Fatherhood In Craig Lesley's Burning Fence

Craig Lesley’s novel “Burning Fence” is an attempt to answer questions about what fatherhood means in the West and in general. He takes the parts of his life that most accurately represent how he views fatherhood and compiles them into a novel explaining why he has lived the way he has, why he has not always done the easiest thing, and how he feels about his father, Ruddell Lesley. Lesley’s views of his father evolve over time, and he illustrates this through anecdotes showing the reader more and more interactions he has with his father. As the novel progresses, Craig’s views on his father change significantly, especially in the later years of his life after he has been a father himself. The novel is well written, well structured, and most importantly easy and fun to read. The story starts out …show more content…
Details abound but there is no flowery language to describe ordinary objects, only what needs to be there. Truly good writing that can express itself without the details overstaying their welcome is something few authors master, but it is one of the most enjoyable styles of writing. Craig Lesley manages to tell his story about an altogether non-fiction life and write it in a way that someone who hates nonfiction can enjoy. It has the language and flow of a true story, but the basis in fact that is usually portrayed boringly by most nonfiction authors. His strongest points are that fatherhood is a difficult task, and that it is not ever easy. He demonstrates this with stories from his own life, showing all the hardships he went through and the trouble he put up with despite the difficulty. He also demonstrates it via his own father, showing that some people cannot take the hardship, and choose to leave instead. He even shows moments where he almost gave up on his own son. Craig addresses his stepfather and how he treated Craig, including both sexual, verbal and emotional