Swamplandia (Litterature & Documents) (French Edition)

Russell, Karen

ISBN 10: 225317744X ISBN 13: 9782253177449

Publisher: Livre de Poche, 2014

Synopsis

Swanplandia, propriete de la famille Bigtree, a longtemps ete le parc d'attractions le plus celebre de toute la Floride grace a sa vedette, la mere, dompteuse d'alligators de classe internationale. Apres sa mort prematuree, l'entreprise sombre dans le chaos et se retrouve a la merci d'un parc concurrent, bien plus moderne, le Monde de l'Obscur. Alors que son pere lache prise et que son frere et sa soeur s'egarent, Ava, la cadette, se donne pour mission de sauver les Bigtree du naufrage. Swanplandia est en cours de traduction dans une quinzaine de langues et la chaine HBO en a achete les droits pour l'adapter en serie televisee.

Karen Russel [...] nous fait decouvrir un univers onirique malicieux et chatoyant... Le Figaro litteraire.

Un miracle de fantaisie, d'immersion dans l'enfance et de delire poetique. Les InRockuptibles.

Un roman d'aventures qui nous emmene dans un vrai grand huit d'emotions subtiles. Elle.

About this title

Review:

Guest Reviewer: Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. He is the author of twelve novels, including the bestselling Star Island, Nature Girl, Skinny Dip, Sick Puppy, and Lucky You, and three bestselling children’s books: Hoot, Flush, and Scat. He also writes a weekly column for The Miami Herald.

This was the first time I’ve read Karen Russell’s work, and I was dazzled. It’s very rare, among the tonnage of manuscripts and galleys that land upon one’s desk, to come across a young novelist so inventive and versatile, yet so thoroughly in control. Also, I’m a sucker for any plot line that features man-eating reptiles.

Swamplandia! is the story of Ava Bigtree, a 12-year-old alligator wrestler who embarks on an improbable journey through the mangrove wilderness of southwest Florida in search of a lost sister. Young Osceola has run off with a ghost-figure named Louis Thanksgiving, and only Ava knows where to look for them, dreading what she might find. Passages of this fine novel call to mind Conrad, Garcia Marquez and even – for those who have kids – Judy Blume. There’s not a forgettable character in the cast, from Ava’s flamboyant father, Chief Bigtree, who runs the family’s failing tourist trap, to the bedraggled and cryptic Bird Man, who guides Ava on her harrowing trip.

Having spent many days in the Ten Thousand Islands, I was enchanted by Russell’s dream-like descriptions of the tangled and serpentine creeks, the funky and exotic flora, the long stare of circling buzzards. Her prose is both shimmering and stark: “A huge hole in the middle of the ceiling opened onto a clear night sky; it looked as if some great predator had peeled the thatched roof back, sniffed once and lost interest.”

Or the way she describes a “cauldron” of moths with “sapphire-tipped wings, a sky-flood of them...They had fixed wings like sharp little bones, these moths, and it was astonishingly sad when you accidentally killed one.”

I can’t recall the last time I came across a character who shines as brightly as Ava, or a first novel that made such a rich and lasting impression.

About the Author:

Karen Russel est une auteur americaine, Son premier roman Swamplandia etait finaliste du prix Pulitzer 2012.

About this edition

• Publisher: Livre de Poche
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 225317744X
• ISBN 13: 9782253177449
• Binding: Pocket Book
• Number of pages: 480