Entertainment Critique: Where the Crawdads Sing
By Chloe Cochran
The novel “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Deliah Owens is popular across multiple countries (and was on a variety of bestsellers list for 150 weeks). Owen’s novel follows the narrative of a young girl, Catherine “Kya” Clark, and her ordinary life living near a marsh in North Carolina. Growing up alone and raising herself, Kya endures the battles of hunger, abandonment, and involuntary self-reliance. Through these battles, Kya becomes “one with the marsh.” Unfortunately for her, the citizens of the town around her don’t view Kya as a little girl being forced to survive alone, only as a weird outlier. In Owen’s book, two timelines are given to the reader. The childhood of Kya Clark serves as the first timeline, whereas a murder serves as the other. By intertwining plot lines, readers are able to slowly reveal important information, creating an array of suspense. Owens used that suspense to grasp her reader’s attention. The novel, as mentioned previously, was a bestseller for a reason.
As all good books have movie adaptations, “Where the Crawdads Sing” is no different. Released four years after the original novel written by Owens, “Where the Crawdads Sing” brought in many watchers as they hoped to find something resembling Owens’ novel. However, they were to be let down (myself among them). The movie adaptation of Owen’s novel started where the book ended; a murder trial. Unlike the book, the movie gave the readers more information than they needed, offering only slight suspense. The movie adaptation skipped moments in Kya Clark’s life, and lacked the ideology of two timelines intertwining.
After reading this widely acclaimed novel and watching its movie adaptation, I can confidently give my opinion and ratings of the two. Deliah Owens carefully crafts her novel to evoke sympathy, compassion, and suspense. Because of this craftsmanship, I would give Owens’ book a 5/5 rating. Unlike many other authors, she successfully uses two plotlines to her advantage, creating the character of Kya Clark as a mysterious and lovable character; instantly setting her story up for success. However, unlike the novel, I can only rate the movie adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing as a 3/5 . As mentioned previously, the movie adaptation left out a crucial part in Owens’ plot; the timeline. Without a double timeline, the novel loses its sense of direction. Once the direction is lost, there’s no connection between the viewer and the movie. Of course, without reading the novel, I would rate the movie a 4/5. Yet, because I read the novel (as any individual should do before watching any movie adaptation), I can only give the movie a 3/5.
Despite the differences between Deliah Owens’ book and the movie adaptation of it, I would still recommend both versions to anyone willing to read/watch.
