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A review by pattydsf
Burning Bright by Ron Rash
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.