Talk:True Grit (novel)

The whole analysis is an (unsourced) opinion, I have no idea what are the quality rules but it should all be probably fully or partly deleted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.110.162.233 (talk) 13:58, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Colorado?

I thought the 1969 film was made in Oregon not Colorado. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.3.124.65 (talk) 16:35, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

Rooster Cogburn and the Lady was filmed in Oregon. True Grit was filmed in Colorado with town scenes in Ridgway and the famous showdown with Lucky Ned Pepper took place at Deb's Meadow. Many of the buildings used in the movie are still there in Ridgway. The website www.truegritdays.com talks about the annual celebration they have of the time when the movie was filmed there. 99.0.37.134 (talk) 16:03, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

book/movie comparison

So, the book came first, then the movie. Wouldn't it make sense to list the differences between the book and the movie on the movie page, then? Aldenrw (talk) 15:33, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Ages of Main Characters

Mattie Ross is certainly 14 years old. She says so (twice) on the novel's first page.

Rooster Cogburn is "about forty years of age", according to Mattie (p41). In the late spring of 1903, Cole Younger "reckoned (Rooster's) age at sixty-eight years" (p222), and Mattie used this estimate for Rooster's headstone: "1835 - 1903" (p223). This would make Cogburn about 42 in 1877, the likely year of the adventure, so he is much younger than portrayed in the film versions.

LaBoeuf's age can be determined quite precisely. Mattie says he is "around thirty years of age" (p68), but in describing his service in the Civil War LaBoeuf says: "I went in the army on my fifteenth birthday and saw the last six months of the war" (p155). This means that he enlisted and turned 15 in October 1864, and that he was born in October 1849, so he is 28 in the late fall of 1877. This is consistent with Mattie's statement on the novel's last page that, in the summer/fall of 1928: "I judge (LaBoeuf) is in his seventies now, and nearer eighty than seventy." He turned 79 in October 1928, if he was still extant.

All page references are from the hardback 1968 Book Club Edition. Greaserbob (talk) 01:35, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Year of Narration

The novel takes the form of a memoir written in the summer/fall of 1928 by an aging Mattie, in which she recalls events from her youth, a half century earlier.

This date is revealed by Mattie's reference to New York Governor Al Smith as a presidential candidate:

    "(Al Smith) is a good Democrat and when he is elected I believe he will do the right thing if he is not hamstrung
     by the Republican gang and bullied into an early grave as was done to Woodrow Wilson ..." (p67).

So the memoir was written between the Democratic Convention of late June 1928 and the election in early November. Greaserbob (talk) 03:00, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Timeframe of Mattie's Adventure

The main story takes place over a two-week period in the late fall of a year in the late 1870s.

First, the time of year, two weeks in late November and early December:

    Mattie on her father's trip: "In November when the last of the cotton was sold Papa took it in his head to go to Fort Smith and buy some ponies." (p10)

    Mattie on the trek to McAlester's: "If you had chanced to be riding up the Texas Road on that bright December morning you would have met two red-eyed 
    peace officers and a sleepy youth from near Dardanelle, Arkansas, riding south at a walk and leading seven horses." (p153)

    Mattie after being struck by Chaney: "My thoughts turned to my peaceful home in Arkansas. and my poor mother who would be laid low by the news.
    First her husband and now her oldest child, both gone in the space of two weeks and dispatched by the same bloody hand!" (p197)

    Mattie in the snake pit: "Those (snakes) can bite in December and right there is the proof of it!" (p211)

Next, the year itself. There are several references to Rutherford B. Hayes as the sitting president, including:

    "... Lawyer Goudy is going to Washington city to see if President Hayes will not commute the sentence." (p82)

    "R.B. Hayes is the U.S. President and they say he stole Tilden out." (p84)

This restricts the year to 1877, 1878, 1879 or 1880. But Mattie writes of her anticipated reunion with Rooster in the spring/summer of 1903: "I speculated on whether the marshal would recognize me. My first thought was: A quarter of a century is a long time!" (p221). This makes the likely year 1877, which would put the 25th anniversary in December 1902. 1878 would put the anniversary a year later, in December 1903, so it is a less likely possibility. The remaining years (1879 & 1880) are too late to work with an approximate 25th anniversary in mid-1903.

So, the evidence in the novel places the main story in a two-week period in the late fall (November & December) of 1877 (maybe 1878). Greaserbob (talk) 05:17, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Umm...you forgot an entire plot

Yeah someone totally forgot to add an ending to the entire plot summary of this book...I would of thought after the popularity of the movie someone would notice this by now. I apologize if I'm misinformed about the story having an actual ending...-James Pandora Adams —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.126.18.254 (talk) 16:17, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Rooster Cogburn and the Lady

"Wayne would reprise the role in Rooster Cogburn (1975) with an original screenplay. The sequel was not well-received and the plot was considered a needless reworking of the plot of True Grit."

I would have thought it impossible that anyone who knew about the 1975 film with Katharine Hepburn could be unaware that it's not a "needless reworking of the plot of True Grit," but rather an obvious reworking of the African Queen. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.207.102.66 (talk) 03:17, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

Coen Brothers' film

Removed the comment in the description that said the Coen Brothers' version "left out" major scenes like Mattie's father being shot. If someone had paid any attention to the beginning of the film they would've known it had not been left out.50.158.229.206 (talk) 05:37, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

WP:UNDUE in lede

Why is the bulk of the lede of the book article about film adaptations? I suggest briefer mention of the film version in the lede and question whether the the sequel to the film (not based on a book sequel) deserves mention in the lede at all. --Kevjonesin (talk) 07:32, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

I'm trimming lede and moving detail to adaptations section. --Kevjonesin (talk) 07:51, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Is this book considered a classic?

Is this book considered a classic like moby dick? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.45.12.71 (talk) 02:06, 25 March 2021 (UTC)