True Grit by Charles Portis: book review

True Grit (1968) is set in the 1870s in Arkansas, America. The narrator is 14-year-old Mattie Ross.

Twenty-five-year old bachelor Tom Chaney had just shot and killed her father Frank Ross, and had fled the scene, headed for the Indian territory, and joined by a band of outlaws.

The enraged teenager wants revenge for her family, her mother, and brother Little Frank. She intends to kill Tom if the law ‘fails to do so.’ She encounters people who try to belittle her, which of course makes her madder. There are many people who want to collect the bounty for Tom Chaney – it’s a lot of money.

Matttie enlists the help of ‘old’ one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn – the forty-year-old with true grit – to find the killer.

Sergeant of Texas Rangers, LaBoeuf, offers his assistance too, and so does Yarnell Poindexter, born of free parents, who has the block of land near the Ross farm and has known Mattie for all her years.

Mattie, Rooster and LaBoeuf ride out on horseback to find Tom Chaney. ‘There is nothing in this plan but a lot of killing,’ says LaBoeuf.

Mattie sees Tom first. She aims her dragoon revolver right at him. And this is the test of her metal and the test of the true motives of her companions.

Rooster Cogburn is played by John Wayne in the 1969 movie of True Grit, with Kim Darby as Mattie Ross. The 2010 re-make starred Jeff Bridges as Rooster, Matt Damon as LaBoeuf, and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie.

Mattie, in her account of the story, is simplistic, unsentimental, and emotionless, yet with a distinctive voice. In the pursuit of her father’s killer, she is single-minded. Charles Portis has written an amazing story – a classic – and its extraordinary climax will grip readers.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Shindi: the Georgian Cornelian cherry

The Cornelian cherry – shindi in Georgian – is a fruit with medicinal and decorative properties. It was grown from ancient times, according to the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). It is also commonly called the European cornel. It is native to southern Europe from France to Ukraine as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. The Cornelian cherry tree ( Cornus mas ) can be grown in orchards, but it is often seen in the forests of Georgia where it grows up to 1,350 metres above sea level. It is a medium to large deciduous tree, growing from 5-12 metres tall. The flowers are small with four yellow petals in clusters, which flower in February and March. The Cornus mas has three botanical varieties: (1) var. typica Sanadze with cylindrical red fruits, (2) var. pyriformis Sanadze with pear-shaped red fruits, and (3) var. flava vest with yellow fruits. The fruits are oblong red drupes about 2 centimetres ...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog