True Grit

My latest read was the well-known western novel True Grit by Charles Portis.

The language of the book is very simple and unpolished, pretty much to the point.

Mattie is telling the story looking back as an older woman to this epic story of her youth. She goes on a journey with Rooster a great mean Marshall and LaBeouf a Texas Ranger. At first they did not want a young girl going with them but come to acceptance of her presence, especially since she is the most persistent character in the novel and hard to get rid of.

Portis crafted Mattie’s hardheaded comical personality very well. She takes on a path that is not normal of the female realm during that time, carrying on a different set of morals and known femininity. Upon this journey into Indian territory Mattie seeks retribution for her father’s death by going after killer Josh Cheney.

The killer Josh Cheney is no complex character in my opinion, he’s just a drunkin gunman idiot. His character is quite foolish and gritty. I was surprised by the ending of the novel and was not very happy with the outcome of Mattie’s life but I guess you would have to read it to know what I mean, especially to see who has “True Grit”.

The relationship between Rooster and Mattie is one that grows and furnishes into a sisterly love and possibly fatherly love from Mattie’s perspective.

The movie I choose to see was the original True Girt with John Wayne. This movie embodied a true Western and told the story very well, I appreciated the lines being used from the book into the script. The cinematography was beautiful and I was captivated by how they story was put into place in this movie. Well, I’d like to see the newer True Grit and compare this classic Western to the retake!