Thursday, August 2, 2012

OK, now I get it

Finished reading Lullaby last night, and this morning I suddenly realized why the pliot seemed to work for me: it's an urban retelling of True Grit, with Spenser in the role of Rooster Cogburn. If confirmation is needed, consider that the name of the girl — Mattie — is the same in both books. The only iteration of True Grit I know is the John Wayne - Kim Darby film, but now I want to get to the novel, while I'm thinking of it. Springfield Township Library has a copy. I'll check it out when I return Lullaby tomorrow.

The confrontation at the T station made me think the real world is better off without Spenser, Hawk, Vinnie Morris and their ilk. Fortunately, we will not have to find out. The sort of Western shoot-'em-ups depicted in the book — good guys on one side, bad guys on the other, and a hostage in the middle — rarely if ever occurs in our major cities. After the Aurora massacre, does anyone actually believe we'd be safer if well-intentioned citizens armed themselves and were willing to open fire at a moment's notice?

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