True Grit for Kids

The New York Review of Books asked authors Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana to talk about True Grit – the Charles Portis novel, the John Wayne movie, and the Coen Brothers’ recent adaption. The two writers know a thing or two about adapting western literature for the big screen. They collaborated on the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. It’s a great exchange. I keyed in on this part:

L: The Coens each read Portis’s True Grit to their children.

D: I found that it does read like a novel accessible to young people.

L: I think Donna Tartt, the critic who contributed the afterword to the paperback, was right to mention that it owes more to The Wizard of Oz than to Huck Finn …

D: … because of the relentlessness of the young heroine. Dorothy wants to get back home to Kansas; Mattie wants to avenge the murder of her father at the hands of Tom Chaney. The language might feel similar to Twain’s, though Portis’s dialogue is more formal. I loved reading Tom Sawyer and Huck Finngrowing up, and in fact that’s where my belief that boys have more fun than girls originated. I enjoyed True Grit the novel because a girl was having the adventures for a change…

D: In their interview with the Guardian, Joel and Ethan gave the journalist the impression that, “To hear the Coens tell it, their True Grit may not even be a western.”

L: Yes, they likened it more to Alice in Wonderland. I think they’re right. Mattie goes across the river, to a place she’s never been before, where she sees all these things.

As I’ve mentioned before, a friend of mine read True Grit to his six year old daughter on the advice of Donna Tartt, and he highly recommended it, too. As the daughter of a six year old girl myself (7 in April), I’m always on the lookout for good books that have girls having big adventures. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

I went on a Charles Portis reading kick in 2003 after reading Ed Park’s excellent piece on Portis in The Believer. At the time, I picked up a first edition of True Grit for a few bucks. It looks like those days are over.

Books | Tim | February 9, 2011 8:42 am

3 Comments

By Elizabeth, February 9, 2011 @ 2:58 pm

Donna Tartt also narrates the audiobook.
Not sure if you have read any of The Mysterious Benedict Society books by Trenton Lee Stewart, but those are fun and illustrations are great – Carson Ellis illustrated the first book. Good girl characters. Good character dev. in general.
By Elizabeth, February 9, 2011 @ 3:10 pm

..And now that I think of it, now that I have read of Donna Tartt’s love of True Grit, her book The Little Friend is most likely influenced by her passion for True Grit. Strong female girl. It’s been too long since I have read it for me to determine if that is deemed appropriate for a 7yo though. I think The Little Friend didn’t get the credit it deserved, on the heels (10 years later!) of The Secret History.
By Tim, February 9, 2011 @ 10:21 pm

Thanks for the recommendations and that is a great call on The Little Friend. I hadn’t thought of that.