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holacandita's review against another edition
3.0
#2018readharder An Assigned Book you hated (or never finished). I got this book at a LBS as a blind pick so it wasn't something I would have gravitated towards on my own and struggled for about a year to get going with it since it short stories are not my genre and Appalachia is not a setting I am typically interested in. However, as part of the Read Harder challenge, I wanted to give it a real try and I'm glad I did. Some of these were truly marvelous and all were extremely well written. There's something special about a short story and while I don't find myself reading them often, I do admire the challenge the author has in making the reader feel all the swing of emotions and character or story arc in such a small amount of words. Ron Rash does that masterfully. He really has grasp on prose and descriptive imagery and paints beautiful pictures of this area of the country and I don't think I would have appreciated it as much if I didn't live in NC and spent some time in the area he writes about. I'm glad I gave this a real chance.
pammella's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't realize many of these stories are also in "Something Rich and Strange," so only a couple of the stories in this book were new to me. Still great reading, though, and I love how in just a few pages Ron Rash can paint a picture and tell a story that lingers in my mind.
rpmohn's review against another edition
5.0
This is the best book of short stories I've read in many years!
hollymc28's review against another edition
3.0
I consider a collection of short stories an excellent introduction to a new author. This collection was no exception. I enjoyed Ron Rash's stories and his take on Southern life. I look forward to reading more books and stories by him in the future.
zoes_human's review against another edition
emotional
4.5
He's like an Appalachian Chekhov with this book. This is an absolutely gorgeous collection of short stories.
briandice's review against another edition
5.0
One of the reasons short fiction is my favorite genre is the requisite economy of words an author must employ. A virtuoso can make you feel all of the unsaid things; fleeting djinns seen with peripheral vision that may/not be there. My solid measuring stick of fantastic writing is reaching the end of a story and getting that unsettled just what the fuck is going on here feeling - a sensation that can come from something genre-stretching from Ben Marcus as much as a writer penning a piece in a classical style. Ron Rash is one of the latter and one of the most talented writers in the genre today.
Rash's southern roots show in all of the pieces in this collection - and that's a good thing. Those djinns aren't hidden from him - he can write a heartbreaking piece set in the shadow of the Civil War as well as a modern day love story centered around meth. He could teach a doctorate course on how to write dialogue. And then there are those passages that catch the reader unaware. The eyes mist, the throat lumps:
Maybe it's because the picture's a little blurry, but one second I see something in Kerrie's face that reminds me of when she was a baby, then something else reminds me of her in first grade and after that high school. It's like the slightest flicker or shift makes ones show more than the other. But that's not it, I realize. All those different faces are inside me, not on the screen, and I can't help thinking that if I remember every one, enough of Kerrie's alive inside me to keep safe the part that isn't.
That's from the story "Twenty-Six Days" in this collection; a mother's thoughts after a Skype video chat with a daughter deployed in Iraq. Any reader that comes across this paragraph that has ever held these fragmented images of a child far away, rarely seen, can understand exactly what Rash is talking about (regardless of the situation surrounding that part of us that is growing older). This is what we talk about when we talk about love.
Rash is about to become so very much more famous when the movie Serena is released later this year, and he deserves all of the attention he will get from penning a great novel that became that movie. But it is the short stories that have me in his orbit. I entreat you to sample his work. You won't be disappointed.
chiyeungreads's review against another edition
4.0
All set in the Appalachia, these are the stories of the poor, the lonely, the desperate, and the hopeful.
twislerguy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
maggiemaggio's review against another edition
4.0
I am a huge fan of [a:Ron Rash|24820|Ron Rash|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1226412926p2/24820.jpg]'s [b:Serena|2815590|Serena|Ron Rash|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347430224s/2815590.jpg|2841515] and [b:The Cove|11807189|The Cove|Ron Rash|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340737438s/11807189.jpg|16760618] so I was excited to get my hands on his new short story collection. I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of short stories, they usually leave me wanting more or I find them to be too odd. There were a few in this collection that were a little out there for me, but I enjoyed most of them immensely. What I really like about Ron Rash, besides his great writing, is the rural North Carolina setting for his stories. I'm a big American history fan, and especially rural America, so it's perfect. Serena and The Cove are both set in the early twentieth century, these short stories go from around the time of the Civil War to modern time.
Favorites included:
Where the Map Ends: This is about two runaway slaves during the Civil War. It totally didn't go where I originally saw it going. A really interesting twist, but a perfect example of how I wish it was longer so we could know more about the character's motivations.
A Servant of History: A British man is sent to America to research traditional English folk songs that are being lost in England and the hope is that American immigrants will expand the catalog of traditional songs. It was interesting to hear a British guy's opinion of this part of the United States and then to see what happened. Terrible, but so intelligent and fascinating.
A Sort of Miracle: This was about a husband and his two completely inept brother-in-laws trying to kill a bear. This was interesting because the perspective alternated a few times in the short story. The end made me want to smack my head against the wall.
Those Who Are Dead Are Only Now Forgiven: I think this one might have been my favorite, it's about a boy who tries to get away from his meth-infested town and his girlfriend who becomes an addict. It had, by far, the saddest ending of any of the stories, it still makes me want to cry.
Night Hawks: This is about a teacher who is forced to leave her job and starts hosting a midnight to 6am radio show. Why she was forced to leave her job made me want to vomit, but it actually turned out to be kind of a sweet story.
Least Favorites:
Something Rich and Strange: This was about a girl who drowns and the diver who goes to find her body. I didn't think there was much character development and I didn't quite see the point.
Cherokee: This was about a couple at an Indian casino trying to win enough money to keep their car. I had this feeling of doom the entire time I was reading it waiting for something terrible to happen, but nothing did. And the ending was bizarre.
Three A.M. and the Stars Were Out: This was about an old retired vet who goes to help his old friend with a cow's birth, it's the final story in the collection. There was nothing wrong with this story, I just thought it was a quiet note to end on and I would have rather seen something more exciting.
This review first appeared on my blog.
Favorites included:
Where the Map Ends: This is about two runaway slaves during the Civil War. It totally didn't go where I originally saw it going. A really interesting twist, but a perfect example of how I wish it was longer so we could know more about the character's motivations.
A Servant of History: A British man is sent to America to research traditional English folk songs that are being lost in England and the hope is that American immigrants will expand the catalog of traditional songs. It was interesting to hear a British guy's opinion of this part of the United States and then to see what happened. Terrible, but so intelligent and fascinating.
A Sort of Miracle: This was about a husband and his two completely inept brother-in-laws trying to kill a bear. This was interesting because the perspective alternated a few times in the short story. The end made me want to smack my head against the wall.
Those Who Are Dead Are Only Now Forgiven: I think this one might have been my favorite, it's about a boy who tries to get away from his meth-infested town and his girlfriend who becomes an addict. It had, by far, the saddest ending of any of the stories, it still makes me want to cry.
Night Hawks: This is about a teacher who is forced to leave her job and starts hosting a midnight to 6am radio show. Why she was forced to leave her job made me want to vomit, but it actually turned out to be kind of a sweet story.
Least Favorites:
Something Rich and Strange: This was about a girl who drowns and the diver who goes to find her body. I didn't think there was much character development and I didn't quite see the point.
Cherokee: This was about a couple at an Indian casino trying to win enough money to keep their car. I had this feeling of doom the entire time I was reading it waiting for something terrible to happen, but nothing did. And the ending was bizarre.
Three A.M. and the Stars Were Out: This was about an old retired vet who goes to help his old friend with a cow's birth, it's the final story in the collection. There was nothing wrong with this story, I just thought it was a quiet note to end on and I would have rather seen something more exciting.
This review first appeared on my blog.