Reviews

True Grit by Charles Portis

umarrce's review against another edition

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5.0

mattie ross is my favorite character in american literature. also i’ve come to the conclusion that the best dialogue is in western novels, naturalistic, snappy, witty without being corny, i’m taking several notes

tmaltman's review against another edition

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5.0

The voice of 14 year old Mattie will remain with me for a long time; she's the most unforgettable first person narrator since Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. The climax of the novel is simply amazing, but it is Mattie's voice, compelling and believable, that makes this work a modern classic.

melissarochelle's review against another edition

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4.0

Mattie Ross is one tough cookie (and she made me head to the web to look up scripture more than once). She's a true heroine - funny, opinionated, and only 14...plus she carries a gun!

I can't wait to watch both movie adaptations!

carla_gee's review against another edition

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4.0

Great dialogue!

schroederius's review against another edition

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4.0

I was watching a Miami Book Fair panel, and Dave Barry said this book was really funny and a good read, and another panelist agreed. So I tried it. I agree that it's funny, and I'm glad I read it. There were parts where I would put the book down and google things in the book because they made me curious about the setting or the characters. I don't usually care about Presbyterian doctrine, or the geography of Arkansas! And I'm looking forward to reading other Charles Portis books. For me, this isn't in my Top 10 books, but it certainly wasn't a traditional Western, at least as far as I know.

annarichey's review against another edition

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3.0

Short and sweet. The main character (Mattie) is unsurprisingly badass. I'm curious if the language (especially slang) is historically accurate. Minus a couple stars for an unnecessarily long and graphic animal cruelty scene.
I'd recommend [b:Reilly's Luck|831903|Reilly's Luck|Louis L'Amour|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1465488885l/831903._SY75_.jpg|559616] for readers who enjoyed this: A young but competent protagonist with adventure beyond the standard western genre fare.

laura_de_leon's review against another edition

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4.0

I suspect this would have been a very different book for me if I'd listened to it before seeing the movie, and I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much. I'll never know, of course.

But yes, in spite of my unreasonable prejudice against Westerns, I enjoyed True Grit.

tylermcgaughey's review against another edition

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5.0

Superficially, [b:True Grit|257845|True Grit|Charles Portis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173209258s/257845.jpg|1320617] is a traditional Western, centered on the quest for vengeance from the high plains criminals who murdered our narrator's father. Ill-tempered Rooster Cogburn, the seeming embodiment of the titular "grit," is slowly revealed as a man who has buried the pain of his younger days in empty boasting and alcohol. For all its emphasis on revenge and redemption, the final pages, written from the vantage point of old age, cement that this novel is really a meditation on the essential fleetingness of time and the nerves of emotion that linger on, no matter how we try to cleanse our conscience.

samcpat's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved the voice used in this book. Mattie Ross is one of my favorite characters I’ve had the opportunity to meet while reading.

I also really enjoyed looking up all the slightly-familiar southern euphemisms that were sprinkled in this book. Such as “how the cow ate the cabbage,” and “tight as Dick’s hat band.”

marfbody's review against another edition

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5.0

An American classic. Seriously, go read this book.... Both movie versions were enjoyable, with the Coen brothers film going back to the novel and dialogue and remaining true to more story details. The story is told as a recollection of spinster Maddie Ross, who went on a quest at age 14 to avenge her father's death at the hands of a scoundrel named Tom Chaney. Terrific dialogue, plucky heroine, and a one eyed old
coot. What more could you want?