Where the Crawdads Sing in 2025 Reading Challenge

Jan 14, 2022 Sassenach rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: home

4,25/5.
Après avoir entendu beaucoup parlé de ce roman lors de mes clubs lecture (à l’époque où on se réunissait encore ... donc pré-virus), on a fini par le choisir comme lecture pour le club lecture de notre village et j’ai donc enfin fini par le lire. Le titre est déjà intrigant, même si l’histoire d’une enfant livrée à elle-même a déjà été exploitée en livres et en films (je pense, pour ne citer que les plus connus, à Mowgli et Tarzan), ce qui me faisait un peu peur. Mais l‘écriture de ce rom 4,25/5.
Après avoir entendu beaucoup parlé de ce roman lors de mes clubs lecture (à l’époque où on se réunissait encore ... donc pré-virus), on a fini par le choisir comme lecture pour le club lecture de notre village et j’ai donc enfin fini par le lire. Le titre est déjà intrigant, même si l’histoire d’une enfant livrée à elle-même a déjà été exploitée en livres et en films (je pense, pour ne citer que les plus connus, à Mowgli et Tarzan), ce qui me faisait un peu peur. Mais l‘écriture de ce roman est très agréable et j’ai été vite happée par Kya et sa vie proche de la nature et des marais. Comme je peux être moi-même un peu sauvage sur les bords, appréciant la solitude et les animaux, j’ai été très intéressée par la façon dont elle se débrouillait pour survivre. Et puis, l’alternance entre l’histoire de Kya qui commence en 1952 et qui se développe au fil des années et l’enquête de 1969 sur la mort de Chase permet de ne jamais se lasser et de maintenir l’intérêt. On a forcément envie de savoir ce qui s’est passé et comment Chase est mort donc il y a aussi un petit côté « roman policier » à l’ensemble, même si ça n’en est pas un. J’ai particulièrement apprécié la description de la nature, des canaux, des marais, de la faune et de la flore, du respect de Kya pour des choses qui pourraient paraître insignifiantes pour beaucoup (de mon côté, j’ai tendance à moi aussi prêter attention aux petites bestioles ... si je trouve un moucheron ou une autre bébête chez moi, je les sors sans les tuer et si par hasard, je tue un insecte, je m’excuse !!!!!). Les relations humaines sont bien décrites, sans en faire trop et la psychologie des personnages n’est pas laissée de côté et le contexte social et historique joue aussi son rôle (la ségrégation en place à l’époque, le microcosme des petites villes, le mépris de la population pour les très pauvres, l’importance et l’influence des familles aisées ou anciennes dans un lieu). La fin peut paraître surprenante si on ne fait pas attention à certains détails (mais si on repère bien les choses, c’est moins inattendu !) mais l’émotion est bien présente au fil des pages et c’est avec la larme à l’oeil que j’ai quitté Kya et ses marais ! ...more

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Sep 24, 2021 Curlysue rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020readingchallenge

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Jul 06, 2023 Sabrina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age, realistic-fiction, mystery, mystery-crime, family-relationships, relationships, read-in-2023, 52in52weeks2023, pbtsubdue2023, marsh

I will admit that when I picked up this book to read that I was worried it would not live up to the hype. Well, I was wrong, and it did.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a beautiful story about humanity that touches on the most base and unkind aspects of human nature and the kindest and most thoughtful aspects. It's a book about family, love, loss, abandonment, hope, and healing.

Kya (Catherine Danielle Clark), at age 5 or 6 (she's not really sure how old she is) watches one morning as her mother walks I will admit that when I picked up this book to read that I was worried it would not live up to the hype. Well, I was wrong, and it did.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a beautiful story about humanity that touches on the most base and unkind aspects of human nature and the kindest and most thoughtful aspects. It's a book about family, love, loss, abandonment, hope, and healing.

Kya (Catherine Danielle Clark), at age 5 or 6 (she's not really sure how old she is) watches one morning as her mother walks down the dirt/gravel lane from their shack in her faux alligator pumps. Not once does her mother turn to look or wave goodbye, which Kya finds unusual, and her mother never returns. Eventually, Kya's older siblings abandon her too and she's left with her drunken and abusive father, who has a few moments of kindness for Kya, but then, he too eventually leaves to never return.

Kya is isolated and alone but is a survivor; she fends for herself, hides from those who try to find her to send her to school, and essentially raises herself in the marsh that she probably knows better than anyone else. Because of her behavior and only fleeting sightings of her from those in town, she becomes known as the Marsh Girl and rural legends build up about her.

Interwoven with Kya's story is the story of the death of a local "golden boy", who was the star quarterback in high school. His death appears to have occurred under mysterious circumstances, and the local sheriff begins to investigate the death as something more than a tragic accident. Town prejudices against "swamp trash" like Kya (according to those who live in town) soon lead to more suspicion.

While the story for many seems implausible that a young girl could have raised herself from nearly the age of 6 or 7 (despite her father's presence at that time) without eventually being found and taken into the care of social services, I was partially raised in the South, but not in the swamps or the marshy coastline of the Carolinas. I was raised in the foothills of Appalachia where families live back in the woods on ridges and hollars, and where people can hide out from the more "civilized and modern" world; where people disappear and are hard to find if they don't want to be found. So, the implausibility that many see with this story wasn't all that implausible to me.

The nature writing and the descriptions of swamp life, the birds, and the tides kept me hooked and were truly fascinating. To see the contrast of how Kya and other who lived in those areas see the swamp versus how those who don't have their homes there was one of the most interesting aspects of the book. Kya saw the marsh and the swamp for it's whole beauty, and relied on the living breathing ecosystem of the area as a fundamental part of her life. She was the marsh.

I was also especially pleased with how many of the minor characters, especially those who Kya began to trust and rely on and protect as much as they protected her, were developed throughout the book.

This was a solid 4 star read for me. ...more

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Aug 06, 2022 Michael rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20-books-of-summer-2022, summer-reading-2022, spring-reading-2022

Yes, I know I'm a couple of years late when it comes to reading Where the Crawdads Sing. I tried once before but the copy I checked out of my local library was due before I could really get into it.

And if there's one thing Crawdads needs, it's time to get into it.

That's not a bad thing -- but it does mean I had to be in the right mood for it.

This is a novel more about character and setting. The story spends long passages exploring the world of the bayou and less about the mystery that (tries) to ...more

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Jul 05, 2022 Amanda rated it it was ok

I tried to like this book because it was a “Must Read” on so many lists. My friends loved it. I just didn’t get it. I felt like I was missing something…so read it a second time months later with a open mind. Nope…still didn’t like it. Watched the movie. Didn’t like the movie either. Feel like I am really missing why this is so popular.

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