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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
6 stars. I have the audio, beautifully read by Donna Tartt, and it has joined On the Road and Pamuk's Istanbul in the Permanent and Indispensable folder on my phone for regular revisits.
A Sojourn of Southern Literature #1:
This is a masterpiece and not talked about nearly enough for how good it is:
- It's a story that can only happen in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Move it anywhere else and you lose a piece of its soul. The sense of place is arresting.
- Simple, simple, simple plot: get Tom Chaney. It's captured in the perfect first sentence: "PEOPLE DO not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day."
- Rooster Cogburn is not a man spinning a legend about himself, he's not a mythical figure. He's a human broken by the Civil War and the harsh country hasn't stopped breaking him. Yet even he can live up to one piece of his own legend "Fill your hand you son of a bitch!" John Wayne playing him at the end of his career is perfect, Bridges is dang near close.
- I hope my daughter is not like Mattie Ross and forced to bite every hand that comes near her in a harsh world. But also, in a way I hope she is: resilient to the core, loyal to those she loves.
This is a masterpiece and not talked about nearly enough for how good it is:
- It's a story that can only happen in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Move it anywhere else and you lose a piece of its soul. The sense of place is arresting.
- Simple, simple, simple plot: get Tom Chaney. It's captured in the perfect first sentence: "PEOPLE DO not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day."
- Rooster Cogburn is not a man spinning a legend about himself, he's not a mythical figure. He's a human broken by the Civil War and the harsh country hasn't stopped breaking him. Yet even he can live up to one piece of his own legend "Fill your hand you son of a bitch!" John Wayne playing him at the end of his career is perfect, Bridges is dang near close.
- I hope my daughter is not like Mattie Ross and forced to bite every hand that comes near her in a harsh world. But also, in a way I hope she is: resilient to the core, loyal to those she loves.
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
This one was tough to rate. The story is enjoyable - like an American Western Canterbury Tale, but it’s not enjoyable sitting in the Racism of the 1960s when the book was published without any kind of criticism or questioning of it. Seemingly if the author’s goal was to inhabit the actual setting of the book - the south directly following the Civil War, the racism would have been much more overt and violent. It’s like he threw in what was acceptable at the time of writing.
This was a gift from a true friend in a time of need. How had I not read this before? Super fun and worth every second, although it went too fast. Long live Mattie Ross!
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Potential goat narrator. Overall banger.
adventurous
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!”
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No