Details Of Books Norwood
| Title | : | Norwood |
| Author | : | Charles Portis |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 190 pages |
| Published | : | 1966 by Simon and Schuster |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Humor. Literature. Novels. American. Southern |
Charles Portis
Hardcover | Pages: 190 pages Rating: 3.86 | 2491 Users | 346 Reviews
Explanation Toward Books Norwood
Charles Portis, born in 1933 in the state of Arkansas, one-time Marine sergeant, is an American author best known for his classic Western novel True Grit. Such a darn good writer who created eccentric characters and comic plots.
Part of the American Vintage Contemporaries series published back in the 1980s, this road novel by Charles Portis features 23-year old guitar pluckin’ ex-marine Norwood Pratt who lives (if you call this living) way down in the grit of rural East Texas. For me, when it comes to road novels the spice is in what prompts hitting the road in the first place and all the encounters on the trip. This one penned by Sir Charles is a real doozy. Since so much of the color and texture of reading Charles Portis is in his homespun, down-to-Texas-earth language, by way sampling Daddy’s literary cookin’, here are a few direct quotes from the beginning of the book along with my comments:
On The Visitors Norwood Invites To Stay At His House For A Couple Of Days
“Sometime during the night the Remleys decampted, taking with them a television set and a 16-gauge Ithaca Featherweight and two towels.” --------- You have to love those Remleys, dirt poor husband and wife with a baby, steeling the Red River Texas version of the basic human necessities of food, clothing and shelter: a TV, shotgun and towels.
On One Of The Houses Where Norwood Grew Up
“Once near Stamps, they lived in a house between a Tasee-Freez stand and a cinder-block holiness church. There had been a colorful poster on the side of the house that said ROYAL AMERICAN SHOWS OCT. 6-12 ARKANSAS LIVESTOCK EXPOSITION LITTLE ROCK. On the other side of the house somebody with a big brush and a can of Sherwin-Williams flat white had painted ACTS 2:38." ---------- Great combination – go see all the horses, cattle, sheep and pigs and an in-your-face reminder of what you need to believe to get your ass into heaven.
On A Feature Attraction At The Gas Station Where Norwood Works
“On top of the station there was a giant billboard showing a great moon face with eyeglasses. A little cartoon body had been painted on beneath the face, with one hand holding a gas hose and the other extending to the public in a stage gesture, palm outward, something like Porky Pig when he is saying, “That’s all folks.”” ---------- Such a billboard is a clear, bold expression of American freedom. No wonder communism or socialism could never take hold – imagine living in a land where you can’t display your very own version of Porky Pig to sell gas. Impossible!
On Norwood Making Home Improvements
“He ripped off the imitation brick siding on the house – Norwood’s father had called it nigger brick- and slapped two coats of white paint on the walls in three days." ---------- But one example of racism in the book. Racism is so much taken for granted by Norwood and others that, in a way, it isn’t even seen as racism; rather, it is viewed as simply the way things are.
On Norwood’s Sister’s New Husband Coming To Live In Norwood’s House
“Then with absolutely no warning Vernell married a disabled veteran named Bill Bird and brought him home to live in the little house on the highway.” --------- Vintage poor people: Vernell does what she damn well pleases and now that she’s married, she has her new husband move in, Norwood be damned.
On What Drives Norwood To Hit The Road
“Norwood did not like the sound of Bill Bird’s voice. Bill Bird was originally from some place in Michigan and Norwood found his brisk Yankee vowels offensive. They argued about the bathroom. Bill Bird had made himself a little home in that bathroom. He used all the hot water. He filled up the cabinet with dozens of little bottles with typing on them, crowding Norwood’s shaving gear out and onto the windowsill. He used Norwood’s blades. He left hairs stuck around in the soap – short, gray, unmistakable Bill Bird hairs. Norwood had built the bathroom, it was his, and the thought of Bill Bird’s buttocks sliding around on the bottom of the modern Sears tub was disagreeable." -------- Turns out, not only disagreeable but completely and totally unlivable. Just think of having a Bill Bird plop his Bill Bird buttocks in your house, speaking with an annoying accent, using all your hot water and taking over your bathroom.
Again, all these quotes are from the first pages. The story only gets better, including the part where a shyster businessman talks Norwood into driving a car to New York City. When Norwood shows up, the car smells of fresh paint, is towing a second freshly painted car and there is a young lady Norwood is obliged to take with him on his drive. But Norwood is no fool. Although he agrees, once on the road, the whole shyster plan is turned on its head when Norwood senses serious danger. Very entertaining read.
Point Books Concering Norwood
| Original Title: | Norwood |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Of Books Norwood
Ratings: 3.86 From 2491 Users | 346 ReviewsJudge Of Books Norwood
Not much actually happens in this book, but Portis draws you in with his engaging descriptive writing.Funnier than throwing a hardboiled egg into an electric fan, this reads like the bastard son of Flannery O'Connor and John Fergus Ryan.
Charles Portis' Norwood is a strange, strange, little endearing story about a guy named Norwood going on a mini-adventure from Ralph, Texas to New York City and back. Along the way he meets a midget, wins a girl's heart, and steals a fortune telling chicken. I don't really know what to make of it and I can't explain why, but it made me literally laugh out loud at some points. It shouldn't be good, really. But it is thoroughly enjoyable. Now I have to face the dilemma of which of his other novels
Charles Portis, born in 1933 in the state of Arkansas, one-time Marine sergeant, is an American author best known for his classic Western novel True Grit. Such a darn good writer who created eccentric characters and comic plots. Part of the American Vintage Contemporaries series published back in the 1980s, this road novel by Charles Portis features 23-year old guitar pluckin ex-marine Norwood Pratt who lives (if you call this living) way down in the grit of rural East Texas. For me, when it
Mr. Portis can sure put a sentance together, and I enjoy his quirky characters. This is a fairly aimless story, more about people and events than plot. Which is an enjoyable aspect of all the Portis novels that I've read.
Here's an eerie coinkydink - I finished this almost exactly a year to the day that I finished The Dog of the South. Even stranger, two years ago at this time, I was reading True Grit. I guess there's just something about the month of May that makes me yearn for a Portis tale. This one, Portis's first novel, reminded me SO much of The Dog of the South. Our hero, Norwood Pratt, could have been the prototype for Dog's Raymond Earl Midge. Both men are earnest and plain spoken, single-minded in their
If character development is your thing, this book will not do for you. By the end of the book, I was quite certain that Norwood Pratt will be essentially unchanged at 75. I suspect that is one of the main points of the book.This is a great road story about a Texarkanan Odysseus. Some of the prose is memorable: "...they had moved a lot, back and forth along U.S. Highway 82 in the oil fields and cotton patches between Stamps, Arkansas, and Hooks, Texas. There was something Mr. Pratt dearly loved
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