As soon as i stopped thinking about John Wayne as Cogburn, and just let the story flow, I became utterly lost in it. I guess if i had, then maybe I'd have got the John Wayne thing out of my head beforehand.
I haven't seen the new film, though that's why i got this audiobook, because the new film is out. Rooster Cogburn didn't sound like John Wayne - I know that sounds mad, but in my mind that's how Cogburn spoke. So why wasn't i getting it? Then it hit me. I loved the story, the narrator's American drawl fitted it perfectly - even if she did sound a little nervous to start with. Okay, here's the thing, it took me ages to work out why it didn't feel right. Be careful where you listen to this book - I was listening on commuter trains and on occasions gasped, smiled, laughed, and wept unable to stop, in front of wondering witnesses! I loved it, I loved the characters, and Ms Tartt conveyed an empathy and love for the book herself in her reading, making it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Because of the comparison with the movie, I found that the conversations with Stonehill (the horse dealer) lacked the irony and sarcasm that Strother Martin was able to inject in the film. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Ms Tartt's reading, which revealed how the written words ought to sound by intonation as much as by pronunciation. I was surprised how close the original film starring John Wayne was to this novel, and as Donna Tartt read it I found I was seeing scenes from the movie in my mind's eye. The novel's pace varies with the action it's describing: the long horse-rides are filled with extensive, languid character-revealing conversations, while the action scenes are eye-widening, fast-moving and sometimes horrifying. It's a wonderful tale of great courage and endurance on all sides. True Grit follows the journey of a stubborn young woman, 14 year-old Mattie Ross, as she seeks revenge for the murder of her father, enlisting the help of a Deputy US Marshall, Rooster Cogburn, because he has 'grit'.
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