Quirky and Oh, So Florida

Florida has a reputation as a place where the rules don't apply, you know? It's still kind of the Wild West, a thin veneer of civilization spread over a much different reality. If you don't believe me, just Google "Florida man" for a sample of the sort of thing that happens here on a fairly routine basis.

At the same time, Florida is a state rich in history and in natural wonders. We have our small-town theme parks (long predating the arrival of the Mouse), our cultural events, and our special foods. We have the glory of springs, the mystery of swamps, and the amazement of wildlife. Uniqueness is our natural state of being.

Karen Russell's novel Swamplandia! steeps in this wildness and weirdness, carrying the reader forward into uncharted territory where the supernatural is merely unusual and the unusual is customary. Her tale draws you in, urging you to accept and believe in her story, until you find that you've walked so far into the swamp on shaky ground that your fear turns into curiosity and you discover you're determined to see the journey through.

The story is unusual in a way that only Florida can normalize: Ava Bigtree, just entering her teens, discovers that the family business -- and her family itself -- is in trouble. Her mother, who has been the star of the gator-wrestling shows at the family's Everglades theme park, is ill. Her father seems unable to cope. Her sister falls for an eerie fellow, the Dredgeman (is he real? is he a ghost? it's impossible to be sure). Her brother, for reasons of his own, decides to work at a rival theme park that takes its guests on a journey through Hell (they love it!) and has his own figurative demons to face. Determined to set things right, Ava summons her inherited courage and innate smarts and plunges into the swamp. There she meets the Bird Man, another unsettling character, and her real journey begins.

It sounds crazy, right? It's totally believable. Even when you're not sure what's real, you believe it. And Russell's shimmering portrait of natural Florida is tenderly and beautifully rendered. If you want to know something about Florida, something that's not a retirement haven full of concrete and traffic and tourists, this is a good place to begin. 

I loved it. Every word.

Excerpt:

I undid the laces from my left sneaker and tied them to a cypress knee. Water in the limestone depression of the dome only appears to be stagnant, you just have to watch it to give the lie to that. After five minutes of storky balancing on one leg, I had my answer. Bingo! The shoelace pointed southwest, toward the Gulf. I relaced. I had a strong itch to run, which would have been a very stupid relief to seek--already I'd found one sinkhole with my stick. A scarlet king snake slithered over a stump, its fantastic licorice colors glowing against the blacky green resurrection ferns.
. . .
It had been so good for a little bit, to picture my mom out here. To think I was on my way to meet her, in the blue mists of the underworld. Why had I ever believed the book? Quick as fire on peat, my mists were gone. Now instead of adventuring into an underworld I found myself in the most treacherous part of the swamp.

Note: This book counts for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.