Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A book about real people and their hard knocks, April 4, 2006
I've been a big fan of Ron Rash since I accidently discovered One Foot in Eden. I've tried hard to get my library patrons to sign on the Rash bandwagon with some success. Saints at the River was a wonderful book about mountain people as they really are. The World Made Straight is another book about real people; the flesh and bone of people caught up in the realities of life in 2006. Travis, a modern teenage high school drop-out living in Madison County North Carolina discovers a field of marijuana while fishing. Taking a few plants, he sells them and makes enough money to pay his insurance on his truck. Enjoying his new found liquidity, he returns a second time with an equal bonus to his cash position. Going back a third time spells disaster, however and nearly costs him his leg. Travis also has a falling out with his father and takes up with Leonard, an interesting character. Their relationship develops in a unique way and adds much to the novel. This story flirts with the Civil War as it was fought in the North Carolina mountains, where brother against brother was far truer than perhaps anyother place. Leonard, an educated man, directs Travis' natural curosity and manages to teach the young man the value of an education. Interesting. Ron Rash, a native of the mountains of the Carolina's has the people of that area down cold. The characters and their situations come to life on the page. Anyone who has lived in the area will recognize it immediately through Rash's masterful descriptions of the area and the way he develops his characters. The World Made Straight is a good read, but not quite up to One Foot in Eden. Still, Ron Rash is rapidly developing into a marvelous storyteller.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
all the right moves, May 18, 2006
Personally, I think this book was Rash's best. It may have not been as fast-paced as his other fiction, but I don't think it made it any less compelling. In fact, his hold on pace and the power of the moment are some of his greatest gifts, and made 'A World Made Straight' a wonderful read. I appreciated Travis Shelton's honesty, and love for the land. Even with the harsh world around him, and the misfortunes into which he was born, he doesn't seem to be affected by it to the point that he loses that youthful hunger for knowledge. To me, the characters were living breathing beings that really caused me to immerse myself in the story; the same with his other fiction. You could feel their pain as well as their accomplishments, and the reader wants to stay with them long after the last page is turned. Similar to Silas House with his astounding detail for nature, and to Ira Levin with his ability to make his characters as familiar as your own next door neighbors, Ron Rash will long be an important voice for Southern Lit, for a very long time. With heart, fairness, and an uncomplicated prose, his novels are the perfect way to remind ourselves of the standard of truly exceptional writing. Don't miss this book!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
haunting powerful, May 8, 2006
I couldn't put this down, from the first fishing trip that turns into a life-changing trap, to the final decisions two young men--and older men--have to make about their history, their lives and their role in re-living or changing history. Powerful book. Highly recommended.
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