Plot Synopsis: The U.S. and Russia are headed towards nuclear war, only, unlike in real life, the worst did occur--the bombs were dropped. Enter in a host of memorable characters: Sister Creep, a "bag lady" who magically survives the ordeal by sleeping in a subway tunnel; Swan, a little girl with a green thumb and a trailer trash mother; Roland Croninger, a video game, gun enthusiast who just happens to have a survivalist father. There are many more characters and their plight after the nuclear disaster is told in bits and pieces. How do they survive a 7 year nuclear winter? And how will they survive when the greatest evil hasn't even fallen yet?
Literary Analysis: Swan Song is an exceptionally complex novel. Complex in a good way. The way McCammon weaves the stories of a number of characters together is truly a phenomenal feat. Despite the sheer amount of characters being followed chapter after chapter, there's really no need to create a list to keep them all straight. Each character is described memorably enough that it's quite easy to remember who each of them are. The chapters always end with a suspenseful grip that keeps you reading and wanting more.
Personal Reaction: Did I mention that Swan Song is almost 900 pages? I blew through this novel in about a week, because it was just so interesting. One part of the book that caught me off guard was the magical/fantasy elements. I had read the summary and said, "Okay, sounds good." I was expecting something along the lines of The Road, except with a female heroine. But this was not that novel. For example, (don't worry, no spoilers here), Sister Creep finds a circle of glass with jewels inside of it...supposedly a product of the nuclear blast on a glass/jewelry store. Okay, so this glass is pretty and valuable (if money means anything after nuclear armageddon), but then Sister holds the glass and the jewels pulse in color and brightness and she "dreamwalks" to where Swan is at a given moment. This is weird. I understand it's being used as a means to get Sister and Swan to one day meet up, but it's still quite strange. There are other examples of magic, but that would spoil the plot...really, what I'm trying to get it is that it's unusual for a book that seems to take the effects of nuclear war so seriously.
Final Rating: 8/10 - Subtracting 1 point for using magical elements that really seem rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things and 1 point for some rather bland chapters which lead to the book's whopping 900 pages.
No comments:
Post a Comment