The TRUE GRIT experiment

I'd never seen the movie, TRUE GRIT. Neither the first version with John Wayne (1969) nor the newer version from the Coen brothers (2010.)  And I had never read the novel.

During my vacation, I decided to consume and compare all three. I listened to the audiobook and then watched both films.

I loved the novel. Straightforward and harrowing at the same time. The audio narration by Donna Tartt is stellar.

1969
First thing that hit me was the score. It is dated and unflattering. The sweeping strings just seem out-of-place in a post-spaghetti Western. On top of that, it starts with a theme song with embarrassingly bad lyrics.

Until the end, the movie followed the novel plot points almost exactly. The dialog was nearly exact from the novel, too. The denouement ending was invented around a point at the ending of the novel and was not in the novel.

It's still a grand, fun Western and a Wayne classic for a reason.

2010
The first thing that hit me was how much better the soundtrack was.

This version had a fair number of minor changes in the plot that kept me guessing. Ironically though, I think the tone and characters were closer to the novel. The ending adheres to the novel, too.

I think I prefer the 2010 version.

It was fun experiment. Fortunately, each movie and the novel all had more highlights than lowlights.

I want to do more of this. I've seen both versions of 3:10 TO YUMA but I still need to read the story. And I've seen SHANE but I still need to read the novel.

recent read; Amazon Nights

Amazon Nights by Arthur O. Friel

Ever since I read THE PATHLESS TRAIL, I've wanted to read some of the adventures of Pedro and Lourenço, who made a cameo in that novel.

All the stories in this collection appeared in Adventure magazine in the early 1920s. They sweat with the steam of the South American jungle, full of intrigue, menace, jungle danger, south of the border hot-bloods, passion, murder, revenge, savages & cannibals, and betrayal.

Pedro and Lourenço are seringueiros - workers on a rubber plantation. Most of their adventures are set off the plantation during the rainy season. When there is no work and the waters flood to make passage through the jungle, the duo yield to wanderlust and find themselves in various scrapes. Lourenço narrates all the stories from first person p.o.v.

One story does dip a little into fantasy when the duo discovers a lost race of monkey men. All the other stories, though, play it straight though there are some humans who act like animals (but aren't) or are named after animals.

Friel spent time in the jungles of South America and the veracity bleeds through the atmosphere of these stories.

The standout stories for me were; "The Peccaries" "The Jararaca" "The Firefly" "The Bouto" and "The Trumpeter."

Darrel Schweitzer provides an informative, though brief, introduction to this collection.

Robert E. Howard read Friel and named him a favorite author. "The Peccaries" features someone being crucified on a tree. "The Jararaca" contains this wonderful bit, which could come right from the mouth of Solomon Kane;

"I am not one of those who think there is no God. And I do believe that whenever Deus Padre allows an evil thing to come into the world He also creates a good thing to destroy it. And whether this be so or not, I know that as our jungle harbors the venomous jararaca, so also it protests the good mussurana, which slays the jararaca."

Like THE PATHLESS TRAIL, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed these stories. AMAZON NIGHTS is a great encapsulation of the adventures of Pedro and Lourenço - and I still might seek out more of their tales.

Valley Forge National Historical Park

George Washington awaits.

 My nephew got married this weekend. The wedding was in Pennsylvania and we had time to kill, so my wife & I visited Valley Forge National Historical Park.

George and me.

SPOILER ALERT - (There was no battle at Valley Forge, it was a temporary winter encampment.)

Valley Forge was set on high ground in the rolling farm country of southeastern PA. It's a lovely spot. From there, Washington could monitor British movements around Philadelphia, which the British had captured and occupied.

Beautiful rolling farm country.

Although there was no battle at the site, no cease-fire had been declared and the Continental Army had to drill, picket, and perform all the myriad soldiering duties throughout the winter, remaining vigilant. (There were a few skirmishes in the countryside - usually as the Americans were foraging wider and wider for supplies and food.)

We watched the introductory movie at the visitor center. It was a hot day and we opted for the trolley tour. Highly recommended. It was a wise move to let someone else do the driving and the narrating. Our guide really knew her stuff. Not just about the encampment but all kinds of history leading up to and after the encampment of winter 1777-78.

Costumed Park Ranger and replica huts.

The huts and redoubts are all recreations. The originals fell to rot, or more likely, were knocked down by the farmers who owned the land, once the the army had marched on.

Washington's headquarters was a proper house and that still stands today with recreated kitchen, office, and bedrooms.

Washington's headquarters

The theme driven home more than once is that Valley Forge is unique in being a monument not to soldiers in battle but a monument to the rest of a soldier's life - the 90% of time they are not on the battlefield. The 90% of time surviving, dying of diseases and dearth, drilling, and keeping busy to stay sane.

Absolutely worth your time to visit if you are in the area.

I'm a sucker for a good, concise, arms & equipment reference book.

Ya, I know  - I'm a sucker for a good, concise, arms & equipment reference book. "Fixed that for ya."