A good blog friend sent me a copy of THE RISEN and I devoured it pretty much in one gulp. Set in nearby Sylva, it's the story of two brothers and the girl who changes their lives.
The writing is pure Rash -- thoughtful, crystalline prose, complex, self aware characters, and an eye (and pen) attuned to the smallest details of setting. And there's a complex moral issue to ponder -- can Evil be justified if Good results?
What threw me was that the book reads like a mystery -- a very, very good mystery -- and I found myself trying to solve it, to anticipate what was coming. This isn't a put down -- it was just a surprise.
Though as I tell my students, there's a mystery at the heart of every story -- will the protagonist get what he wants?
I loved the final pages of the book -- as the author played a bit with the fictional reality.
Ron is speaking tonight at UNCA -- tickets through Malaprop's. If only my class didn't meet then.
Go HERE for a NPR interview with the author.
Photo credit Ashley Jones