tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9518779.post2375996399589200912..comments2023-07-06T04:29:27.227-05:00Comments on Reading for Writers: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Ron HansenA. P. Bucakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06041973307279126317noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9518779.post-31702156710721498962008-06-12T19:21:00.000-05:002008-06-12T19:21:00.000-05:00I liked the film too, though it made the mistake o...I liked the film too, though it made the mistake of trying to do everything the book did so it ran rather long. The title is definitely the language of the myth (not necessarily the judgement of the author), and a large part of the novel is about how Ford's life is ruined by an act that he thought would make him a hero. But the novel, and I think the film too, seems to take the position that life is not so simple in terms of coward vs hero. It's not honorable to have shot James the way he did or for the reasons he did, but neither is James honorable. So yes it's definitely about the insane mythos but also about how right and wrong actions aren't always clear especially when motivations are taken into account. James is given good motivations for bad actions by his worshippers (in myth he is a Robin Hoodlike figure which he wasn't) but Ford is given bad, motivations (in fact the same ones that actually push James: fame and fortune) for the "right" act of stopping James. And the novel makes clear that James is losing it at that point, really cracking up. So it's Ford taking him down at his weakest moment--back turned, kids and wife in the house, rest of the gang already destroyed, and completely nutty. So the novel gets to have more than one idea to it.A. P. Bucakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06041973307279126317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9518779.post-82321021379181316052008-06-12T18:54:00.000-05:002008-06-12T18:54:00.000-05:00Haven't read the novel, though I saw the film and ...Haven't read the novel, though I saw the film and liked it. I thought its title was meant to be ironic, calling Robert Ford a coward.<BR/><BR/>Throughout, Ford was the only one wiling to confront James. And while Ford shot James in the back, James had done the same or worse to much more helpless characters. So, I thought the film was a study in how mythos can grip a society, even when it's counterproductive to society's best interests.<BR/><BR/>I enjoyed the film, though. I don't know why it got bad reviews.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com