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A review by artemisg
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This book is beautiful and heartwrenching and insightful, and important. The writing is so lyrical and poetic, drawing you into the mind of the characters. It is written in the second person, which is a fantastic artistic choice and a powerful narrative technique. Through the use of the work you, we as readers are sucked into the mind of the unnamed protagonist (?), practically become him.
You cried like an infant does for their father. How ironic. Indeed, what is a joint? What is a fracture? What is a break? Under what conditions does unconditional love become no more? The answer is you will never not cry for your father.
This book follows two young Black artists from London as they meet at a bar, become best friends, and fall in love. Not necessarily in that order; I truly think they fell in love long before beginning their relationship. This book also follows the relationship - an extremely beautiful love story - as it falls apart due to trauma and fear. The trauma and fear are integral to the story, the fear of existing as a Black man in London, the struggles of being the oldest child of Ghanaian immigrants, the trauma of seeing hate crimes against people who look like you, and the fallback of being aware that your existence is precarious.
You don't want to die. This is basic and audacious, but you want to lay claim to it while you still can… You flash the smile of a king but you both know regicide is rife.
The characters love one another so strongly and deeply, and in their attempts to understand one another, they lose parts of themselves and then find them again. This is a beautifully written, poetic, and thought-provoking book. Despite the short page count, Nelson covered the stories of two people in great detail and dealt with complex themes in artful ways. The book examines masculinity, Blackness, and masculine Blackness with incredibly gentle prose and poignant insights.
To love is to trust, to trust is to have faith. How else are you meant to love?
You cried like an infant does for their father. How ironic. Indeed, what is a joint? What is a fracture? What is a break? Under what conditions does unconditional love become no more? The answer is you will never not cry for your father.
This book follows two young Black artists from London as they meet at a bar, become best friends, and fall in love. Not necessarily in that order; I truly think they fell in love long before beginning their relationship. This book also follows the relationship - an extremely beautiful love story - as it falls apart due to trauma and fear. The trauma and fear are integral to the story, the fear of existing as a Black man in London, the struggles of being the oldest child of Ghanaian immigrants, the trauma of seeing hate crimes against people who look like you, and the fallback of being aware that your existence is precarious.
You don't want to die. This is basic and audacious, but you want to lay claim to it while you still can… You flash the smile of a king but you both know regicide is rife.
The characters love one another so strongly and deeply, and in their attempts to understand one another, they lose parts of themselves and then find them again. This is a beautifully written, poetic, and thought-provoking book. Despite the short page count, Nelson covered the stories of two people in great detail and dealt with complex themes in artful ways. The book examines masculinity, Blackness, and masculine Blackness with incredibly gentle prose and poignant insights.
To love is to trust, to trust is to have faith. How else are you meant to love?
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism and Violence