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True Grit
 
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True Grit (Paperback)

by Charles Portis (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £4.48 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 216 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (3 Jan 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747572631
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747572633
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 83,439 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Review

'True Grit is the best novel to come my way for a very long time. What book has given me greater pleasure in the last five years? Or in the last twenty? I do not know What a writer!' Roald Dahl 'Charles Portis is a writer who - if there's any justice - will come to be regarded as the author of classics of the order of a twentieth-century Mark Twain' Esquire 'Portis has made an epic and a legend. Mattie Ross should soon join the pantheon of America's legendary figures such as Kit Carson, Wyatt Earp and Jesse James' Washington Post 'One of those rare sweet delights one can recommend to inveterate fiction readers and to those who read only one or two novels a year' San Francisco Chronicle


Observer

‘Comparable to her literary ancestor and fellow southerner, Huckleberry Finn … a gripping story made up of insightful digressions’

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Gutsy western classic, 26 Feb 2005
By T. Bently "tbently" (Berkshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Mattie Ross must be one of the all-time greatest fictional heroines as she embarks, in her own words, "to avenge her father's blood".

I love the humour of Portis's book,

COWBOY: I gave some thought to stealing a kiss from you, but now I am of a mind to give you five or six good licks with my belt.

MATTIE: One would be as bad as the other.

And again,

MATTIE: Do you need a good lawyer?

COWBOY: I need a good judge.

This is a heady mix. The technique of a first-person narrator adds realism and immediacy, which combines with the author's sense of drama and irony to create something quite remarkable. It is only strange that "True Grit" should have found more fame on the screen than on the page.

One thing annoyed me and that is hardly the fault of the writer. The cover blurb states,

"Mattie Ross should soon join the pantheon of America's legendary figures such as Kit Carson, Wyatt Earpp and Jesse James" (Washington Post)

Well, perhaps, if only she could jump that thin barrier which separates fact from fiction.

"True Grit" is such a compelling novel that I was genuinely surprised to find that Charles Portis is a living author. I had supposed it had been written closer to the time in which it is set, such is its sense of authenticity.

It is also unbearably sad as well as funny. As the older Mattie states, ruefully reminiscing on her young self, "time just gets away from us." Such wryness is more touching than all the snake-pits, shoot-outs and dying ponies of the early part of the story.

I have a few quibbles. The two marshals, Rooster Cogburn and LaBoeuff live to great ages (we are told Cogburn lives to 68) when I guess in reality most would have lucky to reach 40, even if they were not vastly overweight and whisky-quaffing like the hero. But overall I really enjoyed this short novel and its introduction by Donna Tartt, even if she does not fully acknowledge the importance of Portis to her own work.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Magic, 4 April 2005
By H. Brookman "coorong" (West Sussex) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I admit I have spent 50 years snobbishly refusing to read Westerns. How can I have been so lucky that this was my first? It is an absolute classic novel, up there with Huckleberry Finn and the greats. The style is first class, it is beautifully structured- but you don't need analysis, just go for it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, 29 May 2007
By M. J. Mooney "villafan82" (Leeds, West Yorkshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Just want to endorse the other rave reviews on here. This is a great book.

One point: Reviewer T. Bently says: "I have a few quibbles. The two marshals, Rooster Cogburn and LaBoeuff live to great ages (we are told Cogburn lives to 68) when I guess in reality most would have lucky to reach 40, even if they were not vastly overweight and whisky-quaffing like the hero".

It's worth pointing out that Wyatt Earp lived to be 80!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Mattie is a truly great heroine
fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross is determined to avenge the death of her father, shot dead by his own employee, Ton chaney. Read more
Published 20 months ago by L O'connor

5.0 out of 5 stars Up there with Catcher in the Rye
Picked up this gem in Arkansas and both Margaret and I read it in one go. Charles Portis writes from what appears to be a 14 year-old girl's perspective and there are few writers... Read more
Published 21 months ago by R. P. Hobday

5.0 out of 5 stars TRUE GRIT: A TRUE WESTERN WINNER ON ALL COUNTS
Mosey on over to Arkansas and Missouri, why don't cha? - and check out this new edition of 'True Grit' by Charles Portis. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2005 by Bill Keeth

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