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jodi_b's review against another edition
2.0
I read this book after hearing an interview with Ron Rash on NPR. The story was ok. It interwove the lives of the characters with their relatives in the Civil War, interconnecting modern feuds with those of the past.
hslk0111's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book until the final quarter or so. While the wonderful descriptions and details of place remained, I didn't care for the direction two of the characters took. I felt as though the story went from unique to expected. However, overall I did like the book and certainly find similarities between Rash and Denis Johnson and Cormac McCarthy.
christygoldsmith's review against another edition
4.0
The World Made Straight is a bildungsroman, but one that takes place with a backdrop of beautiful mountains and stark rural poverty. For those reasons, it's a different kind of coming-of-age tale, and it's a different kind of backwoods noir.
In the hellscape of 2020, I've gotten very into backwoods noir, and Rash is, without a doubt, the most poetic of the noir writers I've read thus far. He somehow taps into the spirits of past traumas that seem to live in the mountains. Standing on a Civil War battlefield, Leonard simply states, "You know a place is haunted when it feels more real than you are." And yeah. That's what this book feels like. The place is haunted because smart folks like Leonard live in a trailer and sell drugs to survive, all while reading and thinking and studying like scholars. The place is haunted because Travis is thoughtful and curious but grows up on an old tobacco farm with an abusive father (and a complicit mother) and can never quite escape it.
In short, this book could've been set in any rural Missouri town, so it felt familiar and sad, but also somehow hopeful. It's the pinnacle of the genre for me. I give it a rating of 4.5 stars only because the historical elements were disjointed and distracting at first, but when they started to make sense. they became my favorite parts of the narrative.
In the hellscape of 2020, I've gotten very into backwoods noir, and Rash is, without a doubt, the most poetic of the noir writers I've read thus far. He somehow taps into the spirits of past traumas that seem to live in the mountains. Standing on a Civil War battlefield, Leonard simply states, "You know a place is haunted when it feels more real than you are." And yeah. That's what this book feels like. The place is haunted because smart folks like Leonard live in a trailer and sell drugs to survive, all while reading and thinking and studying like scholars. The place is haunted because Travis is thoughtful and curious but grows up on an old tobacco farm with an abusive father (and a complicit mother) and can never quite escape it.
In short, this book could've been set in any rural Missouri town, so it felt familiar and sad, but also somehow hopeful. It's the pinnacle of the genre for me. I give it a rating of 4.5 stars only because the historical elements were disjointed and distracting at first, but when they started to make sense. they became my favorite parts of the narrative.
comradegodzilla's review against another edition
2.0
Wonderful descriptions of Appalachia. Terribly boring story.
erthx's review against another edition
5.0
Considered this at best a 3.5 rating until the very end. I've experienced pain and sadness in literature but nothing as heartbreaking, longing, and poignant as Rash's character of Travis.
dillonjeffrey's review against another edition
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
paigelindsay89's review against another edition
3.0
This book was slow at first but began building up as it progressed. It introduced elements into the story that didn't quite make sense until later on. I read this because it was on a list of books to read before their movie came out, and I'm glad I did. This book I believe will make more sense and be more enjoyable if the story is first revealed in book form.
rachelfoster's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for school. It was good but the ending was a bit predictable.
jhavens12's review against another edition
5.0
Protagonist Travis leaves his home to live with a drug dealer who used to be a school teacher, they live in a trailer in the woods. He studies to pass the GED and learns a lot about life. Story starts out with him fishing and getting his leg caught in a bear trap while stealing weed plants. Also talks a lot about the massacre that happened in the town in the civil war, Lenoard's family was on one side while Travis' was on the other.
katie_voss's review against another edition
4.0
Dark, chilling. Can imagine the Coen Bros. making this into a movie. Really enjoyed it.