Swamplandia by Karen Russell

☺☺_ _ _

It is not easy to tell a story about quirky characters. If you make them too far outside the norm, your story becomes farce. If they are not crazy enough it can just become sad. Unfortunately, Swamplandia, by Karen Russell is more the latter, and a missed opportunity.

Swamplandia tells the story of the Bigtrees, a family that runs an alligator wrestling show in the middle of the Everglades. Their story is told through the voice of Ava, who, at age 12, is the youngest child in the family. Her older brother, Kiwi, and sister, Osceola, are her primary companions. The three of them live on an island with their father, Chief Bigtree and around 100 alligators. The family is in crisis. Since the death of Hilola Bigtree, Ava’s mother and star of the family’s gator show, the business has been failing. Hilola Bigtree was the glue that held the family together, and in her absence, they are spiraling out of control. They are trying to deal with Hilola’s death without the emotional tools or support to do so. Chief Bigtree is in denial, and tries to keep the show going, as if nothing has changed. But the impossibility of their situation inevitably catches up to the Bigtrees, and this is where I feel that Ms. Russell loses her way, much as her characters do.

Swamplandia starts off with great humor and understanding as Ava introduces us to her family. She is the calm center in a growing storm. An unfortunate effect of the 12-year-old as a first-person narrator is that Ava tends to have more self-awareness for a person her age. Ms. Russell gives her, if not insight, then acceptance of the behavior of her family. Ava’s calm demeanor makes the stories most horrific events almost banal.

Which gets me to my biggest issue with Swamplandia. Instead of going for full out farce, ala Carl Hiaasen, Ms. Russell has written a story that takes the reader into some really dark areas of mental health and rape. But Ava’s humor and calmness put me in the uncomfortable situation of not knowing whether to laugh or cry as tragedy strikes. The most horrific events are presented with just enough humor to make me feel unsure about how serious they really were.

Finally, Ms. Russell brings her story to a close with events that are so improbable as to really be impossible outside of the type of farce that she has moved away from.

In Swamplandia, Ms. Russell has created some intriguing characters, but she got caught between tragedy and farce. Her story would have been better served by having a clear commitment to one genre or the other.