Der Gesang der Flusskrebse ♦ Delia Owens | Rezension

Mit [b:Der Gesang der Flusskrebse|49864151|Der Gesang der Flusskrebse|Delia Owens|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563702654l/49864151._SX50_SY75_.jpg|58589364] hat [a:Delia Owens|7043934|Delia Owens|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1524665831p2/7043934.jpg] mit einer zwar anspruchsvollen, aber sehr einfühlsamen Sanftheit des Schreibstils ein Meisterwerk an idyllischen Emotionen geschaffen, wie ich es bisher noch nie gelesen und dabei gefühlt habe.



Meinung

Schreibstil und Charaktere

Owens‘ Protagonisten haben allesamt Hand und Fuss. Sie sind bis ins kleinste Detail durchdacht. Sie wirken so real, dass ich teils das Gefühl hatte einen Erfahrungsbericht, statt eines fiktionalen Romans zu lesen. Jede Beschreibung von Kya und Tate, Jumpin‘ und Mabel, Chase und allen anderen sind sehr präzise ausgearbeitet. Ich fühlte deren Emotionen, ich hörte deren Gedanken in meinem Kopf. Ich wurde zu einem Teil dieses Buches.

Handlung

Der Gesang der Flusskrebse wird in zwei Handlungssträngen erzählt. Der größte und auch wichtigste Strang beschäftigt sich mit Kya und ihrem Leben in den 50er Jahren. Kya ist ein 6-jähriges Mädchen, welches zusammen mit ihren Eltern und Geschwistern in der Marsch in North Carolina lebt. Angefangen bei ihrer Mutter, verlassen nach und nach auch ihre Geschwister die Hütte in der Marsch. Kya wird sprichwörtlich von allen zurückgelassen, um dem gewalttätigen Vater zu entkommen. Doch nicht einer schaut zurück. Ich war fassungslos, dass wirklich jeder sie allein zurückgelassen hat. Über die Jahre hinweg entwickelt Kya eine harmonische Einheit mit der Marsch, der dazugehörigen Flora und Fauna. Das Marschland wird Mutter und Freund zu gleichen Teilen für sie.

Der zweite Strang handelt vom möglichen Mord an Chase Andrews, dem legendären Quarterback des Städtchen Barkley Cove. Chase wird eines Tages tot am Feuerwachturm von zwei Jungen aufgefunden. Von da an beginnt der Sheriff mit den Ermittlungen. Da sich dieser Handlungsstrang eher wenig in der Vordergrund schiebt, wird anfangs nicht ganz klar, was Chase und Kya verbindet. Doch es lässt sich schnell erahnen, dass man dem Marschmädchen, so wird Kya von den Einwohnern von Barkley Cove bezeichnet, verdächtigt. Am Ende des Buches laufen die beiden Stränge ineinander, als die schüchterne Kya wegen Mordes vor Gericht steht. Ich war wie erstarrt, konnte kaum atmen, dass man sie wirklich des Mordes bezichtigte.

‚Manche Menschen können ohne wilde Dinge leben, und manche können das nicht.'

Seite 133 (Kapitel 16), Der Gesang der Flusskrebse
Der Gesang der Flusskrebse hat mich nicht nur im Herzen berührt, sondern auch meine Sicht auf viele Dinge erweitert. Delia Owens ist es gelungen, ein Buch zu schreiben, das unaufdringlich verurteilt, wenn man einen einzigen Menschen wegen seines Andersseins ausgrenzt. Dies bleibt dem Leser aber sehr eindringlich im Gedächtnis. Das Buch bewegt in seiner Gänze tief. Es ist gefüllt mit Hoffnung, Schmerz, Einsamkeit und Liebe, und es war eins meiner Lese-Highlights 2019 werden.

Durch dieses Buch wurde ich eins mit der Marsch, denn Owens‘ klare und sehr bildliche Beschreibung ließ mich einziehen, in die kleine Hütte an der Lagune. Ich tanzte mit den Möwen und hörte die Flusskrebse singen. Nahm Kya in meine Arme, litt mit ihr, fühlte ihre Einsamkeit tief in meinem Herzen und lachte bittersüße Freudentränen mit ihr. Ich wurde Teil dieses Buches. Ich wurde zu Kya.

Fazit

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dieses Buch hat alles, was ein gutes Buch ausmacht. Der Gesang der Flusskrebse ist berührend und unvergesslich. Eine emotionale Meisterleistung.


This review was first published at The Art of Reading. ( )

I wasn't planning on reading this book, but a friend of mine liked it and thought I would, too. He even lent it to me, so I kind of had to read it.

Abandoned at a young age, Kya managed to survive on her own in the North Carolina marshlands. She was rejected by most of the people in the nearby town, so she spent almost all of her time alone in the marsh. Most of the book switches between Kya's life during the '50s & '60s and a murder investigation & trial in '69/'70.

I wasn't expecting to like this book, but I ended up invested in the story. I felt really bad for Kya and I wanted good things for her. Also, the parts about the marshlands were really interesting.

This has some tough subject matter. Child abuse, abandonment, isolation, attempted rape, and hostility by a community towards a child. ( )

I hardly ever write long book reviews, but this one compels me to do so. It was on my TBR list, but then I started seeing a lot of 1 star reviews. Wow, when people don’t like this book, they really hate it. So I decided not to read it. But then Target had a B2G1 sale so I picked it up. It was free. I’m so glad I did.
The protagonist, Kya, is a totally likable character. She’s been used, abused, abandoned and neglected by virtually everyone in her life, but she is a survivor with a reasonable amount of bitterness,anger and distrust which drives many of her decisions.. Not so much that she’s unlikable. I felt her character was well fleshed out and I could understand the reason behind some of her self-defeating actions. Another well drawn character was Tate, even though I wanted to wring his neck and push him off the boat. One gets the impression from reading this book that the author, Delia Owens, must really hate men because there’s not a single redeeming male figure in the story with the exception of Jumpin’. Jumpin was kind, compassionate and consistent - which is why I thought Jumpin’ was the killer, because no man is that good.
The plot: I read all 368 pages straight through, so there’s that. I really, really wanted to know who the killer was, even though I thought I knew (I didn’t), I wanted to find out if Kya was ever going to lift herself out of her self-imposed isolation of the swamp, I wanted so badly to know that she finally finds acceptance and trust and love. Which brings me to the improbable plot elements that so many 1-star reviewers have complained about. This is a work of fiction. I’m perfectly fine with stretching belief for the sake of a good story. It wasn’t that big of a stretch, anyway. ( If you want to talk about improbable plot elements, read The Count of Monte Cristo. Laughably improbable, but rip-roaring fun.) So just be aware that this book is about a little girl who is abandoned in the marshes of North Carolina and manages to care for herself and survive with very little outside help for her whole life. If that’s too fantastical for you then you probably will be joining the 1-star reviewers.
The setting/place: Oh, yeah. This is where Ms. Owens excels. While people with short attention spans might find the narration of life in the marsh tedious, I found it beautiful. I’ve lived in Louisiana and spent some time on the bayous, and this took me back. I could smell the sharp, tangy scent of decay, I could feel the salt and humidity on my skin and could hear the deafening silence. Part of the narrative reminded me a bit of Pat Conroy’s The Prince of Tides, so there’s that.
Language: This is probably Ms Owens’ weakest area. Ms Owens should never, ever, EVER write in dialect again. I'm giving her a pass on this though. It's almost impossible to write in southern dialect without coming off sounding like a mockery. Steinbeck could do it. Faulkner could do it. Everyone else should just step away. I suspect a lot of the 1-star reviewers are pissed-off Carolinians furious at how she butchered the dialect. What she wrote is unlike any dialect I've ever heard. In places the dialogue wasn’t realistic and I wasn’t sure if this was because Kya, being isolated all her life, wasn’t accustomed to conversation with another human, or if it was the writing. I liked the story a lot better when nobody was talking. That being said, there were some places where I had to close the book and quietly muse on Kya’s latest idea or thought.
WHODUNNIT??? **spoiler spoiler spoiler**
In most mysteries, the author usually causes the character who appears to be the most guilty and has the best motive to be innocent and the killer is a secondary character. Which is why I immediately dismissed Kya as the killer. She was drenched in guilt and certainly had motive. I was sure the killer was Tate. Then I was absolutely positive the killer was Jumpin’. So I didn’t see the ending coming because it was so obvious. Thinking back though, Kya had fended for herself, protected herself and relied on herself all her life. Why should she have needed anyone else’s help taking care of Chase?
I'll wrap this up by saying this book made me very hungry. Grits. Ham. Black eyed peas. Biscuits. One of my favorite lines was young Kya saying "I may not know much, but I know you can't have grits without salt." So true. ( )

The book that never ends. Every time I thought the story was going to wrap up, it just kept going. I wasn't a fan of the mixture of genres that went on in the book and I found most of the story hard to believe. The writing was good, but I just never felt motivated to actually read this book. I found that I just wanted to get it over with and move on. ( )

Loved this book so much. A fascinating study of the natural world and a profound meditation on loneliness and longing. ( )