Fiction | Book Chatter

Swamplandia!
By Karen Russell
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780307276681, July 2011, 416pp.)

The Short of It:

A departure from my normal reading. Entertaining and often sweet but in the end, not all that satisfying.

The Rest of It:

The Bigtrees run a theme park called Swamplandia! Located on a small island, just off the South Florida coast, their park was once a popular destination for many, but after the death of their star performer, Hilola Bigtree, the park begins its downward spiral into bankruptcy, especially when a new, glitzier theme park opens nearby. Still reeling from the loss of their mother, 13-year-old Ava, and her siblings Kiwi and Ossie, decide to take matters into their own hands.

Ava is young and impressionable and fierce in her passion to save the park. Much of the story is told from her point of view, so there’s no missing the fact that the death of her mother left a huge hole in her heart. Although her father Chief Bigtree is around, his focus is on selling the park, not so much what his kids are going through. So Ava is left to figure it out on her own and she believes she has found the panacea in the form of a tiny red alligator. Plus, her mother taught her how to wrestle gators before she passed, so maybe she can save the park by taking Hilola’s place.

Kiwi is 17-years old and as the older brother, feels responsible for resolving the financial difficulties. He accepts a job at the competing theme park and figures he can rake in the money and payoff the debts. What he finds out rather quickly, is that minimum wage won’t do much in the way of saving them, but the real world experience of being off the island, is somewhat exciting to him.

While all of this is going on, Ossie, Ava’s older sister runs off with a ghost which prompts Ava to run after her. Yep, she runs off with a ghost.

I don’t know what to say. I liked so much of this book but the last third of the story felt rushed and it sort of just fell apart.

What I liked:

I liked that their weird, strange world was normal to them. The comings and goings of the tourists seemed to have almost a lulling effect on them. It’s what they knew and it’s what they loved.

I loved Ava’s voice and as the story went on, I loved Kiwi’s too. His side of the story is not as sweet as Ava’s but it’s clear that he also misses his mother and his dedication to helping his family is very touching.

I enjoyed the tidbits of info that Russell shared about the alligators themselves and the art of alligator wrestling. It provided a bit of substance to a story that would otherwise be a bit too “circus-y” for me.

What I did not like:

I’m not really sure what Ossie was doing. She ran off with a ghost, I suppose with the hope of finding her mother’s spirit, but this part of the story was not well-developed and I found that it didn’t mingle well with the other parts of the story.

Something happens while Ava is out looking for her sister and it was totally unnecessary. I didn’t see a point to what happened and it just seemed to be tossed in there for what? Shock value?

I felt that the end came up too fast. I didn’t feel as if the characters really grew at all or that they were okay with their fate. It could be argued that their place was on the island and them leaving it is what caused them all to fall apart, but the decision to take the story in this direction, didn’t feel intentional to me. It just felt as if it lost its steam.

Overall:

What could have been a really good book, was just okay for me. Entertaining to a point but not a “wow” book.

Source: Obtained in a book exchange.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Nightwoods
By Charles Frazier
(Random House, Hardcover, 9781400067091, September 2011, 272pp.)

The Short of It:

The looming darkness of this story is unrelenting and wickedly constructed.

The Rest of It:

Set among the Appalachians during the 1960’s, Luce is a women who has literally turned her back on society. Working as a caretaker for an abandoned lodge, Luce takes pleasure in being alone. Her sister is dead and gone, murdered by a brutal man who took the term “got away with murder” to a whole new level. Luce’s life is suddenly complicated by the children that her sister left behind. Delivered to her by a social worker, she is forced to care for them and this proves much more difficult than it sounds. These children are broken, wild creatures that can’t be left alone with chickens or any other living thing. As she works to break down the barriers of communication, she finds that these children, the only remnant that remains of her sister, mean more to her than she is willing to admit and when her sister’s killer comes around for them, her strength is put to the test.

What a lovely little book. Dark, gritty but lovely in the way that only dark, haunting woods can be. I didn’t care for Frazier’s other book, Cold Mountain. In fact, I had a real aversion to it and forced myself to read it because I felt I had to. You know how it is, everyone was talking about and I certainly didn’t want to be left out of the discussion so I forced it down like castor oil. This was not the case with Nightwoods.

In Nightwoods, I was fascinated with these kids. Their wildness and the fact that they witnessed their mother’s death. What a horrible thing for them to have gone through. I was also taken with Bud, the man who killed their mother. He is the epitome of evil but dressed up all nice and pretty with equal doses of charm and swagger. When he decides to go after the kids, because he believes they know where some money is hidden, you know as a reader that he means what he says. His pursuit of them is unsettling as is their perception of what danger is.

Reading this was like being in the woods with all of its deep, dark secrets. It’s a very atmospheric novel and although I would have liked to know a bit more about Luce and her background, I felt as if I knew enough for this story to work for me. As dark as the subject matter is, it’s a good book to read if you want to escape from the day-to-day. It’s suspenseful, but not overly so. If you enjoy luscious, gorgeous prose… you will enjoy it.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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