Swamplandia!

By: Karen Russell

Narrated by: Arielle Sitrick, David Ackroyd

Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

From the celebrated 29-year-old author of the everywhere-heralded short-story collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (“How I wish these were my own words, instead of the breakneck demon writer Karen Russell’s...Run for your life. This girl is on fire” - Los Angeles Times Book Review) comes a blazingly original debut novel that takes us back to the swamps of the Florida Everglades, and introduces us to Ava Bigtree, an unforgettable young heroine.

The Bigtree alligator-wrestling dynasty is in decline, and Swamplandia!, their island home and gator-wrestling theme park, formerly number one in the region, is swiftly being encroached upon by a fearsome and sophisticated competitor called the World of Darkness. Ava’s mother, the park’s indomitable headliner, has just died; her sister, Ossie, has fallen in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, who may or may not be an actual ghost; and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, who dreams of becoming a scholar, has just defected to the World of Darkness in a last-ditch effort to keep their family business from going under. Ava’s father, affectionately known as Chief Bigtree, is AWOL; and that leaves Ava, a resourceful but terrified 13, to manage 98 gators and the vast, inscrutable landscape of her own grief.

Against a backdrop of hauntingly fecund plant life animated by ancient lizards and lawless hungers, Karen Russell has written an utterly singular novel about a family’s struggle to stay afloat in a world that is inexorably sinking. An arrestingly beautiful and inventive work from a vibrant new voice in fiction.

©2011 Karen Russell (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

“[Russell] has thrown the whole circus of her heart onto the page, safety nets be damned. . . . Russell has deep and true talent.” ( San Francisco Chronicle)

“Vividly worded, exuberant in characterization, the novel is a wild ride. . . . This family, wrestling with their desires and demons . . . will lodge in the memories of anyone lucky enough to read Swamplandia!” ( The New York Times Book Review)

“The bewitching Swamplandia! is a tremendous achievement.”( Entertainment Weekly)

Poorly read, endlessly rambling story.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I would have enjoyed this more if the story were less uneven and if the reading was better -- and the reading is quite bad.

What could Karen Russell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I have never been so glad for a book to be over. The writing is original and colorful, but the denouement is disappointingly ordinary. And I was completely sick of her affectation of calling alligators "Seths" before I was halfway through the book.

How could the performance have been better?

Arielle Sitrick, the female reader, mispronounces far too many words far too many times. Where was the editor? Where was the director? Where was some grownup to go back and correct all those mispronunciations? Sitrick sounds like a high school student reading a classroom essay out loud. This appears to be her only Audible book credit, and really - if I ever see her name on another recording, I will avoid it like the plague.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The first third of this book interested me, but by the last third, I was thoroughly exasperated. The writing simply wore out its welcome, and the story ultimately disappointed me.

Don't go to Swamplandia

This could have been fun but got bogged down in the swamp. Wish'd the gators had eaten a few of the characters it would've been shorter...

Bad Female Reader

I am currently listening to this book but am so irritated and distracted by the female reader that I wonder if I can continue. It is hard to be objective about the book when the reader is so poor. The male reader is very good, as expected in an audio book.
She does not know how to pronounce some fairly common words, and has a flat tone that sounds exactly as if she is reading it, not performing it as we expect in a well executed audio book.
I hope I can finish the book, as I am otherwise enjoying it. Please do not use this reader again!

Relentlessly depressing.

Not since House of Sand and Fog have I hated a book this much. Half way into part 1, I was praising Heaven that it was only a 2 part book. Truthfully, I do not embrace tragic stories, but I can soldier through if the writing is good enough. Like HSF, the beauty of the words could not save this story for me. I see why Carl Hiaasen liked this book. The tidbits of Florida's history were fascinating, and if that had been the entire story, I would have been delighted. Swamplandia has taught me the valuable lesson of always checking Audible's Listener Reviews.

Terrible

This book was an incredible waste of my time. It was horribly slow moving and depressing. It was basically a story of a family's hardships that just continued to get worse. The absolute worst part for me was the description of a 13 year old girl being violated by some old creep. I do not find any type of enjoyment from stories like this. Do yourself a favor and do not read or listen to this story.

Read this book, do not listen to it

This book is unlistenable. I gave up after 5 minutes because of the flat, emotionless narration. The book itself is an original, delightful story, but I read it on the Kindle after mistakenly trying to listen to this recording.

Be Warned: Terrible Reader

The female (read: 13 year old girl) reader here is terrible. Nothing against the girl, but she's not a professional, and It's an awful fit for the text. I've listened to hundreds of audiobooks, and only had problems with two readers, this being one of them. Unlistenable.

Not good

I got this for my 5th grade daughter and it was a sixth grade book and it said words like f*** and b**** and a** and much more. We don’t want our kids learning words like that so don’t buy it it’s not worth the money☹️

Agree with all about terrible performance

A wonderful book was rendered practically unlistenable by this female reader. I had to fight to pay attention and would have quit if it weren't a book club assignment. I finally gave up and just got a copy of the book from the library. I won't belabor and repeat what everyone else has said but I recommend you save your credit. I wish I could get my money back.

Boring read

Swamplandia is well written but in my opinion is a boring book that I had a difficult time getting through.