The Swimmers

A novel (CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE WINNER)

By: Julie Otsuka

Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE WINNER • From the award-winning author of The Buddha in the Attic and When the Emperor Was Divine comes a novel that "starts as a catalogue of spoken and unspoken rules for swimmers at an aquatic center but unfolds into a powerful story of a mother’s dementia and her daughter’s love" (The Washington Post).

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 without comfort or relief.

One of these swimmers is Alice, who is slowly losing her memory. For Alice, the pool was a final stand against the darkness of her encroaching dementia. Without the fellowship of other swimmers and the routine of her daily laps she is plunged into dislocation and chaos, swept into memories of her childhood and the Japanese American incarceration camp in which she spent the war. Alice's estranged daughter, reentering her mother's life too late, witnesses her stark and devastating decline.

Life before and during dementia

Moving narrative, primarily in the form of a daughter’s checklist of perceptions, of a woman whose life as an avid swimmer changes due to the gradual onset of dementia. The story is related in a mechanical tone but is moving nevertheless and will ring familiar to those who have helped/witnessed a parent going through this hellish transition.

Not the right title

I enjoyed the beginning of this book as it related to swimmers, but the end was rather depressing and it didn’t tie into the swimmers piece again.

Powerful metaphor, impactful story

This book was recommended to me with no explanation and I'm so glad I gave it a listen. As a member of a whole family of lap swimmers, I was laughing and nodding at the description of the characters in the first chapter and bemused by the focus on the cracks and exploration of everyone's reaction - the ending of that arc was sad and unexpected and left the "reader" and community hanging -- a powerful parallel to the second phase of the novel, the story of one of the swimmer's decline told from the perspective of her daughter. While the story of the pool was disappointing, the story of the swimmer and her family was sometimes beautiful and completely tragic. I'll be thinking about the metaphor and the devolution of a life for a long time to come.

Stick it out

Just like a long swim work out the first few hundred yards can seem tedious. I’m so glad I stuck it out to the end. If you have a loved one suffering from memory loss this book is especially meaningful.

It’s like swimming - takes a bit of effort and feel for it

A number of reviewers gig this book as being 2 or more stories. They’re missing the connection between the pool centered opening and the rest of the story. Look for it, it’s definitely there throughout, though more subtle than some may like.