The genius of Charles Portis

[fredtoast]

Most people who have heard of Portis just know him as the author of True Grit. (1968) It is a fantastic book, but when you read it you realize that it is not a standard western. In fact it is slightly satirical of classic westerns. But none of that comes across in either of the movies.

Portis never wrote another western, but his other books are brilliant and hilarious. I consider him the most underrated American author ever.

His first novel, Norwood (1966), was also made into a movie, and like the original True Grit it starred Glen Campbell. It is about a good old country boy ex-marine who has a wild adventure delivering a couple of (stolen??) cars across country.

Masters of Atlantis (1985) is a satire on crack pot religions and how they can become accepted in mainstream society.

The Dog of the South (1979) is about a loser who drives from Arkansas through Mexico and British Honduras tracking his wife who left him with another loser who sees himself as a revolutionary. He meets a lot of crazy characters and does a lot of stupid stuff. What makes it so funny is that it is written from first person perspective so the loser is the narrator and never sees the fault in his ways.

I just ordered Gringos. It is his final book and the only one I have not read. Here is the description from wikipedia. . . Gringos is a 1991 book by Charles Portis and the author's fifth novel. It follows Jimmy Burns, an expatriate American, who during his adventures in Mexico encounters a female stalker, tomb-robbing archaeologists, UFO hunters, and a group of hippies.

So Portis only wrote 5 novels over a 25 year period, and he lived as a bit of a recluse in Little Rock avoiding attention or fame until he died last year at age 86. But he has a huge cult following. His style is very intelligent without being pretentious or high-brow. His characters are common people who do hilarious things in great stories. There are lots of conmen and conspiracies. Love and adventure. Just lots of fun to read.

None of his books are very long or complicated. Anyone who likes to read should check him out.

[*michaelsean*]

Looking for a little switch up from my usuals. I like first person so maybe I’ll start with The Dog of the South.

[XenoMorph]

will look for some of these next time i make it to the book store thanks

[*michaelsean*]

Weird the The Dog one is not on Kindle. I think I’ll try Gringos.

[grampahol]

Charles Dickens was one of my favorites. Helps to read with Kindle or other apps to look up a lot of arcane language that's not all that common anymore. Tale of Two Cities was a bloody fun read.. It had the greatest introduction ever.. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..." Sounds like politics today..
Heck of a line for getting your head cut off at the guillotine too: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

[*michaelsean*]

(04-25-2021, 11:22 PM)grampahol Wrote: Charles Dickens was one of my favorites. Helps to read with Kindle or other apps to look up a lot of arcane language that's not all that common anymore. Tale of Two Cities was a bloody fun read.. It had the greatest introduction ever.. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..." Sounds like politics today..
Heck of a line for getting your head cut off at the guillotine too: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

Yup.  Classic opening and closing lines.  I read A Christmas Carol year round.  I've read most Dickens book, and decided to try The Old Curiosity Shop.  It's incomprehensible.  Half of the time I have no idea whet anyone is talking about.  I wonder if I got some weird edition, like it's an English translation of a Russian translation or something.

[fredtoast]

(04-22-2021, 11:30 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I just ordered Gringos.  It is his final book and the only one I have not read.  Here is the description from wikipedia.  .  .  Gringos is a 1991 book by Charles Portis and the author's fifth novel. It follows Jimmy Burns, an expatriate American, who during his adventures in Mexico encounters a female stalker, tomb-robbing archaeologists, UFO hunters, and a group of hippies.

Just finished this book.  It is a good story.  Especially if you are interested in ancient Mayan artifacts and archeology.  But it was not as wild and funny as most of his other books.  Much more like True Grit.

[grampahol]

The moral of the story in a Tale of Two Cities... If you want the best sleep ever get your head chopped off..

[*michaelsean*]

(05-01-2021, 07:30 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Just finished this book.  It is a good story.  Especially if you are interested in ancient Mayan artifacts and archeology.  But it was not as wild and funny as most of his other books.  Much more like True Grit.

Finished it myself. He’s got that kind of wit I like when he comments on things. The cast of misfits and just straight up delusional characters was fun. Reminded me a bit of the Burglar series by Lawrence Block in that way. I’d recommend that series.

[Sled21]

My favorite author would have to be Joseph Wambaugh, though with my line of work I guess he writes about things that interest me. His first book "The Onion Field" was a true story, but then he started writing fiction based on stories he and his co-workers on LAPD lived in the 70's 80's period of time. His books are about as true to life look at the "Greatest Show on Earth" which is policing the general public. I can't remember all the titles, but the Blue Knight, the New Centurions, The Choirboys, The Glitterdome, and most of the rest were all made into movies that did not do the books justice.

[XenoMorph]

(05-01-2021, 08:18 PM)grampahol Wrote: The moral of the story in a Tale of Two Cities... If you want the best sleep ever get your head chopped off..

lol rolls well with that old saying "ill sleep when im dead"

[Dr.Z]

Thank you VERY much for the thread.  I have always been into reading.   I'm a big fan of Salinger, Roth, Fitzgerald & Hemingway (of course), Anthony Burgess, Easton Ellis, Mailer, McCarthy etc.   I've never read Portis and don't know a lot about him other than he wrote True Grit, died within the past year or so, and that I'd heard he was a bit reclusive (which of course was infamously used  to describe Salinger).  

I've been wanting to read something fictional, and from someone I haven't read.   It's been a while since I've picked something up.   The last one I read (fiction) was by Donald Ray Pollock (actually from Ohio).      Anyway, what would you recommend to me, if you don't mind?    Thanks!

[fredtoast]

(05-06-2021, 04:21 PM)Dr.Z Wrote:  Anyway, what would you recommend to me, if you don't mind?    Thanks!

Authors are a matter of taste, and with some great authors like Cormac McCarthy I find some of his books brilliant and others almost unreadable.  Same with anthony Burgess.  but here are a few of my favorites.

Ken Kesey.... I think "Sometimes a Great Notion" is better than "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest"  both are great.  I consider SAGN my favorite novel by an American author.

Vladimir Nobokov.... "Pale Fire" is probably my all time favorite novel by anyone.  "Lolita" is also brilliant.

Michael Chabon...... Best by him are "The Yiddish's Policeman's Union", "Wonder Boys", "Gentleman of the Road".  I have read all of this novels.  if you read anything by him and have questions about his other works just PM me.

Salman Rushdie...... Did not really care for "Santanic Verses", not for religious reasons, just too much mysticism and magic in it.  All of Rushdie's books have some paranormal elements but I much prefer "The Ground Beneath her Feet", "Shalimar the Clown", and "The Moor's Last Cry".  I have read pretty much everything he has ever written just like Chabon.  His books are dense with history but I find most of them fascinating.  He can't write about a main character without giving the back story two generations back.

Iris Murdoch....  Some of her works contain too much philosophical musing by her characters, and some of them are nothing much more than detailed character studies.  But "The Sea; The Sea" and "The Black Prince" are funny and very well written.

[Dr.Z]

(05-07-2021, 12:40 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Authors are a matter of taste, and with some great authors like Cormac McCarthy I find some of his books brilliant and others almost unreadable.  Same with anthony Burgess.  but here are a few of my favorites.

Ken Kesey.... I think "Sometimes a Great Notion" is better than "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest"  both are great.  I consider SAGN my favorite novel by an American author.

Vladimir Nobokov.... "Pale Fire" is probably my all time favorite novel by anyone.  "Lolita" is also brilliant.

Michael Chabon...... Best by him are "The Yiddish's Policeman's Union", "Wonder Boys", "Gentleman of the Road".  I have read all of this novels.  if you read anything by him and have questions about his other works just PM me.

Salman Rushdie...... Did not really care for "Santanic Verses", not for religious reasons, just too much mysticism and magic in it.  All of Rushdie's books have some paranormal elements but I much prefer "The Ground Beneath her Feet", "Shalimar the Clown", and "The Moor's Last Cry".  I have read pretty much everything he has ever written just like Chabon.  His books are dense with history but I find most of them fascinating.  He can't write about a main character without giving the back story two generations back.

Iris Murdoch....  Some of her works contain too much philosophical musing by her characters, and some of them are nothing much more than detailed character studies.  But "The Sea; The Sea" and "The Black Prince" are funny and very well written.

Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed reply.   I might start w/ SAGN by Kesey.  I have only read The Electric Kool-aide Acid Test , which was a while back (much simpler times lol).   I actually haven't read any of the books on your list.   

And if I may, one more question:  Which of Portis' work would you recommend (aside from True Grit)?     Thanks again man! 

[fredtoast]

(05-07-2021, 01:02 PM)Dr.Z Wrote: And if I may, one more question:  Which of Portis' work would you recommend (aside from True Grit)?     Thanks again man! 

"True Grit" and "Gringos" are more serious straight forward stories.  The others are more satirical and funny.

[fredtoast]

(05-07-2021, 01:02 PM)Dr.Z Wrote: Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed reply.   I might start w/ SAGN by Kesey.  I have only read The Electric Kool-aide Acid Test , which was a while back (much simpler times lol).   I actually haven't read any of the books on your list.   

And if I may, one more question:  Which of Portis' work would you recommend (aside from True Grit)?     Thanks again man! 

BTGW, many people consider Vladimir Nabokov to be a real serious, pretentious writer, but his good books like "Pale Fire" and "Lolita" have a lot of humor to them.  Pale Fire is both tragic and absurd at the same time.