My Father Like a River by Ron Rash

My Father Like a River Reviews

• 
  Cheryl

  This ebook from the library is just two short stories. It turns out to be sort of a mini-advance copy in advance of his new collection coming out in a couple of weeks. Both were excellent stories. Like previous works, he channels the poor, the marginated and the disenfranchised with unsentimental sympathy. I'm looking forward to the real book.
• 
  Sean Owen

  This esingle from Ron Rash is the stand alone story of the title and also included is the first story from his collection "Nothing Gold Can Stay" One of Ron Rash's best qualities is his versatility. Whether writing about the 19th century or the present day he truly captures the sense of place. "My Father Like a River" is told from the perspective of a man remembering a period in his youth when his father had lost his job and the family fell a few rungs down the social ladder. The narrative form of memory is what brings the story to life. The reader is brought along as the man remembers the incident from his childhood, but tries to understand it as an adult. I've tried reading a few of Ron Rash's novels and they always seem to disappoint, but his short stories are some of the best out there.
• 
  Peg

  This is a short story disguised as a Kindle Book. Actually it was 2 short stories. He's one of my favorite authors. I wish it had been longer.
• 
  Ellen IJzerman (Prowisorio)

  Slechts twee verhalen in dit boekje, en dat is te weinig natuurlijk. Maar, niet getreurd, de dikkere versie met meer van deze poëtisch donkere verhalen ligt nog op me te wachten.
• 
  Carla

  I love Ron Rash's writings. I thought this was book, however it was one short story. Wonderful!
• 
  Maria Judnick

  I somehow missed when I’d first opened this ebook that there were not one but two Ron Rash stories here! He’s long been one of my favorite short story writers and these stories didn’t disappoint either!
• 
  H. P.

  My Father Like a River includes two short stories: the title story and the longer The Trusty. The Trusty was also published in Rash’s recent short story collection Nothing Gold Can Stay. It’s as good now as it was when I read Nothing Gold Can Stay, but I’m disappointed to see a story I already own and have read. As is usually the case with Rash, both stories take place in the mountains of NC.
  
  The two make for good examples of the taxonomy of short stories I just invented. Short stories are driven and limited by their brevity in ways that novels are not. The most effective tend to fall into one of two camps: what I can Thinkers and what I call Twisters. My Father Like a River, written from the perspective of a boy reminiscing about his father fallen on hard times, is the former. Not much happens, but what does leaves the reader thinking long after putting the story down. On the other hand, The Trusty, about a chain gang “trusty” prisoner plotting his escape, is driven by a good solid, single plot twist at the end.
• 
  Aoi

  
  We make our own choices on how we remember our parents... What he felt at that moment, what he didn’t feel, I will not, as I did at fourteen, presume to know. Instead, I will remember how he found something worth holding on to in that wrong-flowing current that carried all our lives.
  
• 
  Laurie

  A mini-book of two fine short stories.
• 
  Rebecca Engebretson

  First collection I have read by Ron Rash. Two short stories in this ebook. Reminded me of Flannery O'Connor.
• 
  John Owen

  This book consists of two very well written short stories. It is the first of this author I have read but it makes me want to read more.
• 
  Helen Cargile

  Two short but well written stories. Based on these stories I want to read more by this author.
• 
  Sujin Stone

  3.5 stars.
• 
  Lyle Boylen

  Two wonderful stories here by Ron Rash. Brilliantly written.
• 
  Tricia Rogers

  As always Ron Rash is fabulous. Wish this had been longer.
• 
  Ray Zimmerman

  Ron Rash at his Best
• 
  Jordan

  A simple but quite moving short story.