True Grit

I read rave reviews about the book after watching the John Wayne movie (I've not seen the more recent remake), and I expected it to be fabulous. However, although the narration by Mattie does add something to the reading experience, aside from the ending that was softened for the movie the plot is exactly the same and so held little in the way of suspense or surprise for me. Barring that element, there was not much else to it, so I'm a little baffled by all the praise.

Just an amazing book. I was a little disappointed that my favorite scene from the movie wasn't in the book, but was a Coen Brothers invention. At the same time, I was impressed by how faithful an adaptation the movie is – the added scene(s) fit perfectly, and the small bits and characters that were removed aren't missed.

One of the best aspects of the movie was the dialogue, the clever back-and-forth with occasional lapses into the surreal. Not only are all the major exchanges lifted directly from the book, but as it's a first-person narration, the book has that same quality of voice on every page.

Mattie was definitely the best part of this, she's so funny and resolute and entirely herself throughout the novel and is a delight to follow. The book in general felt weirdly paced with a lot of time spent on things that didn't really go anywhere, but the overall story was interesting.

Reading log:
This fucking courtroom scene is gonna do me in dude why is it so fucking long
She's so funny, that's not a little girl that is an old woman stuck in a little girls body. 
Moon😭
Okay these long ramblings that don't go anywhere are getting real old 
“The Original Greaser Bob”?? Be so fr
Lucky Ned Pepper kinda slay
Chaney is so funny dude, all “Everything is against me” like he didn't put himself in a situation all by himself, I love a bitch that just complains 
I feel like everything takes a weirdly long time
Blackie😭😭

“What have you done when you have bested a fool?”

Young me, who read things like Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jurassic Park, and Magic Kingdom for Sale would have loved this book. This book has a plucky, 14-year-old female lead character, who's always got a witty comeback and a plan of action, all the things I loved as a kid. As it is, I really liked it, but it just wasn't geared towards my age group.

Mattie's father was killed before the book starts out, and we're introduced to her as she begins her quest for vengeance. In her way is a world doubly convinced that a 14 year old, let alone a 14 year old female, is incapable of going out into the wide Wild West world to track a killer and bring him to justice. The world is sorely mistaken, and has drastically underestimated Mattie's resourcefulness.

Highly recommend this to the younger teens, perhaps as young as 10 depending on maturity, particularly if they enjoy fun adventure stories. The dialogue is a little stilted and period-specific sometimes, which may be difficult for kids to read through, but it's such a fun book that I think that makes up for the forced vocabulary lesson.

How long have people been recommending True Grit to me? How many times have I seen it on Must-Read lists and how many times have I passed it up, not eager to read what I anticipated would be a shoot-'em-up story?

Listen to me: You want to read this story. I don't know how Charles Portis got into the head of a magnificent fourteen-year-old girl who heads off to avenge her father's death, but he does. I don't know how Charles Portis was able to transport us all back a hundred and fifty years into the West where anything can happen, but he does. You think you know the story from the movie, and you do, but read it anyway.

It's my new favorite book.

True Grit by Charles Portis is the classic western novel narrated by protagonist Mattie Ross, first published in 1968, that was made into two classic movies (one starring John Wayne from 1969 and a second starring Jeff Bridges from 2010). The book description from the publisher describes it best: “True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 cash. Filled with an unwavering urge to avenge her father's blood, Mattie finds and, after some tenacious finagling, enlists one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer. True Grit is essential reading, an undeniable American classic as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself.”

I read this novel immediately after reading another novel I loved by Portis: The Dog of the South. The two novels couldn't be more different. The Dog of the South is irreverent, quirky, and takes place around the time of its publication (1979); True Grit is deadpan, an adventure of revenge with camaraderie between a ragtag crew, and takes place in 1878. Told by Mattie Ross as an old woman, recounting the time when she was 14 and sought retribution for the murder of her father by a scoundrel, Tom Chaney, her deadpan delivery probably springing more from her older perspective than the younger. But, it's fun to envision this 14-year old speaking to codger Rooster Cogburn and a flashy Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (pronounced La Beef) in her dry, matter-of-fact way. The story immediately begins with Mattie's recounting of her father's unfortunate murder by the hands of a drunken Tom Chaney, and she leaves home to procure a marshal to bring Chaney to justice in Arkansas. She desperately wants revenge and to see Chaney hung for his crime. After asking around to folks all too confused about a child commandeering a marshal, she picks Cogburn, as he's described as the meanest of all the marshals, and the man she believes to have “true grit.” They reluctantly team up with LaBoeuf, who is also hunting Chaney.

The real pleasure of this story is watching the relationship between these three, very different characters who, at first, don't want to work together as a team, but reluctantly do so. Over time, they all discover that each of them is fully capable of bringing Chaney to justice when they work together. Rooster and Mattie especially build a close camaraderie as they get to know each other in the wild country. Portis' writing style is terse and lean. There is some humor when the characters speak to each other in their deadpan euphemisms, although this book isn't laugh-out-loud funny like The Dog of the South. But where both books are similar is with Portis' excellent dialogue, which is funny, vibrant, and rings true-to-life. Portis is a master at dialogue and I can see why True Grit was adapted into two films. If there is a downside to this novel, it's the loose structure of chapters, some of which stretch to 70 pages in length, too long in my opinion, but this is a small quibble. Side note: the novel is way more violent and gory than either movie depicts, but this is appropriate for this type of revenge story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 4 and 1/2 stars.

I saw the Cohen Brothers' version of this book, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfeld when it was in theaters and was very curious about how closely it may or may not have followed the book. I have to say they followed Portis's book very closely. Now onto my review of the book.

Mattie Ross is a 14 year old girl from Arkansas who seeks the assistance of Rueben “Rooster” Cogburn, a federal marshall with true grit, to help her find the coward Tom Chaney, who shot and killed her unarmed father. Mattie is the eldest child, and upon retrieving her father's body to send home for burial, she decides that the man who killed her father must stand trial for his actions in Arkansas, which leads to her seeking out a man with true grit, who can find Tom Chaney. When she hires Rooster Cogburn, her adventure begins.

I found Mattie to be a very honest narrator. I don't think it ever occurs to her that she should lie to anyone she meets. She always has an honest, straight forward answer, which at times come across as a bit self-righteous or snotty. I don't think Mattie is “snotty” per se, but she truly believes in right and wrong and that there is no “gray area”. Things are either right or they are wrong, and that's how she lives her own life, which is what leads her to hiring Rooster to help her find Tom Chaney.

Rooster is a hard, rough man. He has seen war, having fought for the Conferederates in the Civil War, and he has killed men (both in war and as a marshall). He is also a drunk. I can't say that his drinking necessarily made him a worse lawman in my opinion. I think Rooster uses alcohol to ease the pain of his past, it soothes his anger. As hard as he is, I also think he did develop a kind of respect and fatherly protection towards Mattie. She is, afterall, a child riding through Choctaw Nation to bring the coward Tom Chaney to justice for what he did.

Then, there's the Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (pronounced LaBeef), who meets Mattie while she is staying in a boarding house, waiting for Rooster Cogburn to determine if he will let her hire him. His efforts to keep her from riding along in the hunt for Tom Chaney are squandered. I am sure LaBoeuf is not used to girls who are so strong-willed, sharp-tongued and stubborn as Mattie Ross.

Again, I loved this book. It's a fast read and Mattie's narration is strong. I liked Mattie. For all the preaching she did and the right v. wrong speeches she gave, she was a very strong girl focused on getting what she wanted – justice. I wish I had read this book before I saw True Grit though, but I have to say I'm not disappointed in the film version now that I have read the book. I am curious about how closely the original starring John Wayne follows the book but I don't think I'll be disappointed either. Very rarely have I come across a movie adapted from a book that I enjoyed, True Grit is one of these rare book to films categories. I think this is a book that I will read more than once during my life, and I'm looking forward to reliving Mattie's chase through Choctaw Nation with Rooster Cogburn and LaBoeuf.

For me, this read like a true, historical account by Mattie Ross about the hunt for the man who killed her father. Truly, it was great to read about an awesome character who has a great head on her shoulders. Mattie sure knew how to take care of business, including finding a man with “grit” to help her hunt Chaney down. And are there any characters in literature (or anywhere) with as much grit as Rooster Cogburn? Great American read.

I don't really have an excuse for taking 8 days to read a 255-page book that really is written at a pretty breakneck pace once the meat of the story starts. Actually that's a lie; my excuse is that I had two job offers this week and so I spent a lot of this week vibrating with anxiety, finding myself literally unable to sit still and read over my lunch break like I usually do. (I did finally accept one of them and put in my notice; now the anxiety tremor is slightly more manageable, and I finished this, so.)

Mattie is a pretty badass character, very headstrong and really judgmental; she's the kind of young lady that if she can't find someone to do her bidding, she'll threaten and pay off and cajole you until you give in to what she wants, or she'll do the damn thing herself. I read the first part where she's negotiating the return of her recently-perished father's recently-acquired ponies, and she's basically demanding what she wants, absolutely no shame. And I thought, I could learn a lot from this girl, especially in light of said job offers. I'll admit, I want people to like me and don't want to rock the boat unless there's a really good reason to do so. Mattie does not give two shits if people like her, she finds some dudes who want to capture the guy who shot her father and they ride off west to capture him, and ... shenanigans ensue (except that it's very rugged and outdoorsy and Wild West, so “shenanigans” doesn't really capture the vibe). It's very violent, lots of people get shot, lots of pieces of people get amputated.

This was for book club; I would not have picked it up otherwise. I liked it, didn't love it. I definitely skimmed a little bit when there were big chunks where Rooster was talking about his service during the Civil War, but I find people talking about their military service kind of dull.