True Grit

By: Charles Portis

Narrated by: Donna Tartt

Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl from Dardanelle, Arkansas, sets out to avenge her Daddy who was shot to death by a no-good outlaw. Mattie convinces one-eyed "Rooster" Cogburn, the meanest U.S. marshal in the land, to ride along with her. In True Grit, we have a true American classic, as young Mattie, as vital as she is innocent, outdickers and outmaneuvers the hard-bitten men of the trail in a legend that will last through the ages.

Critic reviews

"Charles Portis is perhaps the most original, indescribable sui generis talent overlooked by literary culture in America." ( Esquire)

“Tom Wolfe, who worked with Portis as a reporter at the New York Herald-Tribune in the early 1960s called him – the original laconic cutup. A generation of novelists since then have simply regarded him as a writers-writer and have made his name a sort of secret password. Soon, they’ll no longer have him to themselves.” ( Rolling Stone Magazine)

“Like Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man, Charles Portis’s True Grit captures the nanve elegance of the American voice.” (Jonathan Lethem)

Who really had True Grit?

I really liked both of the movies made from this book, and so I really looked forward to listening to it. I was not disappointed. It was a great story, and very well written. The question remains, "Who really had True Grit?" To me the answer was #1 Maddi Ross. She was a plucky, brave and self-confident girl, and I admire her courage and presence of mind in the face of great danger and emotional upheaval. #2 One cannot say that Rooster Cogburn did not have True Grit however. I think Jeff Bridges played him a little truer to the character in the book, but I will forever love the John Wayne character as well. They were both so well done! I will never forget watching Jeff Bridges carry Maddi on his back after Little Blacky died, which is exactly what happens in the book. Now that was True Grit. #3 LeBoeff also showed that he had Grit when he was the one who in the end saved the day. Let's just say it was a Gritty cast of characters and there is much to be learned from each one. This book is well worth reading more than once.

I liked the narrator, Donna Tartt, very much, but she did go through a period of time at about the half way point where the swallowing and other non-verbal mouth sounds got to be a little annoying. I just didn't think it was necessary to have those sounds in there, what with modern recording devices and all. Other that that I thought she was very good. I especially enjoyed her comments at the end of the book.

I real classic! I loved it!

This audio version of True Grit is wonderful beyond description. Charles Portis' Mattie Ross character later in life describes how as a teenager in the 1870's she set out to avenge the murder of her father. Most people over age 50 have likely seen the 1669 John Wayne movie based on the book. Although John Wayne won an Academy Award as best actor for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the movie, the book is much, much better than the movie. This audio book is narrated by Donna Tratt in what is obviously a labor of love. Tratt is a very talented author herself. Her narration is simply perfect. I have mixed feelings about the essay by Tratt at the end of the book. I like it, but it is overly academic; her comparisons to other classics such as Huck Finn are a stretch and sound like a review paper written by an English major in college. Yet the essay does demonstrate Tratt's love of True Grit.

My advice is to get this audio book and listen to Mattie Ross' tale as interpreted by Donna Tratt. Tratt's narration makes this US western classic even better.

Gritty

This book is selling like hotcakes right now with the new remake of the movie out AND do you know what I think about that? (as our young herione would say here) Great! I stumbled upon this by looking up Donna Tarrt and put it on my wish list quite sometime ago. Well, taking advantage of that fab. extra 20% off week, I downloaded this book and listened to it in a couple of days. First off, I love strong female characters in any book and boy does this book have one of those. I thought Donna Tarrt did a good job narrating as well.

Such a great story with good plot, humor, action.

By now, everyone should know about this gem. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because the narrator read the book in the voice of the 14 year old girl, when in reality the story is being told by a 40+ year old woman remembering back to when she was 14.

EXCELLENT! How have I never read this before?

I really enjoy historical fiction, but tend to give Westerns a miss. It was a recent review that drew me to Mattie’s tale. (Thank You!)

I so thoroughly enjoyed this book. The taut prose (alongside Mattie’s biblical phrasing, and dogmatic opinions) with archaic turns of phrase was a joy to hear. The pace was perfect. The characters memorable. The sense of place was so clear (vengeance in early winter in Indian territory...)

Donna Tart gives a fine reading. Yes, I can see where others were distracted by her occasional swallowing but her vocal characterisation more than makes up for that. I was entranced by her accent. I felt she was the perfect Mattie. I so enjoyed her deadpan rendition of the older Mattie recounting the, at times hilarious, viewpoint of the severe, driven, young teenage Mattie, without either realising the humour.

This book is a delight. Highly recommended.