Burning Bright by Ron Rash

★★★★

This is my first time reading Ron Rash, and I imagine it might be a decent introduction. At least, I feel like I wouldn't mind reading more of his work.

This collection of twelve short stories focuses on the Appalachia region of the United States. Main characters and their experiences are varied: a young boy whose parents are meth addicts ("The Ascent"), an older woman whose husband may or may not be an arsonist ("Burning Bright"), a middle-aged white collar professional man who can't shake his blue collar roots ("The Corpse Bird"), a young woman who is trying to hold down the farm while her husband is at war ("Lincolnites"). A wide range of time periods is covered as well, from the Civil War ("Lincolnites") to the Great Depression ("Hard Times") to modern day.

"Hard Times", "Back of Beyond", and "The Ascent" - three of the first four stories in the collection - are the most intense. I was almost wary about reading the rest, afraid they would all leave me feeling like I was suffocating from the weight of poverty and meth addiction. These stories paint stark portraits of hard-scrabble lives in which happiness is a distant memory and hope is nonexistent.

The stories do lighten up - a bit - but the somber tone continues, and every character faces hardship. Sometimes it's personal, sometimes it's financial, and in more than one case, law enforcement gets involved. In my mind, only two stories offer any sense of hope: "Return" and "Waiting for the End of the World". Most of the time, main characters' lives go downhill, and I kept hoping to see some kind of survivor's grit that would save them. I think I caught a glimpse of it in "Into the Gorge", and an even better look in "Lincolnites".

Each story is well-crafted, but the author seems to have a penchant for open-endedness. In several cases, the lack of a resolution left me wanting to know more, and in a couple other cases (again, "Return" and "Waiting for the End of the World"), the work just seemed less of a "story" and perhaps more of a "scenario".

The subject matter in this collection certainly makes for compelling reading. But it can also be kind of depressing. This is a good read, but don't expect too much warmth or optimism.