Swimming in the Dark: A Novel

Swimming in the Dark: A Novel

Hardcover
4.326

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Beschreibung

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR • A DUA LIPA BOOK CLUB PICK
“Imagine Call Me By Your Name set in Communist Poland and you'll get a sense of Jedrowski's moving debut about a consuming love affair amidst a country being torn apart.” — O, The Oprah Magazine
“Captivating both for its shimmering surfaces and its terrifying depths. Tomasz Jedrowski is a remarkable writer.” — Justin Torres, bestselling author of We the Animals
Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of Communism, a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide—a stunningly poetic and heartrending literary debut for fans of André Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst.
When university student Ludwik meets Janusz at a summer agricultural camp, he is fascinated yet wary of this handsome, carefree stranger. But a chance meeting by the river soon becomes an intense, exhilarating, and all-consuming affair. After their camp duties are fulfilled, the pair spend a dreamlike few weeks in the countryside, bonding over an illicit copy of James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. Inhabiting a beautiful, natural world removed from society and its constraints, Ludwik and Janusz fall deeply in love. But in their repressive Communist and Catholic society, the passion they share is utterly unthinkable.
Once they return to Warsaw, the charismatic Janusz quickly rises in the political ranks of the party and is rewarded with a highly coveted government position. Ludwik is drawn toward impulsive acts of protest, unable to ignore rising food prices and the stark economic disparity around them. Their secret love and personal and political differences slowly begin to tear them apart as both men struggle to survive in a regime on the brink of collapse.
Shifting from the intoxication of first love to the quiet melancholy of growing up and growing apart, Swimming in the Dark is a potent blend of romance, postwar politics, intrigue, and history. Lyrical and sensual, immersive and intense, Tomasz Jedrowski’s indelible and thought-provoking literary debut explores freedom and love in all its incarnations.
Haupt-Genre
N/A
Sub-Genre
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Format
Hardcover
Seitenzahl
208
Preis
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Beiträge

7
Alle
3.5

Learned a lot about Poland’s history. The characters felt very real and their emotions and actions were so relatable. 

5

Eine gefühlvolle Liebeslektüre, die, obwohl man den Ausgang ahnt, tief in den Bann zieht und Emotionen hervorruft, als wären es die Eigenen.

Es sind die kleine Sätze, die fast keine Handlungsinformation tragen, aber soviel Gefühl auslösen. Jedrowski ist ein Meister darin sie zu finden.

4.5

I loved the writing of this book and enjoyed this read very much. It was something I haven’t read before with the setting of communist Poland in the 1980s. Through the book one could, to some small extent, understand what people were going through such as poverty etc. For me it was also very informative and interesting with the included historic elements through which I learned more about the historic background. I loved that the protagonists characters and worldviews were opposite with Ludwik representing the modern and open view and Janusz supporting the communist worldview, which showed that because of these views there couldn’t have been a happy ending as they wanted different things in life. I think the narrative of Ludwiks perspective was very fitting and the flashbacks of his prior life and childhood through which you could understand the actions and thoughts of Ludwik. There were many beautifully written parallels and comparisons which underlined the emotions and feelings.

5

Tragische love Story und sehr politisch, was ich toll fand!

4

The writing style was really beautiful and i read through this in nearly one go once i got into it. The story was not too surprising or new though and i was pretty sure from the beginning how it would go (and end), but i still enjoyed the emotions and feelings in this book.

4

„Because you were right when you said that people can’t always give us what we want from them; that you can’t ask them to love you the way you want. No one can be blamed for that. And the odds had been stacked against us from the start: we had no manual, no one to show us the way. Not one example of a happy couple made up of boys. How were we supposed to know what to do? Did we even believe that we deserved to get away with happiness?“ Do I have to say more ?

4

Interessanter Einblick ins kommunistische Polen aus zwei Perspektiven

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