because of my friend chris' facebook postings, i became obsessed with flavorpill's articles particularly their book articles. one such article, the best debut novels of 2011, inspired me to take a break from my classics reading and try some new books. i decided to start off with karen russell's "swamplandia!".
i had high expectations for this novel, because flavorpill said, "it's a coming-of-age story, it's a save-the-farm tale, it's a strange love story, and it's a wonderful debut." i guess i can call it the curse, (that sounds negative . . .) the standard set (?) by "catcher in the rye", but i assume that any novel that is described as "coming-of-age" will change my life. and on top of that there was a love story and an alligator farm, how could it fail? it kinda did. it was a good novel. however it didn't wow! me like i thought it would.
flavorpill did get it right. karen russell is a wonderful writer. her book was filled with interesting and quirky images. my favorites were:
"he backed away from his thought and let it hang there, a Monet picture, beautifully out of focus."
"hopes hugged the perimeter of a dance floor in your brain, tugging at their party lace, all perfume and hems and doomed expectation."
"tv movies and radio songs were the only models i had for love transmissions, a boyfriend-girlfriend conversation."
"the knit of our hands on his lap looked so distant from either of us, like a sculpture we've made."
the story premise was interesting as well. i loved the idea of the family-owned alligator farm. i, like ava, longed for the days when their mother was alive and the star attraction of their farm. their lives were filled with happiness and family love. but sadly this did not last long.
i did become invested in all of the characters. i hated their father for abandoning them. i worried about kiwi and wanted to protected him from the outside world. i was concerned with osceola and her "boyfriend." and lastly, i loved ava. i wanted nothing but happiness for her. she was such a sweet and brave little girl and i was angry with the world for dealing her such a horrible hand in life. and my love for ava is why i disliked this book. without spoiling it for anyone, there is something that happens to ava and i have no idea how or why russell let it happen to her. her incident did make the novel real, in real life that is what would happen to her. but regardless it broke my heart that it did. i guess i was disappointed because i wanted everything to work out and it didn't.
so you should check this book out. the writing is great, i just became too invested in ava's life and that may be why i was disappointed.
