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Serena by Ron Rash

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LCW
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Serena by Ron Rash

Post by LCW » Fri October 3rd, 2008, 3:29 pm

If you all want an amazing novel set in America this is it!! It is set in 1929 in a logging camp in NC. I'm about half way through and think it's absolutely brilliant. It features Serena, a woman scorned, who is the perfect anti-heroine. It's dark, disturbing, and violent but the skill of the author keeps either of those elements from ever bordering on being gratuitous. It also weaves together concerns over the stock market and the clash between Roosevelt's environmental plans for a National park system and the logging industry. I came across this novel on Amazon's Vine program having never heard of the author or the book before. What a lucky find!!

Serena
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Fri October 3rd, 2008, 4:08 pm

[quote=""1lila1""]If you all want an amazing novel set in America this is it!! It is set in 1929 in a logging camp in NC. I'm about half way through and think it's absolutely brilliant. It features Serena, a woman scorned, who is the perfect anti-heroine. It's dark, disturbing, and violent but the skill of the author keeps either of those elements from ever bordering on being gratuitous. It also weaves together concerns over the stock market and the clash between Roosevelt's environmental plans for a National park system and the logging industry. I came across this novel on Amazon's Vine program having never heard of the author or the book before. What a lucky find!!

Serena[/quote]

Sounds very interesting 1Lila1 thank you for the heads up.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Leyland
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Location: Travelers Rest SC

Post by Leyland » Fri October 3rd, 2008, 4:23 pm

I've read a handful of his short stories in the past and I currently have his Saints at the River in my TBR. Perhaps I need to move it up a few notches. He's a local author for me, here in the SC/western NC Appalachians.

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Mon October 6th, 2008, 8:06 pm

I saw this one on the Vine and wasnt sure about it. I'm always leary about books written by men who feature women so I passed. Maybe i fI have time I shoudl give this one a go.
News, views, and reviews on books and graphic novels for young adult.
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LCW
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Post by LCW » Mon October 6th, 2008, 8:21 pm

I think the author was absolutely brilliant in his portrayal of Serena. Serena is one strong, powerful, chilling, and downright nasty villainesses that I've ever read about. I loved how the author was completely unapologetic about making her just plain bad, although she did have a vulnerable side as well. Enough to keep her character complex but not enough to make her anything less than a downright villain! I'll post a review as soon as I get a chance. But this was one good book!
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Mon October 6th, 2008, 8:54 pm

There's a review in today's New York Times.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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AuntiePam
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Post by AuntiePam » Sun December 7th, 2008, 6:08 pm

I just finished the book this week and loved it. Over at GoodReads someone compared Serena Pemberton to Rhoda from The Bad Seed. Very apt.

The book is almost operatic, or Shakesperean, but without the flaws of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Rachel's flight was particularly well written.

But the body count! I'm more squeamish than I used to be and I'm glad that the murders happened "off screen" and weren't described in gory detail.

I loved the comments of the loggers, watching Serena and her husband and the sheriff and Rachel. They've been described as a Greek chorus and that fits too. They injected some welcome humor into the story. Great book, IMHO.

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LCW
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Post by LCW » Sun December 7th, 2008, 6:14 pm

Cool! I'm glad to see someone else who loved the book too! I too thought there was a lot of humor in it which helped to lighten it up. I loved the pseudo-scientist, Snipes, and his hilarious "scientific" observations!!
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel

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