From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

Start date: March 15, 2019

Finish date: April 1, 2019

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Donna

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

May 22, 2019 Suzanne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-favorites-and-re-reads

All the stars and feelings! What an amazing debut novel, stunning, heartbreaking and poignant.

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Jun 23, 2022 Temple Dog rated it really liked it

Our central character is Catherine Clark “Kya” the Marsh Girl. A title that is both pejorative, yet accurate. Kya has been abandoned by the world both friend and foe and lives a solitary life in the marsh of North Carolina. She learns to commune with the natural inhabitants and carves out a sustainable existence despite her almost primitive circumstances. But as with all life forms, it is difficult to truly lead a solo life.

So, when she befriends a local boy with blond curls and a shared love fo ...more

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Apr 23, 2019 Jane rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, womans-story, family-story, geographical, fairytale

I began this book to be part of the Goodreads "Constant Reader" discussion. The discussion had started, and when I looked at comments, the fact that people questioned the author's geographical research, and several plot devices made me hesitate. I tried a few more chapters and gave up...those who found these faults, thought that the writing was often lyrical and that several of the characters were compelling. A friend had listened to the audio version and loved it, so I gave it another try. When I began this book to be part of the Goodreads "Constant Reader" discussion. The discussion had started, and when I looked at comments, the fact that people questioned the author's geographical research, and several plot devices made me hesitate. I tried a few more chapters and gave up...those who found these faults, thought that the writing was often lyrical and that several of the characters were compelling. A friend had listened to the audio version and loved it, so I gave it another try. When the main character, Kya's friend Tate begins to teach her the the sounds that letters and letter combinations make, with Tate's help she makes out her first sentence..."There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot." Kya simply says, "Oh." "You can read, Kya. There'll never be a time you cannot read." "It' aint just that," Kya whispered. "I wadn't aware that words could hold so much. I didn't know a sentence could be so full."

That may be my favorite passage in the book. Even though the phonetic difficulty of that sentence is pretty astounding. Several people in the discussion had trouble believing Kya learned to read so quickly. She's quickly reading on her own. But Tate is sitting beside her day after day "teaching her how to read the words.." Yes, she learned quickly but she's reading from a book about the animals and the land where she lives. It's her life. No family, no TV. Just this friend and a few books and a pencil and paper to copy the words in the book. Pretty high intensity learning.

Soon I began to read the book as though it were a fairy tale. I think some of the lack of realism fits with the romantic hero and the evil villain, the magical pace at which Kya learns; her abandonment in the wild; the way she discovers to protect herself from the animals and insects; her "fairy god-parents." The mystery is also somewhat implausible. But it was a fairytale ending...satisfying in exactly that way. So glad I stayed with it.

I often find best sellers far too light-weight to enjoy...although occasionally, after a particular dense piece of non-fiction, or a literary masterpiece I want to read a fairly simple page-turner. Where the Crawdad Sings feels like its own kind of book, neither high-brow, nor light weight. Very much like the books I loved from the time I was eight until I was a teen. My expectations were simply too narrow and too rigid. Thanks, Anne, and Constant Readers for encouraging me.

Sort of Spoilers

Other excellent passages: the description of Kya's father, Jake, who had high hopes for himself, his life and his family. "Blending in with the fighting, drinking, cussing renegades of the marsh was the easiest thing Jake ever did." The description of the way the villagers treated the Marsh Girl, the way boys talked about her sexually. Tate realizes that she inspires a sweet love for his lost sister and also a fiery live for a girl. 124 Going to Ashville for the bike that Tate's parents couldn't find locally. 276 probably the worst of the poems 163, Chase shows interest in Kya. 279 Tate shows Kya a drop of marsh water through the microscope. "I had no idea there so many and so beautiful." Tate watches her: "She feels the pulse of life, " he thought, "because there are no layers between her and the planet." and Kya whispers, "It's like never having seen the stars and then seeing them."

As I copy them, I realize some will view this as trite, sentimental writing. The poems sprinkled through the book are much like the ones I wrote in high school. Very emotional and autobiographical. No real sense of music or the surprise of language. When Kya's poems rhyme they are cringe worthy. I think the author was trying to be realistic about how Kya would write poetry, not write beautiful poems for her. There's evidence for that. ...more

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Dec 11, 2019 Laurel Bradshaw rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, mystery, coming-of-age, color-rating-blue, 1960s, north-carolina

I'll give this 4 stars for the lovely nature writing, and its evocation of the flora and fauna of the marsh. It's a sweet story, but I wonder if I shouldn't call this a fantasy romance rather than a mystery. The mystery is how the heck does a 6-year-old abandoned child survive in such an environment. As others have also pointed out, there are some geographical absurdities (the author lives in Idaho...), but since I am not that familiar with North Carolina it didn't bother me. The murder mystery ...more

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Mar 23, 2022 nikki crupi rated it liked it

Shelves: nikkis-bookshelf, southern, audible

I gave this 3 stars because the writing is fine, but my god was I bored. I don’t understand the hype but forced myself to finish it because so many people love this book. Even the ending, with it’s surprises, went on far too long and was just… meh.

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