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littlestcabbage 's review for:
True Grit
by Charles Portis
READ HARDER 2018: A Western
I started reading a different Western for this prompt—one written by a woman, about Tombstone—and it just wasn’t grabbing me. I am unreasonably delighted that I switched to True Grit. I enjoyed the Coen Brothers film when I saw it, but I didn’t remember plot points until they were already on top of me (I’m also never concerned about spoilers). What I didn’t realize is that the humor in True Grit comes from the source material. Good goddamn this is a funny book.
Mattie Ross, as an old spinster, recalls the story of the time when she, at age 14, set off to the Choctaw Nation in order to avenge her father’s murder. The first-person narrative is one of the delights here. Mattie has a deliberate, inelegant manner of speech. She does not use contractions. She frequently begins sentences with “my thought was.” She is prone to sermons and morality lessons. She frequently diverges from the storyline to tell the reader something about the modern day. She describes what she sees to the reader and then to another character using exactly the same words.
She is flawed—stubborn, naive, bossy. She’s 14! She’s also hilarious and savvy. In the film, we find Mattie amusing because she’s headstrong. In the novel, we are immersed in Mattie. The world is presented through her lens and the dialog and narration is better for it.
I look forward to rereading this book because it was such a joy the first time. How often do you finish a book and begin planning when you’ll read it again?
I listened to the audiobook, read by (another) author Donna Tartt, who has clear affection for the material. (My only complaint is the dreadful voice she puts on for Greaser Bob, the Mexican bandit. Otherwise, her voices are fun and distinct.) The audiobook contains an afterword from her at the end of the novel that argues for True Grit’s place in the American canon.
I started reading a different Western for this prompt—one written by a woman, about Tombstone—and it just wasn’t grabbing me. I am unreasonably delighted that I switched to True Grit. I enjoyed the Coen Brothers film when I saw it, but I didn’t remember plot points until they were already on top of me (I’m also never concerned about spoilers). What I didn’t realize is that the humor in True Grit comes from the source material. Good goddamn this is a funny book.
Mattie Ross, as an old spinster, recalls the story of the time when she, at age 14, set off to the Choctaw Nation in order to avenge her father’s murder. The first-person narrative is one of the delights here. Mattie has a deliberate, inelegant manner of speech. She does not use contractions. She frequently begins sentences with “my thought was.” She is prone to sermons and morality lessons. She frequently diverges from the storyline to tell the reader something about the modern day. She describes what she sees to the reader and then to another character using exactly the same words.
He passed over the check. “Is this any good to me?"
It was a cashier's check for $2,750 drawn on the Grangers Trust Co. of Topeka, Kansas, to a man named Marshall Purvis. I said, "This is a cashier's check for $2,750 drawn on the Grangers Trust Co. of Topeka, Kansas, to a man named Marshall Purvis."
She is flawed—stubborn, naive, bossy. She’s 14! She’s also hilarious and savvy. In the film, we find Mattie amusing because she’s headstrong. In the novel, we are immersed in Mattie. The world is presented through her lens and the dialog and narration is better for it.
I look forward to rereading this book because it was such a joy the first time. How often do you finish a book and begin planning when you’ll read it again?
I listened to the audiobook, read by (another) author Donna Tartt, who has clear affection for the material. (My only complaint is the dreadful voice she puts on for Greaser Bob, the Mexican bandit. Otherwise, her voices are fun and distinct.) The audiobook contains an afterword from her at the end of the novel that argues for True Grit’s place in the American canon.