Gone are the disappointment tinged days of last week, as I actually got some reading done this week. That’s right, I’m back on track, having had some quality time with two different books this week.
“Norwood” by Charles Portis
The Believer, a great magazine that everyone who has even the slightest interest in culture should read, calls Charles Portis “Cormac McCarthy with a sense of humor.” While I like both authors plenty, I don’t know if that is a very apt description for Mr. Portis. Yeah, a lot of his stuff has this western frontier/pioneering feel and setting, but that’s most of what there is to the comparison. Portis’ work can stand on its own, he should need to be compared to others just to get people to open his books. The magazine is right about his sense of humor though, this guy is funny as fuck.
Line dancing...in Belgium! (image from flickr)
“Norwood,” published in 1966 is Portis’ first novel, and while I usually tend to avoid debuts (with a few exceptions they’re often for completists only), this book feels like the work of a writer truly confident in his abilities. Much of this can probably be tied back to the fact that Portis had spent the previous decade as a professional journalist. (more…)
