Fabiana Lopez ~ The World Made Straight

I think this was a good book. I feel like it wasn't my favorite, but it was definitely well written.
I didn't really relate to any of the characters. I did like Leonard and I wanted him to pull his life together.
I feel like his wife, Kera's, reaction to him having the pot in his car and claiming it as his was kind of extreme. Also, her moving to Australia and not even letting him stay in touch with his daughter was kind of messed up.
I do get her frustration with him not sticking up for himself and choosing to fight in court.
I was also frustrated by Leonard not trying to go after them or find out where Emily was. He just kind of accepted his life falling apart. I could understand that he's depressed but it just doesn't make sense to me that he would just give up like that. I can understand how Rash used the whole 'landscape as destiny' thing though. Leonard used it as an excuse to not see himself as responsible for things until the very end where he took Travis's gun and told him and Dena to run.

I think the best part of the novel is also the most heartbreaking scene where Leonard is dying:
"The water made a soothing sound as it moved around and under and he was so glad he wouldn't have to crawl out of the gorge after all, because he knew the water would take care of that, would carry him all the way down to Marshall and not only there but then... all the way to the ocean and then... to the beach where Emily waited and ... then they would wait for rain and only then walk above the beach where plants grew and find some frond or fern that held a bead of water and he would gently cup his hand to the plant and show her more than he could ever tell her, a pearl of rain held in his open hand" (Rash, 283).

The great thing about this sentence is that it just runs on and it's a train of thought - it's Leonard's train of thought. You get the sense that his logic is falling apart because he's dying and these are his last thoughts.

I love it because the bead of water is mentioned earlier after Leonard was hit across the jaw with the gun by Toomey and he sees "a bead of rain hanging tenderly on a leaf tip" (Rash, 275). And he gets this sense of wonder from it "the further wonder that he was alive in the world to see it."
Leonard often mentions his mother throughout the book and how she had a sense of wonder about everything, how she would sit on the porch and just look out on the landscape.
And I think what breaks my heart is that Leonard doesn't get to be with Emily and teach her this sense of wonder. I also feel like Leonard didn't have to do a self sacrificial thing and that also tied into his 'landscape as destiny' belief.

As for whether or not I feel an adolescent would enjoy this - I'm really not sure. I feel like certain students might relate to Travis but I think they would also feel frustrated by Leonard and his fate. I do like the sense at the end of the novel that Travis will move on beyond Shelton Laurel: "His life was beyond such fields, but Travis knew he would never forget this smell or the cool moist feel of broken ground. He inhaled deeply, held it in like a man savoring the taste of a last cigarette" (Rash, 289). You get the sense that he'll never forget this place and it will always be a part of him, but he isn't going to be limited by it the way his father and so many other people in his life are and Leonard gave him that. Leonard helped him see that he could move beyond a life working in fields.

I really liked how Leonard was a role model to Travis, helping him find the right books that fit his interests and encouraging his questions. It's funny how he supports Travis in pursuing his dreams despite that he's still selling pills and pot. But Leonard is also transformed by helping Travis.

I feel like this would be appropriate for high schoolers, but maybe as a book you have in your class room on a shelf that you can offer as an independent reading book. I don't think I would teach this because some of the themes would probably have parents protesting. It could definitely be offered.
I would definitely classify this book as literature due to the themes presented; destiny versus taking responsibility for one's own life, how landscape shapes people, education and intellect, adolescence and the loss of innocence, how history continues to shape our lives, violence, drugs, and addiction. I can easily see this book becoming an American classic.

I read Serena for an American Lit class and I would definitely recommend it if you like realistic, historical fiction and you'd like to read more by Ron Rash.