Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing is the first novel written by Delia Owens. This book was a New York Times best seller and made Reese Witherspoon's book club.
Here is the description from the book jacket:
For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life-until the unthinkable happens.
It is described as "painfully beautiful... At once a murder mystery, a coming of age narrative, and a celebration of nature."
And while I agree with that statement completely, I have to say I am absolutely torn up about this book.
It is everything that every description has said about it. It is poignant, it is beautifully written, it is thought provoking, interesting, lovely, heartbreaking, suspenseful.... I run out of words to describe this book.
However, it left me with as many questions and scratch my head moments.
Many of which I cannot explore here without giving away the story. I will just say, that there were things that I questioned, things that did not make sense with the characters, things I did not like.It was heartbreaking in a kind of way that I do not enjoy. The things that left me questioning were frustrating for me. And for me, that effects my opinion of a book.
The more I think about it though, the more I come to the realization that even with my questions, concerns and things I do not understand about the book, I still might be able to say it was a good book. Just not my kind of book.
You see, the purpose of any kind of art, and writing is a form of art, is to make you think. But more specifically, art is meant to make you feel. When I was a librarian, one of the things I enjoyed most was sharing stories and seeing the student's reactions. Children show their hearts and feelings right out in the open. Their faces, when I read aloud to them was priceless. I could just see the range of emotions.
During poetry month, one of the ways I explain what poetry is, was to say "poetry is more than just rhyming words. It is written to make you feel something, and what everyone feels is different."
Whether I had good feelings or bad feelings about this book, I felt something and in that, the book is successful. The author has done her job.
The question for me is-Do I want to recommend this book? The best part about reading is sharing those books with others, like when I was a librarian. It gives me joy to tell someone "oh you have to read this book." In this case I am struggling. My natural instinct would be to not recommend it, because I had issues with it.
Yet, I believe the book has merit. Just because the book is not for me, doesn't mean someone else won't read it and think it is wonderful.
So in this case, I will just say. It is a well written, at times beautifully written book. It has the kind of writing that makes you reread sentences and sigh at the shear beauty of the way the words are strung together.
I probably won't run to people and tell them they need to read it right away, but if you feel this book is something you would enjoy, and you find it interesting based on the descriptions, then I would say read it.
Here is the description from the book jacket:For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life-until the unthinkable happens.
It is described as "painfully beautiful... At once a murder mystery, a coming of age narrative, and a celebration of nature."
And while I agree with that statement completely, I have to say I am absolutely torn up about this book.
It is everything that every description has said about it. It is poignant, it is beautifully written, it is thought provoking, interesting, lovely, heartbreaking, suspenseful.... I run out of words to describe this book.
However, it left me with as many questions and scratch my head moments.
Many of which I cannot explore here without giving away the story. I will just say, that there were things that I questioned, things that did not make sense with the characters, things I did not like.It was heartbreaking in a kind of way that I do not enjoy. The things that left me questioning were frustrating for me. And for me, that effects my opinion of a book.
The more I think about it though, the more I come to the realization that even with my questions, concerns and things I do not understand about the book, I still might be able to say it was a good book. Just not my kind of book.
You see, the purpose of any kind of art, and writing is a form of art, is to make you think. But more specifically, art is meant to make you feel. When I was a librarian, one of the things I enjoyed most was sharing stories and seeing the student's reactions. Children show their hearts and feelings right out in the open. Their faces, when I read aloud to them was priceless. I could just see the range of emotions.
During poetry month, one of the ways I explain what poetry is, was to say "poetry is more than just rhyming words. It is written to make you feel something, and what everyone feels is different."
Whether I had good feelings or bad feelings about this book, I felt something and in that, the book is successful. The author has done her job.
The question for me is-Do I want to recommend this book? The best part about reading is sharing those books with others, like when I was a librarian. It gives me joy to tell someone "oh you have to read this book." In this case I am struggling. My natural instinct would be to not recommend it, because I had issues with it.
Yet, I believe the book has merit. Just because the book is not for me, doesn't mean someone else won't read it and think it is wonderful.
So in this case, I will just say. It is a well written, at times beautifully written book. It has the kind of writing that makes you reread sentences and sigh at the shear beauty of the way the words are strung together.
I probably won't run to people and tell them they need to read it right away, but if you feel this book is something you would enjoy, and you find it interesting based on the descriptions, then I would say read it.
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