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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
An ex-competitive swimmer's account of her lingering obsession with life in the deep end is exquisite.
Water is harder to pin down but she beautifully describes her drifts of thought as she swims each lap. Interspersed amongst the pages are works of art she has created that release a watery energy.
A love letter to swimming through a critical eye, her memoir was crafted out of what cannot be fathomed. A mourning disguised as an inquiry in which swimming, writing and art join forces, to make sense of the abstract view from below.
Readalikes: Why We Swim (Bonnie Tsu), Leap In (Alexandra Heminslay), Swimmers (Julie Otsuka)
Water is harder to pin down but she beautifully describes her drifts of thought as she swims each lap. Interspersed amongst the pages are works of art she has created that release a watery energy.
A love letter to swimming through a critical eye, her memoir was crafted out of what cannot be fathomed. A mourning disguised as an inquiry in which swimming, writing and art join forces, to make sense of the abstract view from below.
Readalikes: Why We Swim (Bonnie Tsu), Leap In (Alexandra Heminslay), Swimmers (Julie Otsuka)
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I'm not a swimmer, and I've never been a swimmer, but for two years I had a roommate who was a swimmer. So I kind of get it. I think anyone who has ever been involved in competitive swimming (as a swimmer, a coach, a parent or sibling of a swimmer) will really "get" this book. It's beautifully and thoughtfully written. I've enjoyed other recent books about swimming (The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou, Sage Island by Samantha Warwick) and this one makes a nice (non-fiction) addition to that set.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
If I could give this book more than five stars, I would. Loved it because of Shapton's writing and her approach to the subject. This isn't an inspirational or how-to book. It's autobiographical and tells of her swimming career in glimpses. To me the writing style captured the way I feel when I go swimming, and I loved that I could read about this activity in such a way that I could relate to, even though our experiences with the sport are vastly different.
Also, it has glimpses of pools around the world that you'll want to swim in when you're done reading this book.
Also, it has glimpses of pools around the world that you'll want to swim in when you're done reading this book.
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
A meditative look back on a personal history with swimming, interlaced with stunning paintings and illustrations. Together makes a special read.
I really loved this book. The structure was great-- by jumping around instead of remaining chronological, it felt more like someone's memories-- and I love that Shapton included her artwork and photographs of swimwear she collected over the year. I wish I had bought this as a physical book instead of on my Kindle (in fact, I might just go ahead and buy the paper copy since I loved this so much).
To be perfectly honest, I don't know that I would have loved it so much if not for my love of swimming and 1-2 year stint on my high school's swim team. I decided to stop competing (and stopped practicing entirely), but it remains one of my favorite sports, and one I recently decided to return to albeit not competitively and not on a team-- and there are echoes of my feelings in Shapton's memoir. It's comforting to know that even someone competing at her level shares in the love-hate relationship with the pool.
If you don't swim, I do think you'll find Shapton's work interesting at the least. Her voice is strong, writing beautiful, and her storytelling is easy to follow.
To be perfectly honest, I don't know that I would have loved it so much if not for my love of swimming and 1-2 year stint on my high school's swim team. I decided to stop competing (and stopped practicing entirely), but it remains one of my favorite sports, and one I recently decided to return to albeit not competitively and not on a team-- and there are echoes of my feelings in Shapton's memoir. It's comforting to know that even someone competing at her level shares in the love-hate relationship with the pool.
If you don't swim, I do think you'll find Shapton's work interesting at the least. Her voice is strong, writing beautiful, and her storytelling is easy to follow.
I was hooked right into this eclectic collection of essays in which the author shapes the stages of her life around her experience as a competitive, almost-but-not-quite Olympic swimmer. The kaleidoscope of sounds and smells and tactile sensations in the water alternates with moments of deep stillness and keen reflection out of it. Shapton's original artwork, simple and broadly drawn, is scattered throughout the book: silhouettes of pools in which she has raced or taken a dip; portraits of former teammates; a series of multicolored dots that each corresponds to a set of swim-related scents embedded in her memory. Small flaw: I kept tripping over the photos of her vintage bathing suit collection that interrupt the flow of the book's middle chapters. The stories behind them are interesting enough that they should have been given their own section instead of fighting with the narrative.