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A review by ghostboyreads
When These Mountains Burn by David Joy
5.0
"Nine times out of ten, that's how you relapsed: believing one night wouldn't be the beginning of forever. It was a misguided faith in self-control."
Review updated as of my re-read (15.9.24-17.9.24 - How is it possible to love a novel this much?)
Completely and utterly devastating, disgustingly brutal, a violent and soul-rending novel, When These Mountains Burn will rip your heart from your chest and proceed to stomp it until it's nothing but a smear of blood and mush on the sidewalk. David Joy is perhaps one of the worlds most gifted storytellers, no one can write devastation and ruin quite like Joy does, there's just something so arresting and enrapturing about his writing. It's such a rarity, to encounter an author who so greatly understands the people who populate his stories, the places he writes about and the desperation that clouds the judgement of his characters, it's almost otherworldly, the way he so magically translates the pure pain and suffering of these characters into something so tangible, and in When These Mountains Burn, it's more obvious than any of his other work.
Despite how it may first sound, When These Mountains Burn isn't some high-octane, feverish, page-turning thriller, instead it's a wonderfully slow burning and cruel masterpiece, one that's so perfectly tender and touching. It's actually a pretty fantastic character study, allowing readers a glimpse into the minds of some truly tortured people. There's no flashy tricks here, it's quite simply just, honest, it's one of the most authentic, raw and sincere works of fiction out there. It's perhaps a fair assessment of this novel to call it unvarnished, there's nothing on display here but the tragic and horrendous truth. As harrowing as this tale was, it was also a pure delight to read, When These Mountains Burn is both poetic and ugly to its very core.
Review updated as of my re-read (15.9.24-17.9.24 - How is it possible to love a novel this much?)
Completely and utterly devastating, disgustingly brutal, a violent and soul-rending novel, When These Mountains Burn will rip your heart from your chest and proceed to stomp it until it's nothing but a smear of blood and mush on the sidewalk. David Joy is perhaps one of the worlds most gifted storytellers, no one can write devastation and ruin quite like Joy does, there's just something so arresting and enrapturing about his writing. It's such a rarity, to encounter an author who so greatly understands the people who populate his stories, the places he writes about and the desperation that clouds the judgement of his characters, it's almost otherworldly, the way he so magically translates the pure pain and suffering of these characters into something so tangible, and in When These Mountains Burn, it's more obvious than any of his other work.
Despite how it may first sound, When These Mountains Burn isn't some high-octane, feverish, page-turning thriller, instead it's a wonderfully slow burning and cruel masterpiece, one that's so perfectly tender and touching. It's actually a pretty fantastic character study, allowing readers a glimpse into the minds of some truly tortured people. There's no flashy tricks here, it's quite simply just, honest, it's one of the most authentic, raw and sincere works of fiction out there. It's perhaps a fair assessment of this novel to call it unvarnished, there's nothing on display here but the tragic and horrendous truth. As harrowing as this tale was, it was also a pure delight to read, When These Mountains Burn is both poetic and ugly to its very core.
"A coyote began to howl directly behind the house. The animal was close, maybe seventy-five yards up the ridge, so close that Raymond could almost feel the sound resonating against the back of his neck. Across the holler the howl was answered by another, then another, a series of calls strung together by intervals of distance so that it seemed that what started as a singular point might stretch on in every direction the entire world over."
Something I've always appreciated about the work of David Joy, and the grit-lit genre as a whole, is how strong the nature writing is, however, in When These Mountains Burn, Joy has somehow elevated his skill even further. There's such a peaceful sense of tranquility with which he describes the natural world, and it so harshly juxtaposes the gruesomeness of this story. It's essentially the ugliness of lives cast in ruin set against lyrical passages and beautiful landscapes. And, it's in achieving this atmosphere that Joy has demonstrated the true power of grit-lit. Because, once the hard-hitting exterior flakes away, once you make it past the drug-runners, the thieves, the murderers and the pill-pushers, once you really get to look, you'll find beauty underneath it all.
There exist very few novels in this world that resonate with me as strongly as this one does, it's a book that's incredibly dear to my heart, for reasons more than, but also including, it being a gift from the most wonderful person in my life. It's a book that truly, honestly, completely speaks to my soul. When I'm dead and gone, I want this novel buried with me, it's earned that honor. When These Mountains Burn should be read by all.
"He could've changed the locks and his habits, but then the boy might've busted out the windows or kicked down the door and that'd just be something else to fix. Maybe that was why Ray didn't bother, or maybe it was some hope buried in the pit of his heart that said, one day he won't come back to steal. One day he'll just come home. "