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emilyisreading2024's review against another edition
5.0
My favorite stories in this collection were The Corpse Bird and The Woman Who Believed in Jaguars.
briandice's review against another edition
5.0
Ron Rash takes poverty, holds it before the Reader in clarion brilliance, and states "Watch what I can do with this shit."
Sure, Christ opines You'll always have the poor among you but what difference does it make unless we can be among them? Why meth? Why live in a trailer with windows painted black, scratching out a meaningless existence playing "Freebird" once an hour to equally poor and drunk rednecks? What does it mean to be middle-aged and very unclear about where the next meal is coming from? Forget that paycheck-to-paycheck shit, this is All-Star Poor.
I don't know Rash's back story, but I wouldn't be surprised if he (or a near relative) had to steal eggs from a hen in the dead of night to survive; seriously considered meth as a way to cope with the world; witnessed the waning of a dying love. It doesn't take a good writer to shock a reader - it takes someone of Rash's talents to pin us and make us remember that the human condition comes with a fatal prognosis - and the sooner we realize this the quicker we can get on living. I'm making up a memory I'll soon enough need, the narrator of the story "Falling Star" tells us. That's wisdom beyond the room temperature IQ of Rash's protagonist, it is sage advice to the living.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
From a Civil War-era "Lincolnite" to modern-day meth heads, Rash mines the hills and hollers of western North Carolina for this collection of short stories.
My favorite story was "The Ascent," about a boy who gives up his meth-addicted parents for a couple he finds dead in a plane crash. It really gives a sense of the beauty of the mountains there--as well as the danger.
There isn't a bad story in the bunch. My only critique would be that while the characters are fascinating as sketches, I wasn't really left with a strong sense of Truth from them. The short story can be a powerful medium for change, and I would hope that I will find greater scope when I get into The Cove.
My favorite story was "The Ascent," about a boy who gives up his meth-addicted parents for a couple he finds dead in a plane crash. It really gives a sense of the beauty of the mountains there--as well as the danger.
There isn't a bad story in the bunch. My only critique would be that while the characters are fascinating as sketches, I wasn't really left with a strong sense of Truth from them. The short story can be a powerful medium for change, and I would hope that I will find greater scope when I get into The Cove.
pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
Quoting from a short story collection cannot give even a glimpse into all the tales, let alone the feel of the book. Rash’s collection has a definite feel, one that I am struggling to describe.
The first story is set during the Depression, in Appalachia. The next is also in Appalachia, but contemporary times rather than historical. This pairing is not an accident. The two stories add so much to each other. I had to go back and reread parts of “Hard Times” as soon as I finished “Back of Beyond”. I would love to know if Rash wrote the two stories back to back or if he saw the similarities later. If I taught writing, I would have to talk about how these two stories work together.
The whole collection collectively enriches each other. There are links between a tale where a man is returning home from World War II and another where the main character is a woman living through the Civil War. It is stories like Rash’s that have kept me reading short stories all my life.
I think part of these connections are because Rash himself seems to be rooted in Appalachia himself. He teaches Appalachian studies and appears to be able to see the world through the eyes of that country. Appalachia may be part of the United States, but like other regions it has its own feel.
I do “catalog” my reading here and I have noticed that a number of books that I have read lately all fall into the category community, including this one. Community is a broad category, but for Rash’s short stories, I believe it is one of the links in the book. All of the stories seem to be set in a similar community and I have a feeling that Rash believes that community is important.
I know that feeling of tribe and oneness draws me to books like this one by Rash. I have never read his work before, but I am looking forward to more of his short stories. I recommend this collection to all readers of southern fiction, to those who like to meet new and different people through their reading and to anyone who wonders what community feels like.
The first story is set during the Depression, in Appalachia. The next is also in Appalachia, but contemporary times rather than historical. This pairing is not an accident. The two stories add so much to each other. I had to go back and reread parts of “Hard Times” as soon as I finished “Back of Beyond”. I would love to know if Rash wrote the two stories back to back or if he saw the similarities later. If I taught writing, I would have to talk about how these two stories work together.
The whole collection collectively enriches each other. There are links between a tale where a man is returning home from World War II and another where the main character is a woman living through the Civil War. It is stories like Rash’s that have kept me reading short stories all my life.
I think part of these connections are because Rash himself seems to be rooted in Appalachia himself. He teaches Appalachian studies and appears to be able to see the world through the eyes of that country. Appalachia may be part of the United States, but like other regions it has its own feel.
I do “catalog” my reading here and I have noticed that a number of books that I have read lately all fall into the category community, including this one. Community is a broad category, but for Rash’s short stories, I believe it is one of the links in the book. All of the stories seem to be set in a similar community and I have a feeling that Rash believes that community is important.
I know that feeling of tribe and oneness draws me to books like this one by Rash. I have never read his work before, but I am looking forward to more of his short stories. I recommend this collection to all readers of southern fiction, to those who like to meet new and different people through their reading and to anyone who wonders what community feels like.
beth_diiorio's review against another edition
5.0
This author can write...I didn't want the book to end!
eowyns_helmet's review against another edition
5.0
A gorgeous collection. "Hard Times," the lead story, was at first my favorite. Then I read the next one, "Back of Beyond," and it became my favorite. By the time I got to "Dead Confederates," I gave up picking. Rash isn't sentimental about the South -- he loves it and he's also pretty clear-eyed. "Back of Beyond" should be a companion reading to the [a:J.D. Vance|15109469|J.D. Vance|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] best-seller, [b:Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis|29446025|Hillbilly Elegy A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis|J.D. Vance|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1471374387s/29446025.jpg|47200486]. This is the same universe, though transferred to Sylva, North Carolina. So many beautiful lines -- but that really doesn't do Rash's writing justice, since it's never flashy, just right.
katiebrumbelow's review against another edition
4.0
4.5! the writing is great. not 5 because there were too many cliffhangers!
reader_cheryl's review against another edition
5.0
Burning Bright is a short story collection by Ron Rash. All are good and it's hard to pick any favorites, but the stories that stand out to me are: "Hard Times"--which I first read in a workshop, "Back of Beyond," "The Ascent," which I first read in The Best American Short Stories, I think it was the 2010 edition, and "Lincolnites."
In "Hard Times," eggs go missing out of Jacob and Edna's hen house. Jacob sets a trap to catch the snake he's sure is stealing his eggs, but has a difficult choice when the thief turns out to be something entirely different. This short story deals with poverty, starvation, and pride and the effects they have on people.
"Back of Beyond" deals with a pawn shop owner and the steps he takes to save his brother and sister-in-law from the ravages of methamphetamines. While Parson, his brother Ray, or his sister-in-law Martha don't do drugs, Danny, Parson's nephew and Ray's son does, and it has devastating results for his parents. Parson is forced to make hard choices in a life that offers no easy ones.
"The Ascent" is probably the most heart-breaking of all the stories in the collection. This story is told from the point of view of Jared, a fifth-grader in the local school and son of meth addicts. He finds a plane wreck in the Smoky Mountains and adopts the dead couple for his own parents. He's trying to cope with his life in the only way he knows how, since the adults in his school or the sheriff, who is well-aware of his parents' drug abuse, never step in to help.
"Lincolnites" goes back in time to the Civil War and is the story of a pregnant wife, whose husband is off fighting for the Union, even though they live in the South--which is why her husband is dubbed a "Lincolnite." When a lone Confederate soldier shows up on her farm, she does what she must to protect her family. The Civil War is fought even on an isolated mountaintop in the Carolinas.
All the stories in this collection are strong, and well-worth reading.
In "Hard Times," eggs go missing out of Jacob and Edna's hen house. Jacob sets a trap to catch the snake he's sure is stealing his eggs, but has a difficult choice when the thief turns out to be something entirely different. This short story deals with poverty, starvation, and pride and the effects they have on people.
"Back of Beyond" deals with a pawn shop owner and the steps he takes to save his brother and sister-in-law from the ravages of methamphetamines. While Parson, his brother Ray, or his sister-in-law Martha don't do drugs, Danny, Parson's nephew and Ray's son does, and it has devastating results for his parents. Parson is forced to make hard choices in a life that offers no easy ones.
"The Ascent" is probably the most heart-breaking of all the stories in the collection. This story is told from the point of view of Jared, a fifth-grader in the local school and son of meth addicts. He finds a plane wreck in the Smoky Mountains and adopts the dead couple for his own parents. He's trying to cope with his life in the only way he knows how, since the adults in his school or the sheriff, who is well-aware of his parents' drug abuse, never step in to help.
"Lincolnites" goes back in time to the Civil War and is the story of a pregnant wife, whose husband is off fighting for the Union, even though they live in the South--which is why her husband is dubbed a "Lincolnite." When a lone Confederate soldier shows up on her farm, she does what she must to protect her family. The Civil War is fought even on an isolated mountaintop in the Carolinas.
All the stories in this collection are strong, and well-worth reading.
emilycathn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5