| Title | : | How Fire Runs |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 |
| Publication | : | First published October 13, 2020 |
How Fire Runs Reviews
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well, shit—where did this guy come from? blurbed by
Silas House,
Taylor Brown and
Chris Offutt, this is someone who should have been on my radar not just as “a goodreads friend who also enjoys grit lit,” but as someone who actually contributes to the genre.
lesson learned.
this is top-notch storytelling, presenting a clear conflict like "white supremacists move into a rural tennessee community and establish an enclave in their midst," but then taking the time to really flesh out the characters on both sides of the situation—not only how the residents respond to the group literally planting their territorial flag in the ground, but also focusing on the members of "little europe" itself; this community-within-the-community, to better examine the complexities that arise when their leader, gavin noon, decides to run for local office.
looping in history, politics, and social responsibility, white illustrates the effects of this disruptive force on individuals and on the community's sense of itself as the residents are forced to consider some uncomfortable realities.
probably overquoting here, but this particular passage really resonated with me and the shame and disappointment of witnessing so many of my fellow americans who, encouraged by racist leadership, confidently embraced their worst possible selves and, along with far greater transgressions, ruined the name "karen" for the rest of us."How does that affect the place we live when we allow a man like him to make a claim on the public office? How do we reconcile that to the country we've all grown up in? I talked to the sheriff about this. He told me something that maybe shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. He told me that there's not a hell of a lot of difference between the kind of community Noon wants and what a lot of people out here in Carter County would agree with. That's not the way I like to think about my home, but maybe it's not entirely untrue either. You don't see a lot of black families itching to move out here, do you? A scattering but that's all. Rebel flags no further than a quarter of a mile apart even though just about every family up here was pro-Union during the Civil War. But history doesn't have a damn thing to do with it anymore. Doesn't matter if your great-great-grandpa ambushed any butternut home guard he could, what matters is that even if your life has run down the backside of a toilet, at least you're a white man by God, and you're going to let the world know it.
"What happens then when a man like Noon can run for a position of government? It makes all of those racist jokes and hatred legitimate. It makes the whole ugly violent mess of who we are something to ignore and it makes it acceptable to do anything we please, because we are just protecting what makes up our genetic code."
it's smooth, smart, and surprising with a strong sense of place and some excellent detail-work in the areas of small town politics and noon's cultural ideology of "ethnic distinctiveness." and it is, unfortunately, a very relevant piece of writing in the nowtimes. i am definitely looking forward to reading more from him.
love,
a karen you can trust
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book #200 of 2020 - only 50 more to go to meet my reading challenge!!
come to my blog! -
I finished this book yesterday and am still trying to decide what to say about it. The superb writing I found In the House of Wilderness is fully present and accounted for. The subject matter is timely, hitting uncomfortably close to home. And therein lies the rub. Racial tension, dirty politics, fires burning out of control. Right book, wrong time.
My rating is based on the caliber of the writing. It's not the author's fault that I was in the mood for something that wasn't quite as relevant as this. Looking forward to Lambs of Men. -
Hell of a book.
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"What the Hell is happening to us Orlynne? How did it get this bad?"
"Are you asking in the general or the particular?"
"Either one. I'm not sure there's a Hell of a lot of difference though. I don't feel like I know this place anymore. I don't feel like I belong."
A lot of us feel that way these days, either locally or nationally or both. I was a little afraid to pick this one up, because white supremacists scare me. They think terrible things, then feel justified when they act on them, because they want a "better world", which of course can only be populated and run by white men. In this novel, the author takes a small corner of Appalachia in Tennessee and shows us how a small group was able to make a foothold, but enough good people saw through it to turn things around, albeit not without tragedy and violence.
Charles Dodd White is a man of many writing talents, and they are all in play in this book. This is my 4th novel by him, and he just gets better and better. The only thing I have trouble understanding is why he is not better known and celebrated when other novelists with lesser talent get all the sales and praise. That's where we Goodreads members come in. Buy his books, read and review them, then sing his praises to everyone you know.
Another great one, Mr. White. Keep 'em coming. -
I will read ashes for you, if you ask me.
I will look in the fire and tell you from the gray lashes
And out of the red and black tongues and stripes,
I will tell how fire comes
And how fire runs far as the sea. – Carl Sandburg, Fire Pages (How Fire Runs epigraph)
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A year after the Charlottesville, Virginia riot that was sparked by a planned removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, a group of white nationalists take over an abandoned asylum just outside Elizabethton, a somewhat isolated community that is nestled in the mountains of northeastern Tennessee.
One person takes immediate action. From his home across the road, Gerald Pickens takes a few pot shots at a car backing out of the asylum’s driveway, shooting out a couple of tires, and for good measure, sending a round through the car’s rear window. His reason for taking such a drastic action is because early that morning he saw a swastika flag flying in front of the building.
Since the building is located outside the city limits, the problem falls into the laps of the county sheriff, who has the responsibility of enforcing the law in rural areas and unincorporated communities, along with the seven county commissioners, who are the county’s administrative officers. To further complicate matters, Gerald Pickens is one of the commissioners.
Enter Kyle Pettus, also a county commissioner, who is thought to be the only person who can exercise any influence over the irascible Pickens, partly because they are the only two Democrats on the commission. Be that as it may, Pettus doesn’t have all that much influence over his older colleague either, but he is able to persuade Pickens to give up his rifle and he is taken into custody.
The founder of the white supremacist group that has taken up residence in the abandoned building is Gavin Noon, who names the compound “Little Europe.” An individual with astute political skills, he sees Pickens’s rash action as an opportunity to sow dissent in the community, to win some supporters in the process, and make his group a respectable and accepted part of the community.
He meets with the sheriff and makes the surprising suggestion that Pickens, who is seventy-two, and is being held in jail until the judge can see him the next day, has probably learned his lesson, that “as new members of the community, my family and I are interested in neighborly relations. The last thing I’d want to do is cause any unnecessary friction. There’s no reason people can’t live beside one another despite whatever difference of opinion they might harbor.”
Sometime later Noon goes outside the old asylum and sits on the front steps, and thinks to himself that “this place in the woods” could become a “small country within the country."Not simply the idea of a pure and isolated community as had been tried elsewhere, a commune that would be subject to its own vulnerable politics and struggles for power. No, the necessary difference would come when it was made part of an established government. They would have to entrench politically in a place that would be receptive to the idea of white nationhood. That was true revolution, when the revolution became invisible, when it became part of the routine. That was what would make the ultimate difference.
And that is what made “Little Europe” different and more difficult to defeat. Noon’s followers don't openly flout the law or engage in torchlight parades and chant slogans, instead, under his guidance, they insinuate their way into the community’s social fabric. After a resignation creates an opening on the county commission, Noon even throws his hat in the ring as a candidate in the special election to fill the vacancy. His opponents have to rally around a candidate that can defeat the white supremacist -- and their choice turns out to be a huge surprise.
As in White’s other novels, nature plays an important role in this one. The four elements of Greek philosophy – water, earth, air, and especially fire – are all active and on full display in the story’s culminating scenes.
White has written a page turner, what one critic called a “literary” thriller, with the emphasis on literary. That is a departure from the other two novels of his that I have read and it was a surprise, but not a disappointment.
The plots of those earlier novels contained an element of mystery and a noirish quality, and so does How Fire Runs, but what is different is that this time the prose is more concise and less lyrical, which is perhaps as it should be, for the story is more plot-driven than the other two. However, the characterizations are still strong and the writing, as always, is first-rate. -
I feel like I need to create a goodreads shelf specifically for Appalachian fiction. Between David Joy, Margo Orlando Littell, and Charles Dodd White, I'm amassing quite a collection of novels written within this region.
I'm a big fan of White, having been absolutely blown away by A Shelter of Others back in 2016, and was eagerly anticipating this one!
Eerily timely, How Fire Runs fans the flames of Trump's America, envisioning what would happen if a group of white supremacists started digging their heels into a quiet, unassuming small town in Tennessee. The setting is as much a character as Kyle and Gerald, two county commissioners who have the unfortunate luck of being the first of the townsfolk to go toe to toe with Gavin and his nazi goon squad.
Perfectly paced, White takes his time sowing the seeds with this one, allowing his readers an opportunity to get the lay of the land, and his characters time to get a feel for one another, before we hit the ground running in a frenzy of personal and political violence as one group fights for a future they desire while the other fights to preserve the future they've been building for generations. -
Just to be honest here, I’ve never read a book of CDW’s that I didn’t love but I’m still scratching my head why more readers are not reading his works. This one is totally different and proves he can write both character driven fiction as well as plot driven fiction. This one is unsettling. I know this area but I’m the “tourist passing through to NC towns.” This book makes you think, it brings out emotions, it causes an uneasy feeling. And I think this is all very intentional by this author. This quote found at the very end of the book sums up this read for me, “Told (him) the whole story of how they gotten out and what it had cost.”
Each character paid a price and I’m just glad CDW told the whole story. The reader experiences the place, the people and the events. Love trumps hate. Choose good over evil.Community is everything.
If you have access to Hoopla try one of his shorter novels for free, it’s under Charles White, titled Lambs of Men. It’s excellent. -
A dark, moving, and eerily relevant Appalachian novel about the scourge of white supremacy and the threat it poses to small communities all over the country. Though it's impossible to feel sympathy or the disturbed and violent group members who target a Tennessee town, White adeptly humanizes even the worst of his characters. A must-read novel for our time--a warning, and a reminder that there's no easy solution. Any redemption will have to be fought for.
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I read this during the week after the 1/6/2021 events in Washington, DC. While both the reality and the fiction are disturbing, I felt somewhat comforted by White's vision of the ultimate impotence of Gavin Noon and his ilk if good people do more than just sit in front of the TV, trembling and spitting.
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Charles Dodd White just gets better with each novel. A tightly paced and timely work with superb character drawings.
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I went back and forth on this book. It could’ve been a lot shorter, and there was a significant amount of unnecessary violence. The beginning and middle sections seemed the most realistic, and they provided an interesting set of characters to follow. The ending was too violent for me, and I would rather see violence serve a purpose other than general chaos for the characters. I also feel as though one character was almost killed so many times that each time I braced myself for their death only to have them survive at the end. This was more frustrating than anything else and took away the realism from the novel. I was neutral about the writing style as it was more plot and less character focused. However, the main point of the book that hate breeds hate is critical to understanding how to dismantle white supremacy in the United States. Aside from focusing on diversity, we need to build strong communities and invest in mental health infrastructure to root out some of the main push factors that make white supremacy possible. I am overall neutral about this book and would not encourage or discourage anyone from reading it.
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read this basically in one sitting, i love its realism & persistent hope, its very alive characters, its typical-of-the-author revelatory prose
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Highly recommend this book. A suspenseful, Appalachian, tale at its finest. I won't lie though, there are a couple of characters that I would love to know what happened to them after these events. Read this!
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This book tells the story of what can happen when hateful ideologies are allowed a platform in public discourse. There is the more obvious theme of the dangers of white supremacy, but the author manages to highlight the systemic problems that allow such ideas to take root. He acknowledges the need to feel heard that is present in the hearts and minds of the Appalachian community. Generational poverty and the school to prison pipeline foster mindsets that can fall victim to harmful ideas: “it’s full of people who are hungry, hungry in a way that people who’ve had plenty to eat all their lives can’t ever understand.” The characters are flawed and make human choices rather than being static representations of ideologies. People across the political spectrum are shown to have their faults and at the same time be willing to compromise for the greater good. Readers from diverse backgrounds will find much to discuss in this book.
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In HOW FIRE RUNS, Charles Dodd White has deftly crafted a diverse cast of characters whose stories intersect in an authentically rendered southern Appalachian setting. Important and timely social themes, presented with sensitivity and heart.
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What a timely and haunting novel by Charles Dodd White. I read "How Fire Runs" in two sittings. I couldn't go to bed last night until I finished it, even though I was only half through it. The writing is tight and lyrical at the same time, the characters and their relationships complex and unforgettable. Another book I couldn't read fast enough, but I didn't want it to end.
BTW, any of Charles Dodd White's novels are fabulous. I've read every one of them, and can't wait for more. -
Some of the most beautiful passages I've read all year. Recommend.
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My first Charles Dodd White book…It won’t be my last! I loved reading about people and places that are so familiar.
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My review for the book can be read on The Southern Review of Books's website:
https://southernreviewofbooks.com/202...
In a nutshell: "How Fire Runs holds a mirror to Trump’s America, asking if instead of free and brave, such a land is shackled, craven, and bearing a strongman’s guise." -
I got about halfway through. Don’t have it in me to continue. Might give it another try sometime. It’s the kind of book you need to be in the mood for.
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Wow...I’d love to kick back with a 12 pack of beer and discuss this fiery novel with CDW for hours. What if it had been a group of devout Muslims wanting to spread Sharia Law or a group of Militant Black Separatists trying to spread violence or Mormon polygamists instead of a group of White Nationalists? Would the characters have responded differently? Is a member of the clergy truly a “coward” for respecting the separation of Church and State? Is there any common ground between a libertarian and a social justice warrior? While Noon was clearly a Nazi/White Supremacist nut job, his arguments still resonate with many dispossessed, disadvantaged, poor white people who feel forgotten by the conventional political parties. Economic opportunity, educational opportunity and the hope of a better future are the obvious solutions—easier said than done. And what about the radical elements in Antifa and BLM? Aren’t they fanning those same flames of racial division? Awesome book, Charles, and so timely and thought provoking...
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There was such little character development that it was almost shocking. I understand this narrative is important and timely, but also historical. I appreciate the intent, however exactly ZERO white authors should ever be using racial slurs in their writing and i don’t care what the justification is. Racialized trauma porn is hurtful, especially to Black readers in this instance.
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I’m of two minds on this one. 4 stars or 3? I was rolling along just fine, really enjoying the story, then the last part of the book lost me. It seemed a little bit rambling and weird, left me thinking “what just happened?” in the minds of some of the characters. Maybe I missed some clues early on, I don’t know. I will probably try another of the author’s works, though.
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Felt like I was in East Tennessee with some interesting characters, racism and homophobia themes.
