Norwood

Rating:
Summary: Skip Norwood and Go Straight to The Dog of the South
Review: I first read Norwood when I was about ten years old, and I laughed out loud at just about every page, and couldn't resist reading passages aloud to anyone in earshot. I finished reading the new edition weeks shy of my fortieth birthday and it still has the stuff. Here's an example. Norwood is getting ready to leave town, and he has given his sister, Vernell, permission to drive his car, but not her husband, Bill Bird:

Vernell thought this was unfair. "Bill can drive a car all right."

"Naw he can't."

"He can too. He's just used to an automatic transmission."

"Uh huh."

"Bill can drive as good as I can."

"Well, you can't drive either. The only thing is, you're my sister. I might as well turn my car over to a rabbit."

"You'd have to get special extensions for the pedals," said Bill Bird.

I really am having a hard time trying to figure out something to say about NORWOOD that will be sufficiently complimenatary. I guess I will say that, if you have ever read any book of any sort and liked it, you will probably like NORWOOD as well or better. That ought to do it.

Rating:
Summary: A well-written gem of American humor.
Review: I wanted to order another copy of this to ensure I'd never be without it. Unfortunately, it appears it's out of print. I first read NORWOOD when I was in high school in the 70's, and it is the ONLY thing I've ever read that has actually become funnier and richer in repeated adult readings. I can quote entire paragraphs by heart, and I have my husband read it out loud to me when I'm blue. We both use phrases from it to describe absurd situations. Charles Portis, of TRUE GRIT fame, is a wonderful writer, and this book deserved better than having a mediocre movie starring Glen Campbell made of it. My humor runs to Woody Allen and Cohen Brothers movies, Young Frankenstein, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, and sassy Southern writers. If any of these match your taste, try NORWOOD. If you can find it.

Rating:
Summary: The Eternal Truth of the Simple Man
Review: Norwood Pratt has neither guile nor an education, but he possesses a comic wisdom that guides him from one nutty encounter to another. He is the man he is, regardless, slow to fight but ready to fight, honest, to a point, and rationalizing beyond that. He never internalizes, seldom jumps to conclusions, and just proceeds along the rightness of his course without question. He is a Faulknerian character distilled down to the basics, so unsophisticated he is hilariously honest.

Norwood is a fast-paced comedy of the simpleton winning out in the end because his sights are so low he can't lose, and Charles Portis' social commentary should not be missed, but if you do, the dialogue alone is worth the read. And if the characters in Norwood seem too silly to be real? Well, I recognized them more than I care to admit.


Rating:
Summary: Didn't Want it To End
Review: The premise of this book (a cross county trip for the purpose of collecting $70) seemed thin at the outset but it proved to be the basis for one of the funniest novels I have ever read. The way the Portis is able to use the slow dry southern dialogue to push the plot forward quickly while delivering quick one liners is amazing to experience. The scene near the beginning of the book in which Norwood fights with his sister's husband and ends up throwing some of his warmed up meal at him made me laugh to the point of tears.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: There's no one like Charles Portis. I've been recommending his books to my friends for years and have often made gifts of them. Sometimes the gifts are wildly appreciated; other recipients don't really comment. Given the pleasure I derive from his books, I can never quite understand why he isn't better known. Superficially his stories are nutty little adventures, full of quirky but realistic characters with varying endowments of heroism and villainy. Like Huckleberry Finn, though, the economically expressed thoughts of his main characters and the incredible variety of the events they encounter make each Portis novel an absurd but highly satisfying little epic. His deluded, biased, mildly principled heroes muddle through their silly missions. In the end some very profound stuff gets said through his unpretentious characters in their unlikely and always colorfully specified locales.

In my opinion, Dog of the South is the funniest, Gringos the deepest, Norwood the most perfect. I liked True Grit too.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't Want it To End
Review: This long lost first novel by Charles Portis is quite worth the quick read. The Norwood character is a nearly perfect creation. The naive character set in the complex world may be an age old plot device. but Portis gives it a fresh look.

It's not hard to imagine that Portis' spare style had an influence on writers like Larry Brown, who has written more recently about similar character types. The difference is that Portis' book has an edgy sense of humor that is capable at times of laugh out loud moments. Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in the evolution of the contemporary novel.

Rating:
Summary: WICKED HUMOR
Review: This long lost first novel by Charles Portis is quite worth the quick read. The Norwood character is a nearly perfect creation. The naive character set in the complex world may be an age old plot device. but Portis gives it a fresh look.

It's not hard to imagine that Portis' spare style had an influence on writers like Larry Brown, who has written more recently about similar character types. The difference is that Portis' book has an edgy sense of humor that is capable at times of laugh out loud moments. Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in the evolution of the contemporary novel.

Rating:
Summary: The funniest of Southern Grotesques
Review: When one thinks of the truly great Southern writers (Faulkner, O'Connor, Williams, Percy, Crews, et al) one always thinks of their funniest pieces first. Sure, there is nothing that compares with the genius of The Sound and the Fury, but it's As I Lay Dying that most people recognize as their favorite Falkner novel, mostly because of its dark humor.

Then along comes Charles Portis, who writes the funniest Southern novel there is.

Norwood is simple, yet complex.

Brilliant in its simplicty.

Simply brilliant.

I think of the funniest books ever, like Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, The Bushwhacked Piano by Thomas McGuane, The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance by Richard Powers. Norwood easily attains their ranks. As others on this page have mentioned, it's minimalistic, but it is also extremely rich in characterization and dialogue in the unique way only well-rendered Southern fiction can be. It gets to know you quickly, just as the characters get to know each other quickly.

Norwood is a work of genius. Charles Portis, I salute your incredible craftsmanship. A book everyone should read.

Rating:
Summary: The funniest of Southern Grotesques
Review: When one thinks of the truly great Southern writers (Faulkner, O'Connor, Williams, Percy, Crews, et al) one always thinks of their funniest pieces first. Sure, there is nothing that compares with the genius of The Sound and the Fury, but it's As I Lay Dying that most people recognize as their favorite Falkner novel, mostly because of its dark humor.

Then along comes Charles Portis, who writes the funniest Southern novel there is.

Norwood is simple, yet complex.

Brilliant in its simplicty.

Simply brilliant.

I think of the funniest books ever, like Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, The Bushwhacked Piano by Thomas McGuane, The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance by Richard Powers. Norwood easily attains their ranks. As others on this page have mentioned, it's minimalistic, but it is also extremely rich in characterization and dialogue in the unique way only well-rendered Southern fiction can be. It gets to know you quickly, just as the characters get to know each other quickly.

Norwood is a work of genius. Charles Portis, I salute your incredible craftsmanship. A book everyone should read.

Rating:
Summary: Minimalist Masterpiece
Review: _Norwood_ is "minimalist" in the truest possible sense. Charles Portis's first novel is about a twenty-three year old Korean War veteran who travels from Texas to New York and back, ostensibly to collect a loan of seventy-five dollars from an old Army buddy.

This deliberately inconsequential narrative combines with a flat, almost repertorial narrative voice and reticent, unremarkable characters to produce a book that manages to be both portentous and weightless at the same time. _Norwood_ straddles the fine line between nonsense and allegory.

In this respect _Norwood_ resembles some of the better fictions of James Purdy (_Malcolm_ comes to mind). As with Purdy, Portis's world always threatens to erupt into random and horrific violence. But unlike Purdy, Portis's deadpan voice conceals an almost compulsive good nature. Although Portis displays his characters' occasionally violent impulses, he refuses to pursue those impulses to tragic or ironic ends.

_Norwood_ is also one of the funniest books I've ever read, and, refreshingly, the laughter leaves a pleasant taste in the mouth.