I went on a Charles Portis reading binge last week tackling three of his novels. I had read Dog of the South before but I remembered nothing of it. Seana Graham sent me Masters of Atlantis from her bookshop in Santa Cruz, California so I thought I'd tackle that one first. It was actually my least favourite of the three but still funny. Its the story of a not so secret society and its growth from World War I to the 1970's, it read a bit like a pastiche of Thomas Pynchon's V and it was hard to get a handle on the novel with no strong central character to guide you through the story. But I still laughed quite a bit and at one point the action shifted to Colorado and for me that counts for something. ...
Next I tackled True Grit as an audiobook. It was read by best selling author Donna Tartt who has a lovely Southern accent and reads very well. I had seen both film versions so there weren't many surprises in the tale, but still I enjoyed the novel and I really loved Tartt's excellent narration and her fine afterword where she talks about what True Grit meant to her and her family. I haven't heard of an author reading someone else's book before - maybe this will be the start of a new trend. Salman Rushdie could narrate John LeCarre...or perhaps not.
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Finally I reread Dog of the South which was as hilarious as I remembered it. It's the story of a man who pursues his wife and her lover down through Mexico and into Belize in a misguided attempt to get her (and his car) back. It's an episodic adventure and frequently absurd, but what keeps you on the path is the first person narrator who is somewhat unreliable and a bit of a lovable nut. Perhaps I'll tackle Charles Portis's Norwood next which seems to be in a similar vein to this one.
19 comments:
I read TRUE GRIT myself last week and loved it, even though I'd also seen both movies. The voice is perfect, and consistent throughout, told by Mattie years later.
The Beloved Spouse and I have the opinion that Mattie has Asperger's Syndrome. Portis never says so, but she lines up well with several of its characteristics.
Dana
Or it could just be that she grew up in a strict Presbyterian church. It pretty much amounts to the same thing. Believe me, I know...
I've recently read all three of those Portis books, also. I actually listened to audiobook versions of True Grit (read by Donna Tartt) and of Dog of the South. I then got Masters of Atlantis from the library and read the dead tree edition.
I liked True Grit and Dog of the South quite a bit. I also thought Dog of the South very funny, and I've recommended that one to lots of friends.
I got bogged down in Masters of Atlantis and didn't like it very much.
Speedskater
Yeah Masters of Atlantis is the least of the 3. Dog of the South might be my favourite, although Tartt's narration of True Grit was clear, colourful and, at times, inappropriately erotic.
Where did he go wrong with Masters? I think he got fed up with the blandness of the male lead and tried several other leads instead but none of them seemed to work.
The only one of the three I've heard of is True Grit, and I have no intrest in it at all. Dog Of The South sounds fun though.
Yeah, I feel similarly about Masters of Atlantis, but I enjoyed it, and I have heard a couple of people say it was one of their favorite books ever, so I think there must be some way people kind of vibe to it in a way I did not. I'd disagree slightly in saying that I think Portis knew exactly what he was trying to do with the book, it's just that we don't know exactly what he was trying to do. At least most of us. I'd certainly read more of his work, though haven't yet. I'm glad they are all out and easily available.
Glenna
Strange cover for Dog of the South. The school bus never moves in the book.
Seana
I think Pynchon and DeLillo tackle that world in a bit more of an interesting way.
Yeah, I don't know. But I'm happy enough to know that it really works for some.
I haven't read any of the books but I have seen both True Grits...liking the newer version better. I didn't feel Mattie had Asperger's Syndrome, even though she did speak formally and seemed obsessed with one focus. I tend to agree with the strict upbringing and a controlling personality. Dana did you pick up those characteristics from the book or the movies?
I'm thinking I might love DotS in audiobook. Speedskater42k did you like the reader on that one?
Trudy, I listened to that book a few months ago, and I frankly can't recall much about the reader. I liked the book quite a bit, and I'm certain that the reader's contribution was part of my enjoyment.
I posted this on a previous blog Ch. Portis thread in A. McKinty's blog:
I got a big laugh out of this exchange between the main character the The Dog of the South, Ray Midge, and Dr. Reo Symes, who was speaking about his days as a medical student at Wooten Institute in New Orleans:
He ended the long account by saying that Dr. Wooten "invented clamps."
"Medical clamps?" I idly inquired.
"No, just clamps. He invented the clamp."
"I don't understand that. What kind of clamp are you talking about?"
"Clamps! Clamps! That you hold two things together with! Can't you understand plain English?"
"Are you saying this man made the first clamp?"
"He got a patent on it. He invented the clamp."
"No, he didn't."
"Then who did?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know. And you don't know Smitty Wooten either but you want to tell me he didn't invent the clamp."
"He may have invented some special kind of clamp but he didn't invent THE CLAMP. The principle of the clamp was probably known to the Sumerians. You can't go around saying this fellow from Louisiana invented the clamp."
"He was the finest diagnostician of our time. I suppose you deny that too."
"That's something else."
"No, go ahead. Attack him all you please. He's dead now and can't defend himself. Call him a liar and a bum. . . . "
Adrian,
I'm shocked you didn't like Masters of Atlantis more. I can't think of another novel, comic or otherwise, that does a better job of explaining what makes Americans so scary, funny, infuriating, bewildering, charming, dangerous, and unpredictable. I can only conclude that you are, in the words of Portis, an "odd bird", and that you would benefit from being chastised with the Brass Rod of Correction.
Trudy
I do like the fact that the smart young woman is a trope of Southern literature: True Grit, To Kill A Mockingbird etc.
Speedskater
Loved that bit. And the stuff about his tape of the civil war lectures. Really funny.
Cary
I thought it was funny but I just got a bit lost in the middle. And I thought Dog of the South was REALLY funny.
Adrian, I've never thought of it that way (about the smart-young-woman theme in Southern literature) but you're dead on.
One of my very favorites is Carson McCuller's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" which both features a smart young woman (actually, a girl) and was written by one: McCullers was 24 when she wrote the book.
Speedskater
Yeah one of my favourites too. Sad that the three great geniuses of twentieth century female Southern writing, C McCullers, Flannery OConnor and Harper Lee all had such brief literary lives. Ms Lee is still with us of course but I dont know what she's been doing all this time.
As to M of A, I think Cary illustrates my point. I also think I might come back to this book in a few years and really get it. But I can see how, if you were expecting something different, it might be a let down.
I also think it would either make a really good Coen Brothers movie, or a really bad one.
I am old enough to have read To Kill a Mockingbird when it was first published and several times since. It's still one of my favorites. The movie was good I thought too.
Southern literature is not the only place where smart young women can shine.
As a young girl I read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I identified with Laura and couldn't get enough of those books.
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