bundy23's review
3.0
Clichéd and melodramatic BUT it's short and easy to get through and the story was interesting enough that it never really got boring. A near perfect example of a 2.5 star book.
natesea's review
3.0
This is a gritty but engaging story about crime and slow-paced life in an Appalachian town. I haven't read any other books by Rash, but found this one tepid. Certainly a quick and engaging read, but nothing memorable at the end.
cierra_marie's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a little bit to fall into the rhythm of Ron Rash's writing style - I felt like it was very detailed, and romantic, way of writing in Above the Waterfall. Overall, I really enjoyed this one.
bgg616's review against another edition
4.0
This book took me a long time to finish. Because it was on my kindle, I kept forgetting about it. The subject of meth addiction in Appalachia is not an easy read either. Gorgeous writing, and excellent character development.
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
riverdogbookco's review
2.0
You can also find this review on my blog, WildlyRead, here: http://wildlyread.com/2015/10/05/book-review-above-the-waterfall-by-ron-rash/
This is the third Ron Rash book that I've read, having fallen in love with him after reading Serena years ago, which was originally recommended by my good friend and fellow bookseller, Emily of As the Crowe Flies and Reads. For my extensive review of that book (and I DO recommend reading it before seeing the film), click here. For my review of the book of short stories of his that I read, Burning Bright, (which I also greatly enjoyed and recommend) click here.
Unfortunately, though Ron Rash is rightfully referred to at a "staggering talent," and though I did admire the two books I read previously, I did not see him live up to his potential in this latest novel. I'm warning you right now that this won't be a gushing review, so please move on if you're opposed to those types of things.
The book is told in somewhat alternating chapters narrated by Les, a sheriff nearing his retirement (literally weeks), and his sort-of-romantic interest, Becky, who is a local park ranger. I believe Mr. Rash was trying something new in this book by writing Becky's chapters in a type of poetic prose, with some of Becky's nature poems thrown in, while Les's chapters were written in more standard prose, though he was a man of few words. I do enjoy poetry, and thought Becky's poems were quite lovely and evocative of ee cummings, but I had difficulty settling into her chapters. They were few and far between, and mostly consumed with either flashbacks of the school shooting she experienced, her grandparents farm where she recuperated, or descriptions of the present-day North Carolina landscape. I didn't think they added much to story, and frankly, I wasn't that impressed by the plot anyway. What I enjoyed about Burning Bright was quick the slice-of-life views of Appalachian communities that the short story form supported. In Above the Waterfall, it was as if Mr. Rash took one of those stories and then dragged it out for 250 pages, which was frankly unnecessary. I also found Becky's sections difficult to follow. It was as if my brain kept trying to hold onto the words to make sense of them, and the meaning kept slipping away, just out of reach. Reading her chapters always pulled me out of the narrative, rather than forwarding the plot, which made reading the book overall more difficult than I wanted or needed it to be.
Back to the plot - Anyone who's read Elmore Leonard's books about Raylan or seen the show Justified will have a pretty decent working knowledge of the meth problem in rural towns. Mr. Rash adds nothing new to the scene. He doesn't give a particularly edgy accounting of that life nor does he push the boundaries of the heartache meth can cause and the affect it has on local communities. As a mystery aficionado, the mystery in this novel was very stale, with no gasping reveals and instead only a quiet resolution. In fact, as much as this sounds like a backhanded compliment, the best praise I can give is that this novel held really no surprises, much like the town's inhabitants, and so perhaps, in that mirroring, there lies a quiet literary genius. If so, I admit it was lost on me, and perhaps that's my shortcoming rather than the book's. I'm hoping Mr. Rash's next work will dive a little deeper into whatever story he's telling.
This is the third Ron Rash book that I've read, having fallen in love with him after reading Serena years ago, which was originally recommended by my good friend and fellow bookseller, Emily of As the Crowe Flies and Reads. For my extensive review of that book (and I DO recommend reading it before seeing the film), click here. For my review of the book of short stories of his that I read, Burning Bright, (which I also greatly enjoyed and recommend) click here.
Unfortunately, though Ron Rash is rightfully referred to at a "staggering talent," and though I did admire the two books I read previously, I did not see him live up to his potential in this latest novel. I'm warning you right now that this won't be a gushing review, so please move on if you're opposed to those types of things.
The book is told in somewhat alternating chapters narrated by Les, a sheriff nearing his retirement (literally weeks), and his sort-of-romantic interest, Becky, who is a local park ranger. I believe Mr. Rash was trying something new in this book by writing Becky's chapters in a type of poetic prose, with some of Becky's nature poems thrown in, while Les's chapters were written in more standard prose, though he was a man of few words. I do enjoy poetry, and thought Becky's poems were quite lovely and evocative of ee cummings, but I had difficulty settling into her chapters. They were few and far between, and mostly consumed with either flashbacks of the school shooting she experienced, her grandparents farm where she recuperated, or descriptions of the present-day North Carolina landscape. I didn't think they added much to story, and frankly, I wasn't that impressed by the plot anyway. What I enjoyed about Burning Bright was quick the slice-of-life views of Appalachian communities that the short story form supported. In Above the Waterfall, it was as if Mr. Rash took one of those stories and then dragged it out for 250 pages, which was frankly unnecessary. I also found Becky's sections difficult to follow. It was as if my brain kept trying to hold onto the words to make sense of them, and the meaning kept slipping away, just out of reach. Reading her chapters always pulled me out of the narrative, rather than forwarding the plot, which made reading the book overall more difficult than I wanted or needed it to be.
Back to the plot - Anyone who's read Elmore Leonard's books about Raylan or seen the show Justified will have a pretty decent working knowledge of the meth problem in rural towns. Mr. Rash adds nothing new to the scene. He doesn't give a particularly edgy accounting of that life nor does he push the boundaries of the heartache meth can cause and the affect it has on local communities. As a mystery aficionado, the mystery in this novel was very stale, with no gasping reveals and instead only a quiet resolution. In fact, as much as this sounds like a backhanded compliment, the best praise I can give is that this novel held really no surprises, much like the town's inhabitants, and so perhaps, in that mirroring, there lies a quiet literary genius. If so, I admit it was lost on me, and perhaps that's my shortcoming rather than the book's. I'm hoping Mr. Rash's next work will dive a little deeper into whatever story he's telling.
smoney58's review
adventurous
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
shelfimprovement's review
3.0
I really love reading good Appalachian fiction. I have very strong Appalachian roots, and sometimes it’s nice to get away from more metropolitan kind of stories and to be reminded of the very specific cultural quirks that I miss. I feel like Ron Rash should really scratch that itch of mine (no pun intended), and so I jumped at the chance to snag an ARC, but this really came up short for me.
Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Above the Waterfall is about Les, a sheriff on the brink of retirement, and Becky, his park ranger lady friend with a troubled past and a very specific sense of obligation. The two find themselves on opposite sides of each other when Les must investigate an act of environmental terrorism that is not what it seems to be on the surface.
I think the reason this book didn’t have enough oomph for me is that the character development – Becky in particular – felt kind of ham-fisted and incomplete. Becky came to North Carolina to escape a childhood trauma and the memory of a bad relationship with a violent man, but I don’t think her background was woven in to the present-day tale in a successful manner. I often found myself reading about her emotional struggles as a younger woman and thinking, “What does this have to do with the price of potatoes?” I didn’t feel like it informed her actions in the face of the crime – it didn’t tell me why she was doing what she was doing, and I never really felt like I understood her sense of obligation to Gerald. Rash wanted to draw a connection between Gerald and Becky’s former beau, to force us to question her judgment, but that connection felt kind of forced and inauthentic to me. And the stuff with the personal trauma – which Rash keeps a little more shrouded in mystery – did zero to help me understand Becky within the context of the main action of the book.
Though I was reading this on an eight-hour transatlantic flight, so it's possible that I wasn't reading as carefully as I should have been?
If Becky had received less focus, I might have enjoyed this book a lot more. I liked reading Les’s perspective as the kind of sheriff who is willing to take kickbacks from pot dealers to deal with his county’s meth problems but who is also willing to consider the Appalachian sense of pride and obligation when dealing with criminal matters. He is very much in tune with his community and he is a very specific type of flawed that we may have seen before but didn’t feel too clichéd. His investigation was full of twists and turns that were occasionally predictable and yet intriguing.
Ultimately, I felt like this book was a little phoned-in. It was by no means a bad book and I’m sure there are many other readers who will enjoy it quite a bit, but to me, even its deepest depths felt rather shallow and that was kind of disappointing.
Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Above the Waterfall is about Les, a sheriff on the brink of retirement, and Becky, his park ranger lady friend with a troubled past and a very specific sense of obligation. The two find themselves on opposite sides of each other when Les must investigate an act of environmental terrorism that is not what it seems to be on the surface.
I think the reason this book didn’t have enough oomph for me is that the character development – Becky in particular – felt kind of ham-fisted and incomplete. Becky came to North Carolina to escape a childhood trauma and the memory of a bad relationship with a violent man, but I don’t think her background was woven in to the present-day tale in a successful manner. I often found myself reading about her emotional struggles as a younger woman and thinking, “What does this have to do with the price of potatoes?” I didn’t feel like it informed her actions in the face of the crime – it didn’t tell me why she was doing what she was doing, and I never really felt like I understood her sense of obligation to Gerald. Rash wanted to draw a connection between Gerald and Becky’s former beau, to force us to question her judgment, but that connection felt kind of forced and inauthentic to me. And the stuff with the personal trauma – which Rash keeps a little more shrouded in mystery – did zero to help me understand Becky within the context of the main action of the book.
Though I was reading this on an eight-hour transatlantic flight, so it's possible that I wasn't reading as carefully as I should have been?
If Becky had received less focus, I might have enjoyed this book a lot more. I liked reading Les’s perspective as the kind of sheriff who is willing to take kickbacks from pot dealers to deal with his county’s meth problems but who is also willing to consider the Appalachian sense of pride and obligation when dealing with criminal matters. He is very much in tune with his community and he is a very specific type of flawed that we may have seen before but didn’t feel too clichéd. His investigation was full of twists and turns that were occasionally predictable and yet intriguing.
Ultimately, I felt like this book was a little phoned-in. It was by no means a bad book and I’m sure there are many other readers who will enjoy it quite a bit, but to me, even its deepest depths felt rather shallow and that was kind of disappointing.