Norwood, Charles Portis
This was Portis' first book and I can see the growth that took place in his writing between this and TRUE GRIT.
The
book follows its protagonist on a misadventurous road trip (driving a
car across country) from his hometown of Ralph, Texas, to New York City
and back. During the trip, Norwood is exposed to a comic array of
personalities and lifestyles.
Right from the get-go the dialog in
this is terrific. Norwood is a likable character and his eventual
romance a winning one. But somewhere along the line it ran out of steam
for me. The desire to keep the ball in the air with humor and oddball
characters and situation for the length of the book felt forced or
strained.
If I had read this before reading TRUE GRIT, would I
have enjoyed it more? I am sure I would have. But TG is such a tour de
force that anything would pale in its wake. And this one did.
DOGS OF THE SOUTH awaits me but I think I will let it sit a while longer.
Friday, January 17, 2025
FFB: NORWOOD, Charles Portis
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5 comments:
That's a really interesting point, Patti. Sometimes when we read a book is important. The premise sounds really interesting, and I can see how it would draw the reader in. But once it starts to lose its 'punch,' a story can fade.
Bill Crider was a big Portis fan and the first one to tout his books that I remember, the first to go beyond TRUE GRIT. I liked this one too, though I agree it ran out of steam somewhat on the way back. I liked THE DOG OF THE SOUTH, another road trip book, better. Never read the Atlantis book, but I did read the somewhat disappointing GRINGOS.
I remember others, probably Bill among them, liking DOG better than NORWOOD, too...so, there's that. And a year or three back I read something interesting about (and probably from) Portis's early career that I should refresh my memory of...probably did a SSW about it.
I think since I wrote this a decade ago I read DOG. Ah, the memory!
I read TRUE GRIT several years ago and vowed that I would read more books by Portis, but I haven't done that. It looks like I have several of his books in ebook form, so I have no excuse now.
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