General Discussion Thread *Group Read* of SWAMPLANDIA
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1VictoriaPL
Hello There! I couldn't find a thread started for our planned Group Read of Swamplandia by Karen Russell. This is a General Discussion Thread. If you post a SPOILER please make a warning before doing so. Or maybe we should have a spoiler thread? Either way, let's get this party started!
3GingerbreadMan
I read and liked Swamplandia! last year, but felt it had some sad flaws. Love Karen Russell's mind though, and am pretty sure we'll see great work from her. I'll be lurking around this thread a bit to follow what's being said :)
5katiekrug
I'm about 130 pages in and feel kind of torn about it. It's one of those books that I don't feel compelled to get back to at every opportunity, but once I'm reading, it moves along pretty well and I enjoy the story. I hear the second half is where most people who ended up not liking it feel like it lost something...
7katiekrug
I just read about 100 pages yesterday and it's growing on me. It is all over the place but I find it charming in a really odd way.
8andreablythe
I'm about 200 pages in and I'm loving it at this point, despite a jolt of dislike at the beginning. Right before reading this book, I was reading articles about how inappropriate it is for non-natives to be wearing headdresses and dressing like natives as if it were a costume. It's a participation in erasing the culture through stereotyping. I recognize that they're fictional characters, but still it bothered me when I first started reading.
But there's so much more to this novel and the world Russell has created is rich and fascinating. The swamps seem so alive on the page and nearly magical. I love this family for all their flaws and hopes and mistakes.
I'm very curious to see how all this is going to turn out.
But there's so much more to this novel and the world Russell has created is rich and fascinating. The swamps seem so alive on the page and nearly magical. I love this family for all their flaws and hopes and mistakes.
I'm very curious to see how all this is going to turn out.
9VictoriaPL
I'm only about 25 pages in but I am enjoying it so far. I visited Gatorland as a kid and watched them jump for chickens, so reading this brings back that memory.
10katiekrug
I finished the book last night and ended up liking it very much despite some flaws. My review is HERE if anyone is interested.
11andreablythe
Finished the book and I enjoyed it all with reservations. No spoilers, but the ending (by which I mean, the last sentence) didn't have enough of an impact for me. I'm sure some of you will disagree, but yeah.
12klobrien2
My copy of the book is in at the library!
Katie, I've joined your read on TIOLI (Take or Leave It) challenge #2. Looking forward to finally getting to this book!
Karen O.
Katie, I've joined your read on TIOLI (Take or Leave It) challenge #2. Looking forward to finally getting to this book!
Karen O.
13clue
I should finish the book I'm reading now tomorrow and then will jump into Swamplandia. I'm not going to come back to the thread again until I finish and may be a little slow as I am going out of town Thursday through the weekend. I'll catch up with all the comments when I get back!
14sjmccreary
I've got my copy standing by - it's next in line as soon as I finish something else
15TinaV95
I just started it last night... I think I managed 2 chapters before I got too sleepy. I like it so far...
Interested to see what all the debates are about (the love it / hate it one I mean).
Interested to see what all the debates are about (the love it / hate it one I mean).
16andreablythe
Just wanted to point out that you can read my full review of Swamplandia! (with spoilers) here. I was quite ambivalent about it.
17Zozette
I like Swamplandia so far but it is a book that I can put down quite easily.
I am currently reading two other books as well so that is slowing my reading of Swamplandia down. I have told myself that from tomorrow I have to read 3 chapters a day (I am onto chapter 7).
I am currently reading two other books as well so that is slowing my reading of Swamplandia down. I have told myself that from tomorrow I have to read 3 chapters a day (I am onto chapter 7).
18klobrien2
Zozette, I think I'll follow your lead, and assign myself a few chapters every day. I just started today, and I'm a few chapters in, but it hasn't caught me yet, so it's kind of a trudge right now. I feel like it has lots of potential, though.
Karen O.
Karen O.
19VictoriaPL
I just finished this morning and have to say, I liked the first half much better than the second.
20andreablythe
>19 VictoriaPL:
Yeah, me too.
Yeah, me too.
21RidgewayGirl
The second half was very different. How about that amusement park?
22andreablythe
I'm surprised someone hasn't done an amusement park like that yet, actually. There a draw for the dark and scary. Heck, I'd probably go to some place like that, thinking it was funny as hell (pun intended).
But what's most disturbing about it is how Kiwi perceives it. I wonder if Disneyland feels like hell from the back stage, too.
But what's most disturbing about it is how Kiwi perceives it. I wonder if Disneyland feels like hell from the back stage, too.
23GingerbreadMan
If the whole flaking amusement park theme interests you, I heartily recommend George Saunders. All of CivilWarLand in bad decline and parts of Pastoralia are set in strange amusements parks, in an America which produces nothing but variations of its own history. I'm sure Saunders must be a big inspiration to Russell.
24Zozette
I am keeping to the three chapters a day and are now up to page 170. I am enjoying the Kiwi chapters, the rest of the story less so.
25clfisha
I have just started, an enjoyable 1st chapter that has quite a few hooks so I keep reading (love those descriptions of tourists). Not sure about the style yet.. will have to see.
26sjmccreary
I'm just about to the half way point and I am definitely NOT loving this book. In fact, I'm not sure how much I even LIKE it. Disheartened by reports that the 2nd half is less good than the first, but continuing to plug away for now.
27andreablythe
>23 GingerbreadMan: awesome. Those looks good, too.
28LittleTaiko
>24 Zozette: - Completely agree with you - when I read it the Kiwi chapters were the only things that kept me going.
29Zozette
I am only a little way into the second half but, so far, I am actually enjoying it slightly more than the first half.
30VictoriaPL
>28 LittleTaiko: Stacey, I'm with you. Kiwi was the only thing I was reading for during the 2nd half.
31klobrien2
29> - Zozette, I'm so glad to read your post. I guess the moral is, don't give up on a book until you find out for yourself. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I'll keep reading!
Karen O.
Karen O.
32sjmccreary
#31 I'm still reading, too. I seem to be enjoying the 2nd half a little more than the first.
33Zozette
I finished reading Swamplandia yesterday after reading the last 8 chapters in a couple of hours.
I think that Karen Russell has potential. She is very good at describing people and places. However the story just sort of trudge along, very slowly at times, so maybe she needed a good editor who could have helped her to shorten some of the duller bits.
It isn't a book I would read again. 3/5.
I think that Karen Russell has potential. She is very good at describing people and places. However the story just sort of trudge along, very slowly at times, so maybe she needed a good editor who could have helped her to shorten some of the duller bits.
It isn't a book I would read again. 3/5.
34TinaV95
andreablythe -- I just finished the book, so I read your spoiler-riffic review. It is a great review and echoes many of my thoughts.
35andreablythe
Tina, I heard that her short story collection Vampires in the Lemon Grove (which I think includes the story Swamplandia is based on) is fantastic though. I really liked her writing style, so I'm going to try that one.
36GingerbreadMan
Does that come with alternative titles? I read and really liked her debut St. Lucy's home for girls raised by wolves in 2010, and that had a story about Ava. Could it be they renamed it? I like tve wolf title better...
37GingerbreadMan
Checked her author page: nope. Vampires is a new one! I'll look that up for sure, the best handful in St. Lucy's were really good. Again: Ava's first story is in the debut then.
38andreablythe
Oh, whoops. Meant the debut one. Lol. I'll start there, then.
39clfisha
Still reading, will try to finish next week!
Talk of the hellish theme park just reminds me of this.. Anyone been?
http://boingboing.net/2012/10/09/the-city-museum-st-louis-h.html#more-185997
Talk of the hellish theme park just reminds me of this.. Anyone been?
http://boingboing.net/2012/10/09/the-city-museum-st-louis-h.html#more-185997
40andreablythe
>39 clfisha:
OMG! No, I haven't! But now I need to!
OMG! No, I haven't! But now I need to!
41GingerbreadMan
>39 clfisha: !!! Me too!!!!
42RidgewayGirl
That looks awesome!
43TinaV95
I posted my review on the main page if anyone wants to read my thoughts. So many folks are still reading that I don't want to sway anyone by pasting it here.
44sjmccreary
I just finished. Still thinking about my reactions.
45TinaV95
44... That's how I was last night. I had to edit until today to write the review after I had time to think about my reactions...
46clfisha
Not reading reviews until I finish.. I am 1/2 way through..
But (MINOR SPOILER)
did any one else find the bird man creepy? I can shake the feeling he is about to go on a murder spree :-)
But (MINOR SPOILER)
did any one else find the bird man creepy? I can shake the feeling he is about to go on a murder spree :-)
47sjmccreary
#46 Bird Man is definitely creepy!
48clfisha
Well I just finished & collecting my thoughts over this flawed book. Have to say I pretty much loved it; chaotic, rambling, magical, ill-fitting and dark.
49clfisha
Mild spoiler
I found the two different strands a bit awkward and I ended up preferring one over the other (Ava's as it was a bit more magical). Did anyone else find that? Overal which one did you prefer?
I found the two different strands a bit awkward and I ended up preferring one over the other (Ava's as it was a bit more magical). Did anyone else find that? Overal which one did you prefer?
50GingerbreadMan
Kiwi's! It appealed to same side of me that loves Mills or Saunders. But I liked them both - even if they never became a fully organic whole for me either. I have a hunch short stories might be where Russell will do her greatest work.
51LucindaLibri
Well, I really tried to finish Swamplandia! in January, but haven't quite made it yet . . . will post here in a day or two!
Back to the swamp . . .
Back to the swamp . . .
52LucindaLibri
Just finished today.
>23 GingerbreadMan: Russell mentions the books of George Saunders in her acknowledgements section (at the back of my copy). Haven't read him myself. I thought it reminiscent of Heart of Darkness and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder (but that's likely because I've read both of those recently.
Not sure I'll write a full review. I was mainly reading it because it is on a list of possibilities for one of my book groups; I'm pretty sure they would NOT like it . . . too fantastical for that group. To me it was a Grimm's Fairy Tale set in a Swamp, so creepy in a way that can be captivating. I definitely felt immersed in the location (though glad to be at home in my mosquito-free house! :) It also reminded me a bit of the recent film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" . . . only in that film the girl was taught how to survive in more explicit ways. In Swamplandia! it seems that the kids are missing some pretty basic information about survival, yet they've picked up/figured out much on their own.
I agree with the comment above about the last sentence . . . I got to it and then said . . . "Huh?" I could see it was supposed to tie everything back together, but it really didn't . . . at least not for me.
>23 GingerbreadMan: Russell mentions the books of George Saunders in her acknowledgements section (at the back of my copy). Haven't read him myself. I thought it reminiscent of Heart of Darkness and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder (but that's likely because I've read both of those recently.
Not sure I'll write a full review. I was mainly reading it because it is on a list of possibilities for one of my book groups; I'm pretty sure they would NOT like it . . . too fantastical for that group. To me it was a Grimm's Fairy Tale set in a Swamp, so creepy in a way that can be captivating. I definitely felt immersed in the location (though glad to be at home in my mosquito-free house! :) It also reminded me a bit of the recent film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" . . . only in that film the girl was taught how to survive in more explicit ways. In Swamplandia! it seems that the kids are missing some pretty basic information about survival, yet they've picked up/figured out much on their own.
I agree with the comment above about the last sentence . . . I got to it and then said . . . "Huh?" I could see it was supposed to tie everything back together, but it really didn't . . . at least not for me.
53psutto
I ended up enjoying this book but think its deeply flawed. I was distracted for the first few chapters but started enjoying it a little more when there is a split in narrative but think the second half was much better although the two narratives didn't quite gel into a whole for me. I must get round to reviewing Properly. I can see that if Russell gets better at structure she'll be an author to follow as the ideas and writing is there. I'm a little ambivalent but think this is a four star read for me on the whole.