Waterland (novel)
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| Author | Graham Swift |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Released | 1983 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 310 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0434753300 |
Waterland is a 1983 novel by Graham Swift, made into a 1992 movie starring Jeremy Irons. It is considered to be the author's premier novel and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize (a prize Swift finally achieved with Last Orders).
[edit] Plot introduction
Waterland follows the narrator, a history teacher, in a non-chronological sequence through his teen years, late years, and through the lives of some of his ancestors.
It encompasses a love story, a tragedy, a murder and a social history.
[edit] Major themes
Waterland is concerned with the nature and importance of history as the primary source of meaning in a narrative. For this reason, it is associated with new historicism. The title of the novel refers to its setting in East Anglia's Fenlands, which are part water, part land.
A major theme of the novel is about storytelling and history and the novel explores how the past leads to future consequences.
The main character could be described as a man of both land and water and indeed his brother's implied death is by drowning.
The plot of the novel revolves around loosely interwoven themes and narrative, including the jealousy of his brother for the narrator's girlfriend/wife, a resulting murder, the abortion the girl undergoes, her subsequent inability to conceive, resulting depression and the kidnap of a baby.
This personal narrative is set in the context of a wider history, of the narrator's family, the Fens in general and the eel.
