Ron Rash Draws Violence and Redemption to Appalachia in Above the Waterfall
Author Photo by Ulf Andersen / GettyThe award-winning author of Serena returns to Appalachia with Above the Waterfall, a breathtaking novel weaving violent pasts and uncertain futures. Les, a sheriff nearing retirement, and Becky, a park ranger who survived a childhood trauma, narrate alternating chapters of the story as they investigate a poisoned stream with dangerous consequences.
We caught up with poet, short story writer and novelist Ron Rash at the Decatur Book Festival last weekend to chat about scrapping two years-worth of writing to start fresh on the novel, setting books in North Carolina and what he’s working on next.
Paste: What sparked your imagination to write Above the Waterfall?
Ron Rash: All of my novels start with an image, and this image was of a fish kill. I saw the dead trout, and it began there. It started off as more of a conventional eco-terrorism novel. After about a year of working on it, I realized it wasn’t working. As I got deeper into the story another year, I scrapped the thing and started again.
Finally, I realized I had to have Becky’s voice in the novel; that was the turning point. I wanted a book about two people who had had traumatic things happen to them and felt great guilt, whether justified or not. Les has chosen to look at the world in the worst way, as if to say, “The world is a bad place, and people do terrible things.” Becky, though, can only live through the belief that there’s wonder.
I write pretty dark books, and I wanted to write a book that was more hopeful—a book that acknowledged the wonder of the world. There is wonder in the world, and if a writer denies that, he denies part of the world.
Paste: You began your writing career with short stories and poetry. When you get an idea, how do you know if you want it to be a poem, a short story or a novel?
Rash: I don’t know. [Above the Waterfall] started off as a short story about a game warden and a local fisherman who got into a feud. It escalated and got dark, but it wasn’t working. I was at a time in my life where I wanted to write about the beauty in the world. I wanted to create a voice that was different—Becky’s, I mean—a sensibility that’s different. She’s seeing things that nobody else can. The challenge of trying to create a distinct voice is to look at the world in a way no one you’ve known could.
Paste: How long was it between the time you started the novel and when you realized you wanted Becky narrate every other chapter?
Rash: Two years. It took me three years to write it. One thing that’s very important to me is the pacing and rhythm of books. I thought Les’ [chapters are] very prosy—his language isn’t poetic. I wanted it to be a kind of musical score, where you have these brief, beautiful, intense bursts and then more reflective passages.