Kate’s 2¢: “The Swimmers” by Julie Otsuka

“The Swimmers” by Julie Otsuka

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   My first impression of this book was that it was a stream of consciousness.  As I listened to Traci Kato-Kiriyama fread the story for NLS, I wondered if each repetition was written on a different line.

   Eventually, as the sections unfolded, it became clear that Alice was to become the main character in the group of swimmers that frequented the indoor pool.

   I thought it was a melancholy story, but, through my research of the author, it made sense. The depth of feelings penetrate the readers soul to experience the burden of Alice’s mental decline and death.

From the WEB:

Julie Otsuka, author of the novels “The Buddha In The Attic,” “When The Emperor Was Divine” and the new novel “The Swimmers.”

   With the 2022 publication of The Swimmers (Knopf), Julie Otsuka has moved into more personal territory, drawing on her experience as a daughter watching her mother move further into dementia. Her previous two novels focused on the experience of Japanese Americans: When the Emperor Was Divine (Knopf, 2002), based on her family’s history.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The swimmers: a novel DB107007

Otsuka, Julie. Reading time: 4 hours, 8 minutes.

Read by Traci Kato-Kiriyama.

Family

Medical Fiction

The swimmers are unknown to one another except through their private routines (slow lane, medium lane, fast lane) and the solace each takes in their morning or afternoon laps. But when a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, they are cast out into an unforgiving world. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.

Downloaded: April 15, 2022

Download The swimmers: a novel