Graham Swift’s multilayered chronicle set in the Cambridgeshire Fens is widely regarded as one of the finest British novels of the 1980s.
Waterland
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Review
`Engrossing and beautifully written'
`A special novel'
`A genuinely good book - read it!'
-- Times Book Group --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
`A special novel'
`A genuinely good book - read it!'
-- Times Book Group --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
‘Perfectly controlled, superbly written. Waterland is original, compelling and narration of the highest order’ Guardian In the years since its first publication, in 1983, Waterland has established itself as one of the classics of twentieth-century British literature: a visionary tale of England’s Fen country; a sinuous meditation on the workings of history; and a family story startling in its detail and universal in its reach. This edition includes an introduction, by the author, written to celebrate the book’s 25th anniversary. ‘Graham Swift has mapped his Waterland like a new Wessex. He appropriates the Fens as Moby Dick did whaling or Wuthering Heights the moors. This is a beautiful, serious and intelligent novel, admirably ambitious and original’ Observer ‘A 300-page tour de force . . . A burst of exuberant fictive energy’ Evening Standard ‘Waterland is a formidably intelligent book, animated by an impressive, angry pity at what human creatures are capable of doing to one another in the name of love and need. The most powerful novel I have read for some time’ New York Review of Books
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Seldom have I read anything as powerful as 'Waterland'. The sense of place is as strong as anything in Wordsworth, Lawrence or Hardy. During the reading of this novel, your imagination becomes eaten-up with the frighteningly flat landscape of the Fens, with its canals and dykes and eals and, most frightening of all, its people. The story is at once epic, huge, and yet insular and particular. As Tom Crick leads us through the sometimes bizarre, occasionally horrific, history of his family, we see his generation become the most bizarre, the most horrific yet. His family history culminates in the end of history his pupils so dread.
'Waterland' attacks some of the biggest issues of late twentieth century life: the first world war, the change in culture since the second world war, the threat of the third world war, loss of identity, loss of meaning, anarchy, incest, family, love.
This was the first work I had read by the author, and since reading most of the others, by far his best in my opinion.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Graham Swift's study of life and history in the fens of South Eastern England is not what I'd call an easy read; the story opens with a History teacher and former lock-keeper's son, Tom, telling of how he saw a local boy drowned in the river some thirty years ago. Flash-forward to the present day and Tom's post is being gradually eroded - as is his marriage due to his wife's issues with her inability to have children - so he decides to forget the syllabus he is supposed to teach and teach from his own experiences growing up in the fens...
Swift's themes are the nature of history, provincial life, and adolescent love; he never pulls his punches and consequently the novel needs to be perservered with at times. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Swift's most acclaimed novel didn't win, however it remains a powerful and moving story and one that should be read.
Swift's themes are the nature of history, provincial life, and adolescent love; he never pulls his punches and consequently the novel needs to be perservered with at times. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Swift's most acclaimed novel didn't win, however it remains a powerful and moving story and one that should be read.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Jonathan Birch
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
When all is said and done, Waterland is a cracking yarn of murder and bonking against a fenland backdrop. But what's special about this macabre literary thriller is the way the story is told. The narrator (a history teacher, Tom Crick, who is also the key protagonist) interleaves the central narrative (set in 1943) with scenes from his troubled present (1983), evocative detours into the eventful history of his family, and philosophical musings on the uses of history. The strange chapters in this final category are reminiscent of Tolstoy's essay-chapters in War and Peace; and, like Tolstoy, Swift somehow gets away with it. In fact, the sinuous structure of the novel only adds to the suspense: just as you think you're approaching a revelation, the narrator goes off on a new tangent. It works brilliantly, because the novel's central mystery (what exactly happened in 1943?) puts a voltage across the entire book, sucking you onwards towards the end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Atmospheric
This book was a fascinating read. There is a mood that runs through the story that feels otherworldly, which reflects the remote setting of the story, and how the the lives of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Keith Mapp
2.0 out of 5 stars
Bogged down in dreary detail
I think this book is rather Marmite, and while most people reviewing it on Amazon clearly loved it, I didn't. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Inkslinger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
A bit dour but a lovely read about the fens, evoking the era and the countryside. Well worth the read.
Published 1 month ago by Suzanna
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and epic
I love the way this book is written, it weaves stories from decades apart in a really engaging way. Because we flit back and forth between stories it keeps you guessing (you find... Read more
Published 1 month ago by lucysmith
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite book
My favourite book of all time , I love the mix of history and stories about the characters I've made everyone read this.
Published 2 months ago by K.Andrews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Totally absorbing, fascinating story
His books research the history of the area and the history of various local families and end up with a realistic but sad vision of everybody's lives. Read more
Published 2 months ago by John Alaszewski
5.0 out of 5 stars
What is history?
Such a fascinating novel, full of paradox and mataphors. So cleverly constructed with the story teller's own history running through it plus the injection of a little magical... Read more
Published 3 months ago by mp3
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is an amazing book with excellent English
The very essence of the Fens is in this book, the magical stillness of the open skies and flat landscape and the sometimes frightening darkness of the mist. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J N Nocton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Waterland
A beautiful novel. It portrays the life of a couple and the family that made them what they are. Set in the mystery that is the Fenland, the waterways, the life cycle of the eel... Read more
Published 8 months ago by old spice
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly Innovative And Evocative
This 1983 work by English author Graham Swift cemented his reputation as one of the country's most innovative and engaging novelists - a reputation which, for me, he has maintained... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Keith M
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