Karen Russell first wrote about Swamplandia!, the alligator wrestling theme park, in a short story “Ava Wrestles the Alligator” in her fine short story collection, St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves. This 316-page novel version features alligators, ghosts, daring rescues, and humor. Swamplandia! is on the verge of bankruptcy. Ava’s mother, a beautiful gator wrestler, has died. The family starts to fall apart. The grandfather is put in a nursing home. Ava’s sister elopes with a ghost. Ava’s brilliant brother, Kiwi, gets a job at a rival theme park, World of Darkness, and experiences teenage-angst. The father disappears on the mainland. The strongest part of Swamplandia! is Ava’s story. Karen Russell, for some unknown reason, hedges her bets by creating a parallel story of Kiwi working in the World of Darkness. Kiwi’s story is a pale shadow of Ava’s. Plus, Ava’s story is narrated in the first person and Kiwi’s story is told in the third-person, a technique that always annoys me. This is a promising novel that could have used an editor to cut 100 pages of rambling. And, I wish Russell had indulged in magical realism more. She has a flare for it. I can’t wait to read Karen Russell’s next book! GRADE: B+
I heard her on NPR too and put the book on hold at the library.
I’ll be interested to read your reaction to SWAMPLANDIA!, Patti. Karen Russell is just bursting with talent, but I did have some issues with the novel.
As you can imagine, this is on my list. I did what Patti did and put the book on hold at the library. I await the call.
I thought all those gators might capture your attention, Bill. And the cover is certainly provocative enough!
This one looks really good! Maybe I can get to it next weekend.
Despite the 316 pages, I found SWAMPLANDIA! a quick read, Beth. I’ll be curious about your reaction to it.
I also heard the interview, on OPR (Oregon Public Radio) and enjoyed hearing the author’s take on her book and personal experiences. However the interview made the book sound somewhat depressing, the inevitable failure of the small theme park, the rise of crass commercialism and it’s ploughing under of small-town, less commercial values, the futility of fighting the big businesses. I decided it’s not one I want to read.
The parallel story of the brother, apparently was to create a compare-and-contrast element.
The parallel story didn’t work for me, Rick. But, SWAMPLANDIA! is a first novel so I expect mis-steps. There’s a fair amount of humor in the book.
For a moment I thought I’d stumbled into Crider’s blog.
I’m pretty sure Bill Crider will read and review SWAMPLANDIA!, too, Bob. Great minds think alike.