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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
Ultimately I just couldn't take it anymore. What had started out as a promising Southern Gothic story quickly lost all trace of the Gothic element and became a very tedious Southern soap opera where little happened beyond two of the female characters trying to spite each other and everyone else wringing their hands helplessly while hoping they'd stop.
This is what happens when a book (or books, in this case) isn't properly edited.
This is what happens when a book (or books, in this case) isn't properly edited.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've wanted to check out Blackwater since reading Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix, and finally got around to it. How to describe this collection? It's like John Jakes meets Swamp Thing. Is that right? Does that work? I don't know, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting, and I loved every minute of it. Thought it was featured in a book about horror novels, I wouldn't put this in that genre; there were brief instances of creepiness and gore, but not enough to justify a horror label. The characters, for the most part, were complex and multi-dimensional. The author's writing caused the different settings (the river, the swamp, the town, the different characters' houses, etc.) to seem like characters in and of themselves. I mourn the fact that the author didn't create a larger body of work prior to passing in 1999, but I intend to give the rest of his works a look as soon as possible.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Michael McDowell’s southern gothic saga follows the Caskey family in Perdido, Alabama. It reads like a gothic soap opera. The serial novel follows the Caskey family drama for more than fifty years. Starting with The Flood, we are introduced to a shapeshifting lake monster, Elinor who marries into the Caskey family. The way McDowell describes his characters in Blackwater is as satisfying as some of his other novels: The Elementals and Cold Moon Over Babylon. In his horror novels, McDowell’s characters’ flaws are oftentimes more horrific than the actual events. Unfortunately, that is where the novel is lacking. The plot is driven by the character development and not by the events. Possibly the serialized release of the six parts of the saga caused this lack of climax and inciting events. And that is exactly why the saga reads like a Southern soap opera, which may or may not be a good thing for readers.
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Ableism, Rape, Violence
Parts of this book were really good, but it often felt bloated between those really good parts. Too much repetition. Also, I wish the author would’ve given the black characters the more modern treatment that they did for the women. While the characters (served of the family) were given some implications of agency, none were a focal character despite their integral part to the story. By making some of these characters as focal as they deserved, the author could have treated the characters in a more modern way, just as they did the women despite going for a semi-realistic setting for the time and place.
I...don’t know what to make of this book. It’s strange as hell and for two thirds of it I really liked it. But it’s long and repetitious and not at all satisfying at the end.
Elinor is a strange river creature who appears in Perdido, Alabama after the great flood and marries into the Caskey family and kills a few people along the way. This isn’t a horror novel (though it has a few scenes, it’s more of a Southern family saga where periodically people turn into river monsters. There’s rape (both times resulting in babies). There’s unbelievable wealth, none of it shared with the generations of a black family that’s doing all the work. Some of Elinor’s victims haunt the place, but only sometimes, for no given reason, and only the white ones. (The black ones are never mentioned again.)
I did enjoy lots of it: matriarch machinations, how some characters changed. But it went on for way too long, and I didn’t care how rich everyone got.
Elinor is a strange river creature who appears in Perdido, Alabama after the great flood and marries into the Caskey family and kills a few people along the way. This isn’t a horror novel (though it has a few scenes, it’s more of a Southern family saga where periodically people turn into river monsters. There’s rape (both times resulting in babies). There’s unbelievable wealth, none of it shared with the generations of a black family that’s doing all the work. Some of Elinor’s victims haunt the place, but only sometimes, for no given reason, and only the white ones. (The black ones are never mentioned again.)
I did enjoy lots of it: matriarch machinations, how some characters changed. But it went on for way too long, and I didn’t care how rich everyone got.
I wouldn't have minded this as much had it ended when it made sense to end. There is a definite leap in quality once the Caskeys are grown and getting older and it feels like the ending is drawn out to tie up loose ends that didn't need to be tied up. I do still love McDowell's works but definitely feel like it'll be a while before I pick up another collection by him.
Once the initial story is told we are treated to repetitive plot lines of Elenor Fixes Everything and everyone gets richer and happier. Had they done something else or had there been a bit more horror to the story then I could have supported it with a 5-star review but once the matriarch bites the dust it's just people dying, people being born, more money coming in, more talking about how we're rich, more money, more money, and then a few tragedies speckled amongst the pages. The magic/supernatural powers in the book don't necessarily make much sense. There is a constant feeling of "I'll tell you later" without there being a 'later'.
Elenor is just a froglady who wanted to live like a rich human being. People see her in frog form and just... ignore it? I wanted the story that wasn't told to be the one on the page. For a book as long as this one there was definitely room.
I absolutely adored McDowell's The Elementals but couldn't recommend this (or at least anything after book 4 at the latest) to anyone I liked.
Once the initial story is told we are treated to repetitive plot lines of Elenor Fixes Everything and everyone gets richer and happier. Had they done something else or had there been a bit more horror to the story then I could have supported it with a 5-star review but once the matriarch bites the dust it's just people dying, people being born, more money coming in, more talking about how we're rich, more money, more money, and then a few tragedies speckled amongst the pages. The magic/supernatural powers in the book don't necessarily make much sense. There is a constant feeling of "I'll tell you later" without there being a 'later'.
Elenor is just a froglady who wanted to live like a rich human being. People see her in frog form and just... ignore it? I wanted the story that wasn't told to be the one on the page. For a book as long as this one there was definitely room.
I absolutely adored McDowell's The Elementals but couldn't recommend this (or at least anything after book 4 at the latest) to anyone I liked.
Blackwater: The Complete Saga by Michael McDowell runs just over 30 hours. That is large even in audiobook circles. But it is worth every moment of it. Matt Godfrey does an incredible job. The story includes males, females, and children. The accents, for the most part, are southern Alabama. The differences in wealth, education, and race are apparent by the accents Mr. Godfrey creates for them. I had no problem identifying who was speaking.
Blackwater: The Complete Saga is categorized as Southern Gothic and horror. It is a complex, rich story, not only because it covers a time period from 1919 to the late 1960s. The main characters, Oscar and Eleanor, meet during the worst flood ever recorded in Perdido, Alabama. Oscar rescues Eleanor from a hotel room where she has been trapped for four days due to the rising water. The mystery of how Eleanor came to be in that hotel room when the rest of the town was evacuated is not solved until the end.
I know I am not doing this book justice. Without spoilers, I can tell you there are two monsters who bring very, very different horrors to Oscar's family. There is also a love story that is simple and also very strong. There is a hate created of jealousy, pettiness, and narcissism. There are innocent children trapped in this world of two monsters.
The audiobook is excellent. I will listen to it again. I really enjoyed Michael McDowell's The Elementals as an audiobook. My next listen by him is Glittering Needles.
Performance 5 stars; Story 5 stars; Production values 5 stars; Overall 5 stars
Blackwater: The Complete Saga is categorized as Southern Gothic and horror. It is a complex, rich story, not only because it covers a time period from 1919 to the late 1960s. The main characters, Oscar and Eleanor, meet during the worst flood ever recorded in Perdido, Alabama. Oscar rescues Eleanor from a hotel room where she has been trapped for four days due to the rising water. The mystery of how Eleanor came to be in that hotel room when the rest of the town was evacuated is not solved until the end.
I know I am not doing this book justice. Without spoilers, I can tell you there are two monsters who bring very, very different horrors to Oscar's family. There is also a love story that is simple and also very strong. There is a hate created of jealousy, pettiness, and narcissism. There are innocent children trapped in this world of two monsters.
The audiobook is excellent. I will listen to it again. I really enjoyed Michael McDowell's The Elementals as an audiobook. My next listen by him is Glittering Needles.
Performance 5 stars; Story 5 stars; Production values 5 stars; Overall 5 stars