I’M READING AS FAST AS I CAN: FEBRUARY 2011 EDITION

The first book reports of the year are in. I will post them now for yr pleasure.

JUST FINISHED

True Grit by Charles Portis
Would you believe I’ve never seen the film? That’s because I was never a major John Wayne fan, or much of a Western fan once I hit middle school. So with the book being reprinted to tie in with the Coen Brothers version (which I also haven't seen yet), I thought I’d give the source material a shot. I’m glad I did. It’s an interesting take on the revenge-western story, and the main character of Mattie Ross is a great invention: a prim, single-minded 14-year-old Presbyterian with a very naive and narrow mindset that she manages to impose on everyone else mainly by exhausting them. Annoying, yes, but Portis writes her very convincingly, and it’s often funny. It’s also – unintentionally – a kind of roadmap to the roots of the American culture of fundamentalism, guns and Rooster Cogburn’s approach to law enforcement (i.e. “Just shoot ‘em”). Recommended, even if you’ve seen either film version.

JUST STARTED

Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham
Would you believe I’ve never seen the film version of this either? Not even after it was name-checked by The Lips in Rocky Horror Picture Show? Anyway, I’ve been meaning to try John Wyndham for awhile. Now it’s time.

( Recently: Grahame Greene, Ian Rankin, Cory Doctorow, Ken MacLeod, Lawrence Lessig and Mario Acevedo!  )

For yr eyes only,

This is dF