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catherine_the_greatest 's review for:
True Grit
by Charles Portis
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.