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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read. Definitely in the top three. I have no idea how this author escaped my attention for 36 years. I suppose you always read a book or find an author when it’s the right time for you. I urge anyone who is even remotely entertained by William Faulkner, Stephen King, or even Anne Tyler and her depiction of family to read this book and immerse yourself in it. You will emerge with Black Water running in your veins.
I was hoping for much more river monster, a lot less southern family drama.
Also, the audiobook is 30 hours long... I think at about the 24 hour mark I was ready to be done, but by that point "I've come too far to quit now," really kicked in and I powered through to the end. It was mildly interesting at first, but it's too long to keep me engaged the entire time.
Also, the audiobook is 30 hours long... I think at about the 24 hour mark I was ready to be done, but by that point "I've come too far to quit now," really kicked in and I powered through to the end. It was mildly interesting at first, but it's too long to keep me engaged the entire time.
This book is like slowly sinking into a sweet-smelling, magical swamp until it fills every pore of you and your lungs and almost suffocates. You never really come up for air.
It's not a horror as much as it is a magical Southern Gothic, a dark magical realism of Alabama marshes. The magical elements ebb and flow like the tide and the violence, gory and jagged, thrashes briefly before subsiding.
It's really a multi-generational story of one of those old matriarchal southern families that full of eccentricity and dusty manners and an aversion to the physicality of the world. Each character feels deep and interesting, and they evolve and change in expected and unexpected ways. It all feels wetly organic and seductive and the river monster is almost incidental, just a bit of genre for that extra frisson.
It has some issues of earlier popular fiction, the sidelining of black characters and the crutch of sexual violence as a plot and character point, but that sort of seedy southern sneer just adds to the louche environment.
McDowell's strengths as a writer are deep: his mood-setting is unparalleled and the sense of place, time, and character feel mustily lived-in. There's no one better at conjuring a slightly decrepit world.
It's popular fiction with literary depth and stylistic brilliance and the man really needs more respect and recognition for his powers. It's long but it is an entire mood.
It's not a horror as much as it is a magical Southern Gothic, a dark magical realism of Alabama marshes. The magical elements ebb and flow like the tide and the violence, gory and jagged, thrashes briefly before subsiding.
It's really a multi-generational story of one of those old matriarchal southern families that full of eccentricity and dusty manners and an aversion to the physicality of the world. Each character feels deep and interesting, and they evolve and change in expected and unexpected ways. It all feels wetly organic and seductive and the river monster is almost incidental, just a bit of genre for that extra frisson.
It has some issues of earlier popular fiction, the sidelining of black characters and the crutch of sexual violence as a plot and character point, but that sort of seedy southern sneer just adds to the louche environment.
McDowell's strengths as a writer are deep: his mood-setting is unparalleled and the sense of place, time, and character feel mustily lived-in. There's no one better at conjuring a slightly decrepit world.
It's popular fiction with literary depth and stylistic brilliance and the man really needs more respect and recognition for his powers. It's long but it is an entire mood.
I'm so glad I discovered Michael McDowell. The Blackwater Saga is both horror and fascinating family drama with some southern gothic thrown in and it's fantastic.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a slow build, but so worth the effort. I didn't want it to end. Definitely have a book hangover.
A decades-spanning Gothic saga of love, loss, prosperity, disaster and swamp creatures, Blackwater is like nothing else I've ever encountered.
Covering the fortunes of the Caskey Family and their home-town of Perdido, Blackwater takes us from a post-WWI hamlet and lumber mill all the way into the 1960s, showing the family's births, deaths, marriages and years-long petty feuds.
So far so normal, but for the fact that our heroine, the upstart young woman who marries the family's favourite son, is also a shape-changing, child-eating river-monster; although this doesn't curb her ambitions to further her husband's career, undermine her domineering mother-in-law or protect her own mismatched children.
McDowell also conjures atmosphere incredibly well - the quirks and stratifications of Alabama society, the claustrophobic thickets of the trees and swamps, the slow decay of sprawling wooden houses and the ever-present thrum of the Blackwater river. The prose never takes centre stage - it doesn't wrest your attention from the characters or bombard you with imagery - but every page holds a sleepy menace that's all the more powerful for its understatement.
Imagine the long-spun family saga from Gone with the Wind or One Hundred Years of Solitude crossed with the social warfare of Mapp and Lucia but starring the Creature from the Black Lagoon and you might begin to get an idea of this extraordinary book.
Covering the fortunes of the Caskey Family and their home-town of Perdido, Blackwater takes us from a post-WWI hamlet and lumber mill all the way into the 1960s, showing the family's births, deaths, marriages and years-long petty feuds.
So far so normal, but for the fact that our heroine, the upstart young woman who marries the family's favourite son, is also a shape-changing, child-eating river-monster; although this doesn't curb her ambitions to further her husband's career, undermine her domineering mother-in-law or protect her own mismatched children.
McDowell also conjures atmosphere incredibly well - the quirks and stratifications of Alabama society, the claustrophobic thickets of the trees and swamps, the slow decay of sprawling wooden houses and the ever-present thrum of the Blackwater river. The prose never takes centre stage - it doesn't wrest your attention from the characters or bombard you with imagery - but every page holds a sleepy menace that's all the more powerful for its understatement.
Imagine the long-spun family saga from Gone with the Wind or One Hundred Years of Solitude crossed with the social warfare of Mapp and Lucia but starring the Creature from the Black Lagoon and you might begin to get an idea of this extraordinary book.
If you go in expecting a horror and end up with a multi-generation soap opera, you're going to end up disappointed. That was the case for me and while there were a few creepy scenes here and there, labelling this as a 'horror' seems a bit generous. Having said that, I wasn't as mind-numbingly bored as I would have expected since the characters eventually grew on me and I was curious to see how things would play out.
The writing definitely helped in finishing this tome of a book (900 pages or 30 hours in audiobook listening time). It was simple but elegant with a lot of time spent on fleshing out characters and setting up the numerous family conflicts. However, on the negative side, I was puzzled by how characters reacted to certain events, so much so that it took me out of the story at times. The second half was also a lot duller than the first and I never did get a satisfying explanation for all the supernatural elements.
As I already mentioned, the characters grow on you although I don't think I actually liked any of them. It might have been the time period this story took place in, along with the sheer wealth of the family that we follow which made them feel unrelatable and often, quite annoying. Their odd quirks and personalities might have made them unique as far as characterization goes, but very few of them ever felt plausible and realistic.
I really wasn't a fan of the supernatural aspects in the story and the fact that none were ever explained and only ever used to conveniently tie up a part of the story made it all feel cheap. However, I did enjoy the historical aspects in terms of the period the story spanned and the location it all took place in. It all had a certain charm to it that felt somehow authentic. Ultimately though, this isn't a book I'd recommend to many people, except to those that enjoy long, family soap operas with a hint of the supernatural.
The writing definitely helped in finishing this tome of a book (900 pages or 30 hours in audiobook listening time). It was simple but elegant with a lot of time spent on fleshing out characters and setting up the numerous family conflicts. However, on the negative side, I was puzzled by how characters reacted to certain events, so much so that it took me out of the story at times. The second half was also a lot duller than the first and I never did get a satisfying explanation for all the supernatural elements.
As I already mentioned, the characters grow on you although I don't think I actually liked any of them. It might have been the time period this story took place in, along with the sheer wealth of the family that we follow which made them feel unrelatable and often, quite annoying. Their odd quirks and personalities might have made them unique as far as characterization goes, but very few of them ever felt plausible and realistic.
I really wasn't a fan of the supernatural aspects in the story and the fact that none were ever explained and only ever used to conveniently tie up a part of the story made it all feel cheap. However, I did enjoy the historical aspects in terms of the period the story spanned and the location it all took place in. It all had a certain charm to it that felt somehow authentic. Ultimately though, this isn't a book I'd recommend to many people, except to those that enjoy long, family soap operas with a hint of the supernatural.
I LOVED this book! The 30 hour listen time was daunting, but so very worth it. I am not usually into family sagas, but Michael McDonnell is a master storyteller, crafting a masterpiece of epic proportions. I loved how history and the supernatural were interwoven into the narrative. Matt Godfrey was the perfect narrator, making the experience that much more amazing. Highly recommend!