At 14-years old, Danny Kelly wants nothing more to swim, to
be a champion, and to fit in. While he excels at swimming, the other two goals
remain slightly out of reach, which is the conflict of Tsioklas’s novel.
He’s won a scholarship to a prestigious private school, but
Danny is from a lower, working-class household. His father is
abusive---physically, emotionally, and mentally---while his mother, younger
sister, and younger brother think that Danny is the cat’s meow.
Danny knows he has the talent to take him all the way to the
Olympics; that’s why he practices four hours a day and puts up with a coach who
is almost as warm-hearted as his father. Danny hates his life, and all he wants
to do is swim. When he loses an important meet, Danny’s self-loathing reaches a
new low. He hates the world and everyone in it. He lashes out on more than one
occasion, ending with a prison sentence.
Fast-forward 20 years, Danny, now called Dan, is trying to
make a new life for himself and his partner, Clyde. Clyde wants to move back to
his native Scotland. Dan goes, but soon returns to Australia. Scotland doesn’t feel right. Although he is
still angry all the time, Dan does his best to keep the violence inside.
I almost gave up on this novel after the first 107 pages.
Danny whines and carries on like a five-year-old girl. He constantly feel sorry
for himself and refuses to let go of any of the negativity which surrounds
him. Then I read reviews on Amazon, and
decided to give the rest of the book a chance. Oh, yes, I read all 431 pages,
and through it all I want to tell Danny/Dan to get over it, quit wallowing in
something that happened decades earlier.
While other have called Barracuda
tender, savage, and blazingly brilliant, I call it whining, full of self-pity,
and dull.
I give Barracuda
1 out of 5 stars.
I received this book for free from
Blogging for Books for this review.
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