True Grit by Charles Portis

Written in 1968 but feeling like it comes from us from a writer maybe 80 years earlier, this is a fine first-person account from the perspective of a 14 year old girl, Mattie Ross, about how she avenged the cold-blooded murder of her father by paying for the services of a US Marshall, Rooster Cogburn. 

The language used is vivid and authentic, full of nuance and detail that feels genuine and appropriate for this particular girl (who is intelligent, wise, aloof and the former of strong opinions), with a powerful narrative drive propelling the action and story along.  It has laughs, good characterisation in all the main characters (including the head bad guy, Lucky Ned Pepper),  and is a real page turner.

I’d also add the recent movie of this gets exactly the mood of the novel and gets the character of Mattie pitch-perfect, and has very little divergence from this simple, driving story.

Thoroughly recommended.

Rating: Good 8.5/10