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Apr 16, 2021IndyPL_RyanL rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
True Grit by Charles Portis is one of the best works of American literature ever written. It's up there with the best works of Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor, and many other authors I adore. It's a straightforward story about a very strong-willed young girl who's determined to see her father's killer brought to justice, so she teams up with a tough drunkard of a U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger to find the killer, Tom Chaney, and the gang he belongs to. The unlikely trio finds danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested. True Grit is a story worth revisiting again and again for its narrative voice. Our fierce narrator is none other than the strong-willed young girl, Mattie Ross. A western written from the eyes of a woman was truly revolutionary when this was published in the 1960s (1968 to be precise). And Mattie is such a human yet immortal character. She is up there with Huck Finn. Portis was amazing at illustrating a sense of place through her voice and the voice of the other characters, that the characters seem alive and you really feel like you too are in "Indian Territory." True Grit is also an economically written work of art. Not a word is wasted. All English majors should be made to read this. It truly is the perfect book, full of humor and adventure. Perhaps the greatest American novel, True Grit is an absolute classic work of American fiction.