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evelynepisodes 's review for:
Waterland
by Graham Swift
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I found this book quite unexpected. Firstly this book seems to be a mixture between a fictional biography and natural history and Encyclopedia and a murder mystery drowned in mud and river water to form a congealed bog. This book went on for quite a while I was definitely a challenge to read (I disagree with the comment on the back of the book that says very readable). There is a style and voice that is very Woolf like and modernist. The gore in the book is gruesome and the family stories are true and real. Though I found the underlying tones of the history of brewing quite dull. This book was like the flooded bogs it describes a mixture of mud, phlegm and eels trying to show the world they are more than just dirt under our fingernails. A human story told like a great odyssey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War