Waterland

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).

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.

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 The Fens in East Anglia.

Major themes in the novel include storytelling and history, exploring how the past leads to future consequences.

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 in 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.

Film adaptation

In 1992, a film version of Waterland was released, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, which retained most major plot points while altering some details of location and eliminating much of Swift's extensive historical asides.

External links

• Waterland Study Guide by Graham Swift

• Graham Swift's Waterland

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