Scan barcode
A review by kelly_inthe419
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
3.0
I finally picked up The Swimmers to fill a prompt in a reading challenge about a sport or athlete. But, well, this book isn't really about swimming although it starts out that way.
It opens with the swimmers at an underground pool who come to clear their heads and leave the noise of the above world behind. Then one day a crack appears. What does it mean? Why now? Then more and more cracks appear until the pool must be shut down permanently.
The effect is devastating to one swimmer in particular, Alice, who is slowly losing her memory to dementia. For the remainder of the story, we bear witness to Alice's fading memories; a Japanese internment camp during WW II, her childhood, her marriage and motherhood, and eventually her move to a memory care facility.
It's a heartbreaking story with a unique narrative flair as the omniscient narrator speaks directly to the reader, sometimes metaphorically and sometimes sarcastically. I can't decide if I loved it though, because of this style. Still, it's a solid story about what brings people together and what happens when the cracks of society drive us apart.
It opens with the swimmers at an underground pool who come to clear their heads and leave the noise of the above world behind. Then one day a crack appears. What does it mean? Why now? Then more and more cracks appear until the pool must be shut down permanently.
The effect is devastating to one swimmer in particular, Alice, who is slowly losing her memory to dementia. For the remainder of the story, we bear witness to Alice's fading memories; a Japanese internment camp during WW II, her childhood, her marriage and motherhood, and eventually her move to a memory care facility.
It's a heartbreaking story with a unique narrative flair as the omniscient narrator speaks directly to the reader, sometimes metaphorically and sometimes sarcastically. I can't decide if I loved it though, because of this style. Still, it's a solid story about what brings people together and what happens when the cracks of society drive us apart.