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A review by iacobus
Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash
3.0
I was excited to pick up this book based on the description provided by Goodreads. While, on the whole, I enjoyed the book, I really struggled with the poetic half. The chapters from the perspective of Becky were just too poetic, flowery and difficult to read. While I could accept this, they also generally failed to contribute to the plot in any meaningful way.
The more I read, the more I struggled with these chapters. Les's chapters clearly seem to be told from the perspective of Les's current knowledge and place of being. However, Becky's chapters could not come in this same time-frame; indeed, the book features her editing a line after writing it. The language in these chapters is far too complicated and polished to be written "in the moment."
These chapters, while some may appreciate the beauty of the language (I didn't), really seem to be misplaced inside a work of crime fiction. They neither advance the plot or fit within the confines of the other chapters.
I'd probably give the base fiction novel a 3-4 stars and the poetry part a 1-2 star rating. I settled for a generous three stars but if I recommended it to a friend I would advise them to skip every one of Becky's chapters unless they really wanted to read some pretentious poetry while trying to work through a crime story.
The more I read, the more I struggled with these chapters. Les's chapters clearly seem to be told from the perspective of Les's current knowledge and place of being. However, Becky's chapters could not come in this same time-frame; indeed, the book features her editing a line after writing it. The language in these chapters is far too complicated and polished to be written "in the moment."
These chapters, while some may appreciate the beauty of the language (I didn't), really seem to be misplaced inside a work of crime fiction. They neither advance the plot or fit within the confines of the other chapters.
I'd probably give the base fiction novel a 3-4 stars and the poetry part a 1-2 star rating. I settled for a generous three stars but if I recommended it to a friend I would advise them to skip every one of Becky's chapters unless they really wanted to read some pretentious poetry while trying to work through a crime story.