Vamos

Novelist Roderigo Fresan on Charles Portis:

A LA HORA SEÑALADA “Como Cormac McCarty; pero divertido”, sintetizó Ed Park en la revista The Believer. Y la definición es ocurrente, maliciosa pero, a la vez, apropiada. Porque True Grit funciona como la contracara complementaria e inseparable de Meridiano de sangre, ese otro western bíblico donde la sangre corre y no deja de correr. Y hay signos y señales que la reciente atención sobre Portis –vía una de las películas de vaqueros que más recaudó en toda la historia y el film de más éxito en toda la filmografía de los Coen– tal vez signifique que algo nuevo se viene acercando desde el Oeste o del Este. Antes de todo esto, la editorial Overlook reeditó su obra completa con éxito y fuegos artificiales por parte de crítica y nuevos seguidores y Portis comenzó a publicar artículos autobiográficos en revistas así como un relato de fantasmas titulado “I Don’t Talk Service No More” en The Atlantic. Quién sabe. Portis ya avisó que irá al cine pero no dirá nada a la salida. Hace poco, alguien lo alcanzó por las calles de Little Rock, lo invitó unas cervezas, Portis accedió advirtiendo antes que no estaba concediendo una entrevista y que nada de lo que dijera podía ser citado entre comillas y, finalmente, dejó un billete de cinco dólares. Leí la crónica del encuentro hace poco, en The New York Times y –como suele ocurrir cuando se lee a Portis– me quedé con ganas de más, de saber más y de que Portis dijera algo como “Tengo nuevo libro. Estoy corrigiéndolo”. Pero no. Y aquel que se lo cruzó y lo interceptó, un tal Carlo Rotella (nombre muy pero muy portisiano) cerró todo evocando aquella perfecta línea con la que abre un capítulo de Gringos: “Te pasas la vida dejando cosas para después hasta que un buen día te levantas de la cama y te dices ‘Hoy voy a cambiarle el aceite a mi camión’”.

Vamos.

*

A rocky translation via Google:

At the appointed time "as Cormac McCarthy, but fun," summed Ed Park in The Believer. And the definition is witty, mischievous, but at the same time appropriate. For True Grit serves as the complementary and inseparable counterpart of Blood Meridian that other western Bible where blood flows and continues to run. And there are signs and signals that the recent attention to Portis, via one of the cowboy movies that grossed more in history and the most successful film in the entire filmography of the Coen-may mean that something new has been approached from the West or East. Before this, the editorial Overlook reissued their complete work successfully and fireworks by critics and new fans and Portis autobiographical began publishing articles in magazines and a ghost story titled "I Do not Talk Service No More" in The Atlantic. Who knows. Portis already said it will go to the movies but did not say anything to the output. Recently, someone will hit the streets of Little Rock, invited a few beers, Portis agreed earlier warning that it was giving an interview and that anything he said could be cited in quotes and finally left a five dollar bill . I read the chronicle of the meeting recently in The New York Times and, as often happens when reading a Portis-I kept wanting more, to know more and that Portis would say something like "I have new book. I'm correcting it. " But no. And anyone who crossed him and intercepted him, a certain Carlo Rotella (very, very portisiano name) closed all evoke that perfect line that opens a chapter of Gringos: "You spend your life and then leaving things until one fine day you get out of bed and you say 'I'm going to change the oil in my truck'. "

Come on.

More on "Norwood"

Our man in Arkansas, John Moran, sends us Shock Cinema's 2001 review of Norwood, the film based on Charles Portis's novel. Starring Glen Campbell and Kim Darby (who played LaBoeuf and Mattie in True Grit), the film inspires Steve Puchalski to wonder: "What were the producers thinking?!"

Roald Dahl on True Grit

The back of the first edition of True Grit has blurbs by Roald Dahl, Walker Percy, Robert Crichton, William Eastlake, and A.C. Greene. Here's Dahl had to say:

"True Grit is the best novel to come my way for a very long time. I was going to say it was the best novel to come my way since...Then I stopped. Since what? What book has given me greater pleasure in the last five years? Or in the last twenty? I do not know. I expect some have, but I cannot recall them right now. Marvelous it is. He hasn't put a foot wrong anywhere. What a writer!"

Now that's a blurb!™

Counting down to TRUE GRIT...

...remember when I compared Bill Clinton's prose to that of fellow Arkansan Charles Portis? A sample:

ON BELIEF

Clinton: "Baptists require an informed profession of faith; they want people to know what they are doing, as opposed to the Methodists' infant-sprinkling ritual that took Hillary and her brothers out of hell's way." [p. 30]

Portis: "[The Cumberland Presbyterians] broke with the Presbyterian Church because they did not believe a preacher needed a lot of formal education. That is all right but they are not sound on Election. . . . I confess it is a hard doctrine, running contrary to our earthly ideas of fair play, but I can see no way around it." [TG, p. 109]