Swamplandia!
By Karen Russell
- Release Date: 2011-02-01
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • The bravely imagined, wildly acclaimed debut novel from the author of Vampires in the Lemon Grove—about a thirteen year old girl who sets out on a mission through magical swamps to save her family.
"Ms. Russell is one in a million.... A suspensfuly, deeply haunted book." —The New York Times
Thirteen-year-old Ava Bigtree has lived her entire life at Swamplandia!, her family’s island home and gator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades. But when illness fells Ava’s mother, the park’s indomitable headliner, the family is plunged into chaos; her father withdraws, her sister falls in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, defects to a rival park called The World of Darkness.
As Ava embarks on her mission to save them all, we are drawn into a lush debut that takes us to the shimmering edge of reality.
Reviews
Skip it
1By BruyiI bought this book after reading the sample. However, wish hadn't because I wasn't much farther along when the story began to drag. I finally started skipping pages just to finish it. This was a most unsatisfying read.Swamplandia
1By Squidgy'sI kept waiting for something interesting, exciting, or scary to happen, I waited in vain. There were events that were totally pointless and the rescue at the end was completely unbelievable. Total waste of time to read!Good Character in Ava
3By FpianoSome good writing here, but not cohesive. Like more than a few contemporary Florida writers, things are way too over the top. Hard to take as serious literature. Maybe I was expecting too much after the good reviews the book has gotten, or maybe there weren't enough good books this year.Good, but also disappointing.
3By LexxieebThe beginning was wonderfully written and captivating, i had so much hope for this book but the middle was dragging and if one characters story was good, the others was not and it made you want to skip chapters at a time. Potential for sure, but somewhat disappointing.This is why real writers are in trouble.
1By JJordanPWith authors like Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry, at least this tired genre of exploitative Florida side shows are written by those who still live there. Unfortunately, Karen Russell had to be tucked safely away in Manhattan before even publishing her first short story. It's a sad example of what literature has come to, and a sadder example of much better work being overlooked for the sake of pleasing those born at the top.Long, but worth it!
5By Not my schtickThe Bigtree family members chronicled in this book are quirky, curious and courageous individuals whose collective and independent stories combine to build a story which is hard to put down.Fabulous
5By Tucson readerWhat an imagination to write such a story. Always kept me engaged. Loved it.Disappointment
1By Disappointed in denver 8975I begrudgingly finished this book. Rather than being creative and compelling, the plot felt forced, never pulling me into the book. There was no hierarchy among the characters and while Ava was the intended heroine, she was overshadowed by the attention given to the other family members. The story of Louis Thanksgiving was the only riveting section of the book and could have and should have stood alone as a short story.Swamplandia!
3By Greenlady48Imaginative story, wonderful language, colourful characters, but the plot dragged,especially in the middle when Ava was traveling in the swamp with Birdman.Swamplandia
5By soprano41A riveting, beautiful tale of a young girl and her family. The setting, the Florida Everglades, cast a haunting, dark and dangerous backdrop of this tale of loss, love and redemption.Swamplandia
4By 7254Wow... Karen Russell writes like the alligators she writes about. When she gets a feeling for an event, scene or thought, she won't let go. And what she does transmitting that feeling to us is terrific. Sometimes the alligators come awfully close behind each other but you just have to keep up and keep going. It's like Ava at the end.Average
2By J_MHI had a hard time making it through this one!!!Couldn't get through the multi story stories
2By mmontemurnoThis is the first book I haven't finished in over 5 years. It's starts off well and then drags you into the underworld of boredom....Spellbinding tale
5By bubszThis book keeps the reader pinned to the pages from the first sentence. A fantastical engrossing tale of a family coming apart at the seams after the mothers death. The story is told through the eyes of the youngest girl, Ava an alligator wrestler. The background is swampy humid alligator and mosquito infested Florida where strange things happen. Add to it a slightly deranged older sister, a brother who is determined to help his dad out of his financial mess and you have a tale of a mother's love that keeps her children alive, siblings who go to great lengths for each other, adventure, craziness and Florida lore.
