True Grit A Review By Roald Dahl And SBW

I've neither the time, or anyone to go with, so I've not been to the pictures to see the Cohen Bros version but yesterday I read Charles Portis' True Grit from cover to cover. I was going to tell you how amazing a piece of writing it is, but that's like a street dog recommending fine dining. Here's a review from someone who really really knows great storytelling

"True Grit is the best novel to come my way for a very long time. What book has given me greater pleasure in the last five years? Or in the last twenty? What a writer."
Roald Dahl

David Petzal liked it too, and being yer 'republican gun nut' by nature my guess is he has at least a passing interest in the genre

"The film, in which John Wayne played himself and got an Oscar for it, was a sort of comedy with gunfire, and had little to do with the novel, which was grim, sad, and filled with gallows humor."

He likes the new movie too

While the 'republican' thing means something very different where I come from, I'm not averse to a bit of gun nut-ism myself

The excellent Internet Movie Firearms Database has this nugget for film and firearm nerds to chip in to after dinner conversation.

"Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) carries her father's Colt Dragoon, as is described in Portis' book. The gun used in the film is an actual percussion Dragoon, while the 1969 film used a cartridge-converted Colt Walker. It can be surmised that the Walker was used due to its even more imposing size in contrast to Mattie's small stature. But the adherence to the source material in this version is much appreciated."

I actually paid the full £7.99 cover price, and consider it a bargain.

More news as I make it up, more views as I raise the funds for more kit
SBW