I decided to read this book after watching the Academy Awards a while back. John Wayne received an Oscar for Best Leading Actor in the 1969 version of True Grit, and the version that came out last year was nominated for ten Oscars. I haven’t seen any versions, and decided to read the book before reviewing them. Westerns aren’t what I normally read, but I’ve enjoyed reading Louis L’Amour back in the day.

The book can be summed up in the first sentence on the first page: “People can’t believe that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go away in the winter to avenge her father’s blood, but it didn’t seem so strange.” It didn’t happen every day, though.” Mattie Ross is after the man who shot her kindly father in Arkansas, and will stop at nothing until she gets what she deserves. The book is written in a matter-of-fact tone, with the courage of a stubborn young woman who won’t take no for an answer, she tells the story as a clever spinster, recalling the events that would stay with her for the rest of her life.

Traveling to Fort Smith, where her father was killed, Mattie seeks help from the US Marshalls to avenge the murderer Tom Chaney. She finds the true value she’s looking for in one-eyed “Rooster” Cogburn. Shortly after she finds him, she is confronted by a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf who has been after Chaney for killing a man in Texas. LaBoeuf and Cogburn agree to go after Chaney, but Mattie must not be left behind. She stubbornly follows them until they reluctantly agree to let her come along.

The journey to avenge his father’s life is not quite what he envisioned: traveling long hours on horseback, listening to drunken men talk, and sleeping on rough terrain is hard work. I loved how Cogburn calls Mattie “little sister” and seems to warm to her in a bit of a rude way. The action-packed finale had me cringing a bit as Mattie finds herself trapped in a pit with bats grazing at her from the cave below, and the only thing within reach is a corpse with rattles coming out of the chest looking for a snack. He’s not that big a fan of snakes.

Although I enjoyed the book, I found the direct narration a bit emotionless and dry at times. I loved the interactions between Mattie and Rooster, with the stories he told her and the way she looked at him for help. It’s not a book I’d read again, but it’s worth reading once.