Book Review: The Swimmers
Date Finished: May 3, 2022
Author: Julie Otsuka
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🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
The Swimmers is a short book that describes a small community of swimmers whose pool closes and we learn a bit about what happens to one member after that closure.
🎨 Impressions
I believe this genre is literary fiction although I’m never quite sure I differentiate these correctly! I adored the first chapter as it captured the beauty of swimming known intimately by swimmers. After that, we learned about the closure of the pool and what happened within one family after its closure. Nothing in the book or the story is a surprise but that makes it all the more beautiful in the way Otsuka sculpts this pool, this community, this family, and two women from several different angles.
🔍How I Discovered It
I’d heard it recommended in a newsletter. I’m not sure which. The cover and my love of swimming drew me to it.
🙋♂️Who Should Read It?
Any swimmer should definitely read at least chapter 1. If you or a loved one has dementia or a memory-related disability, it may be something that you very much enjoy or if too close to home, something you’d want to avoid. I don’t like super fluffy, overly light subject matter so for me, this would be a good beach read. I listened on audiobook and was able to have it on while working on other things.
☘️ How the Book Changed Me
The prose around swimming has encouraged me to get back into the pool. I was touched by the vulnerability of aging and losing one’s memory. I wish there were better supports and living options in place for families impacted by dementia and similar disabilities.
✍️ My Top 2 Quotes
- “Up there,” she says, “I’m just another little old lady. But down here, at the pool, I’m myself.” ([Location 61](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=...))
- “She remembers that she is forgetting. She remembers less and less every day.”
📒 Rating+ Summary + Notes
This was a solid 4-star book for me. I really liked it-especially the first chapter, which focused on swimming and what that activity means to people. The section on the crack that led to the pool’s closure could be metaphorical but I suppose I wasn’t thinking quite so deeply or artistically. The final parts was an honest and difficult picture of what it’s like to see a loved one lose their memory and what it might be like for them to do so. I’m not sure if the author gathered direct feedback from those experiencing the loss.
♿Disability Themes
From a disability perspective, it maintains the dignity of Alice while realistically portraying some heartbreaking aspects of our current society’s response to dementia and related disabilities.
