- in episodes
Bookrageous Episode 35; Swamplandia!
[notes: NSFW, trigger warning]
Intro Music; Swamp Thing by Sun Hotel
What We’re Reading
Jenn
[1:32] The Voice of the River, Melanie Rae Thon (recommended by Betsy Burton of The King’s English Bookshop)
[3:31] Night Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
[5:06] Control Point, Myke Cole
[6:55] The Heroes, Joe Abercrombie
Josh
[8:04] The Girls from Planet 5, Richard Wilson (found at The Green Hand Bookshop)
[9:47] Mr. President, Ray Raphael
[10:55] The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Carter, July 2012
[11:45] Drop Dead Healthy, AJ Jacobs, April 10 2012
[12:50] Jacked, David Kushner, April 3 2012
Rebecca
[13:45] Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
[15:00] The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
[16:30] Foreskin’s Lament, Shalom Auslander
[17:45] Heading Out to Wonderful, Robert Goolrick, June 1 2012
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Break Music; Florida Sunshine by As Fast As
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Swamplandia!
Spoiler-Free Section
[20:55] The story refresher; St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell
[22:40] The Tournament of Books’ take
[23:08] Warning: DARKNESS AHEAD
[25:00] Kiwi vs. Ava
[28:50] Magic realism vs. surrealism
[30:50] Swamp-goth!
[32:29] Rebecca needs more anger
[36:20] The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
Spoiler Zone
[38:15] So. Well. Written.
[43:11] So Much Pretty, Cara Hoffman
[44:14] Once Upon a River, Bonnie Jo Campbell; Tender Morsels, Margo Flanagan
[47:00] Problems with the ending
[50:30] Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood
[54:10] Is it actually legit to “spoiler-warning” for this book?
Verdict: Karen Russell made us feel all the feelings.
Summer Bookrageous Book Club Pick: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Shehan Karunatilaka (out May 8 2012)
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Outro; Swamp Thing by Sun Hotel
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Find Us!
Bookrageous on Tumblr, Podbean, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, Zazzle (for the Bookrageous 2011-2012 calendar), and leave us voicemail at 347-855-7323
Find Us Online: Josh, Rebecca, Jenn
Bookrageous Book Club Pick: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Shehan Karunatilaka (out May 8 2012), 10% off from WORD for listeners! Just write BOOKRAGEOUS in the comments field.
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Note: Our show book links direct you to WORD, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn. If you click through and buy the book, we will get a small affiliate payment. We won't be making any money off any book sales -- any payments go into hosting fees for the Bookrageous podcast, or Bookrageous projects like our calendar. We promise.
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Mar 27, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Listening to and enjoying your discussion of SWAMPLANDIA! My take is different on a couple of points. In regards to the rape of Ava, I believe as a reader I knew all along what would happen and at the same time I put blinders on as I was hoping I was wrong. When the event was finally to occur, I felt Ava capitulated as she was not quite sure she didn’t want it to happen, but then realized she had been violated. The other point is; when we, along with Kiwi, meet the father working at the casino we finally understand what his disappearances were all about; earning money to support the family. I did not feel hatred towards the father, I felt sorry for him as he lost his wife, lost his family’s ability to continue running and living at Swamplandia! and felt impotent to take over as head of the family, a position vacated by his wife’s death. I did agree the ending and reunion was abrupt. I actually thought the park ranger would be the one who would find Ava, as he felt she was putting herself in danger going with the birdman. It would have been more fitting to have him on the swamp looking for her after realizing he should have not allowed her to go. It was an awesome book, one in which I look forward to reading again. Glad to see you back, I missed your podcasts during your hiatus and hope you will keep them coming. Twitter: @McBrideStern
