by Charles Portis
(New York: Overlook Press, 2007)
Kindle eBook, 240 Pages, Western
ASBN: B004I8V0Q8, US$14.95
ABCD Rating: ACQUIRE
From the Cover: Charles Portis has long been acclaimed as one of America’s foremost writers. True Grit, his most famous novel, as first published in 1968, and became the basis for the movie starring John Wayne. True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father’s blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory. True Grit is eccentric, cool, straight, and unflinching, like Mattie herself. From a writer of true status, this is an American classic through and through.
My Review: Well, it’s been so long since I’ve read this that it seems unfair to write a review, but I will try to jot down some of the thoughts that were going through my head at the time I was reading this. It was finally seeing the Coen Brothers’ 2010 film that made me want to pick this up. I enjoyed the film, and being the book geek that I am, I wanted to read the story that inspired it. Honestly, I can say that seeing the Jeff Bridges movie is extraordinarily close to reading Portis’ novel. They were very faithful to the source. As for what I thought of Portis’ book, the clearest thought that I remember having while reading this was that True Grit is a book that I am going to have my daughters read when they reach the age of about 10 or 11. While the films focus on the character of Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne and Jeff Bridges) the book is all about Mattie Ross.
Mattie is such a wonderful female character in a genre that has very few strong female characters. Westerns are usually all about strong men who are tough as nails and any female characters are typically ancillary and typify the Madonna-Whore dichotomy (though in Westerns we might call it the School Marm-Saloon Girl dichotomy). Mattie, however, been just barely a teenager, is a much different character and one whom I would be thrilled to have my daughters read and emulate. Add to all of this a great adventure tale, easily the equal of Treasure Island (the book I’ll be giving to my son when he’s about the same age) and this is the perfect book to give to the pre-teen girl in your life, especially if you are like my wife and I and make every attempt to eschew and avoid the Disney Princess style of “femininity.” Mattie Ross will blow Aurora or Cinderella out of the water any day of the week!
1 comments:
I recently heard that the Cohen Brothers were remaking the movie True Grit and that they are going to stick to the source material and not remake the John Wayne Classic. I had read the book a couple times (If I read a book more than once it is something special) but it was years ago. I decided to give it another reading with the new movie version on the way. It does not seem Possible but this book was even better than I remembered, I do believe a candidate for the great American novel.
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