Give me books, fruit, french wine and fine weather and a little music out of doors. --John Keats

Thursday, March 17, 2011

"The Girl in a Swing" by Richard Adams

You think you don't know Richard Adams, but YOU DO. You've read Watership Down, right? And that was by . . . (I'll wait for it) . . . yes! Richard Adams. See, I knew you knew him. If the fact that he was not a one-hit wonder is news to you, don't feel so bad; I didn't know it either, until Ben told me.

Alan Desland lives a perfectly satisfactory life as a mildly successful ceramics dealer in a quiet English town. His passion--if it can be called that--is for his lovely, fragile figurines and tea sets. What he doesn't realize is that what he's always accepted as happiness is actually equivalent to being chained to the wall in Plato's cave.

Alan's eyes are simultaneously opened and blinded on the day he is released from his cave: the day in Copenhagen when he meets a young German woman named Käthe (or maybe Karin, depending on when your copy of the book was published). She's captivating and alluring and is the most beautiful woman Alan has ever seen. And, what do you know? She actually falls for him, too.

But this is not a sweet, happy, fun love story. (And a good thing, too, or I probably would have hated it.) There's a dark, eerie undercurrent of secrets that slowly becomes clear to the reader, who then watches this realization dawn on Alan through a series of creepy psychic manifestations.

I guessed Käthe's secret long before I think I was supposed to--certainly well before Alan figured it out--but that didn't ruin the story for me at all. Even though, as Elvis put it, "the imagery and omens became almost oppressively obvious" as the story went on, the climactic scene where Alan's fears are confirmed was still spine-chilling enough for me even though it wasn't a surprise. This is a book that definitely reached "critical mass", and that's always welcome.

Between Watership Down and The Girl in a Swing, Richard Adams is now two for two with me. I'm ready to put another of his books on my bloated TBR list, and Ben recommends The Plague Dogs next. There was also a film adaptation of The Girl in 1988, which I probably won't be watching because it's not available through netflix. Have you seen it, or have you read any other books by Adams?

8 comments:

Kristi said...

I haven't even read Watership Down. Shame on me. I've been meaning to. I'm glad you enjoyed Girl in a Swing. It sounds like something I would enjoy.

Kathy said...

Oh, let me encourage you to read Watership Down! It really is excellent. Yes, it is about talking rabbits (well, they can talk to each other) but don't let that stop you from reading it. They are *not* talking rabbits on a sinking ship, anyway. :)

Bellezza said...

I haven't read this since college, many...many years ago. But, after reading Watership Down in eighth grade I wanted to read everything Richard Adams wrote. Just like I did with Ken Follett. Isn't it wonderful to find an author you love? I want to revisit Adams some day...

Kathy said...

Oh, yes, it is wonderful to find an author I love.

Except when they haven't written very many books yet and you have to wait for them to write another!

So did you read everything Richard Adams wrote, as you wanted to? Which were your favorites?

Anonymous said...

Did anyone understand the meaning or significance of Mrs. Taswell just up and disappearing after the night she and Alan heard the crying child? (Mrs. Taswell was Alan's ditzy secretary.) I can't figure out why the woman would just vanish and no one seemed that concerned! I thought maybe she stole the valuable Girl in a Swing figure & ran off to sell it but she didn't because Alan still had it in the end. Please help solve this mystery!

Kathy said...

Oh, dear, Anonymous--it has been too long since I read the book for me to remember it well enough to answer your question. But from what I vaguely remember, I thought it was just because she was freaked out by the strange goings-on in the house . . . ?

Amanda G said...

Just re-read this book for about the fifth time in the past 25 years. My take on Mrs. Taswell is that she was a kind of holy fool and a conduit for the supernatural manifestation in the garden that night. Once the manifestation happened, she was no longer needed as a spirit guide.

Kathy said...

Sounds like that fits!