups she encounters. Mattie sounds like Tom Sawyer with more backbone, and I believe Twain would think highly of what Portis has done here. It's an adventure story with a bit of cheek, and a liberal sprinkling of country wisdom throughout.
4 stars out of 5, only because there's a little slump in energy in the middle--too much repetitive haggling and deal-making--before the real action starts.
The most recent movie of this book is so faithful to the plot, characters, and even dialogue that it actually rendered reading it completely moot. It was like rewatching the film on paper. That's not the book's fault, but it did make it less interesting for me.
Several writers I admire have cited True Grit as being one of their favorite books of all time, which I have to confess I find a little strange. It's a good read, and pleasantly short (I like compact writing; it cuts off all the pointless flab of a story)--but not, for me, life-changing in any way. It's solid. Enjoyable. Part funny and part moving. But afterward, I could easily go on about my day without thinking any more about it, which for me is the difference between a good book and a truly great one.
Several writers I admire have cited True Grit as being one of their favorite books of all time, which I have to confess I find a little strange. It's a good read, and pleasantly short (I like compact writing; it cuts off all the pointless flab of a story)--but not, for me, life-changing in any way. It's solid. Enjoyable. Part funny and part moving. But afterward, I could easily go on about my day without thinking any more about it, which for me is the difference between a good book and a truly great one.
Mattie is an amazing character. She really has true grit. Easy, fast and fun read.