On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Comments on this board should be written with the assumption that not all readers have finished the book. Please avoid revealing any spoilers.

I think I’ll try audio for this one.

I’m picking up from my library today.

Not sure if I can fit this in, but I would like to. Kind of like looking at a candy bowl and trying to decide if you want a Hershey kiss or a Reece's this month.

I read this in July. Not as impressed as I was with The Line That Held Us but I rounded up to 4 stars and have his The Weight of This World waiting on my shelf. I will try and follow along.

I was able to get an ARC prior to this book being published and at first, I underestimated the book until reading the last tenth or so of the book, and the more I thought about that last tenth of the book, the more profound the words and meaning of the words in the entire novel became.

Eric, will audio be easy to follow?

Eric, I totally agree!

It's been awhile since I've taken part in a group read, and I figure a new David Joy novel is a great way to get myself back into it again. Mr. Joy hasn't disappointed me so far, and this book is his highest rated to date. My personal favorite of his previous books is "The Weight of This World".

That's great Warren. The Weight of This World is the one I've not read. My favorite so far is his debut Where All Light Tends to Go. He certainly has a distinct gritty and raw storytelling ability. And there's always drugs involved.

I got an early start on When These Mountains Burn and finished pretty quickly. I'll wait to comment until more people get going.

Sara wrote: "Not sure if I can fit this in, but I would like to. Kind of like looking at a candy bowl and trying to decide if you want a Hershey kiss or a Reece's this month."

Those are both excellent choices, Sara! I'd go for the Reese's! I hope you get time to fit it in. It's fast.

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/...

Lori….an update for you on the movie side for david Joy’s debut novel.

Thanks, Laura! I had no idea. Should be good!

I didn't either, Lori. Definitely grit potential!!!

I’m about 100 pages out, and this book hasn’t really gripped me as much as David Joy’s previous works. It feels a bit… unfocused? There’s too many characters for such a short book. I should finish it tonight.

I have to agree Warren. I thought the focus would be on the father Ray but it ultimately became Denny’s story. I honestly didn’t have any love for anyone in this story where I have in his previous novels.

This is the first David Joy book I've read since the group read Where All Light Tends to Go. The audio version is very good. This is a gritty story that digs deeply into the opioid epidemic facing modern Appalachia. The only thing that bothers me is that much of the story takes place in an area where large wildfires are burning. I know that there have been fires burning in the East but here in California this is the hell we've been living in for years and reading about it makes the story seem much closer to home.

There was a noticeably sized fire in the smoky mountains a few years back. Also in Charles Dodd white’s most recent book there is a forest fire taking place at the NC/TN border. Of course, the fires in this region are not like California’s mass or frequency.

Yes, he used the fires in those western NC mountains from 2016 as the backdrop.

I did not feel like reading a story about the drug world, and decided to put it down. But I kept going, and soon got caught up in the plot, the language, and the characters. I agree with Eric's comment about the depth of feelings expressed, as well as the social commentary.

I had that exact feeling, at first. When I thought about it as pure entertainment and maybe with less depth, I fell in pace with the plot and ended up enjoying it.

I think my favorite from the author is, The Line that Held Us.