The Swimmers

“‘Up there,’ she says, ‘I’m just another little old lady. But down here, at the pool, I’m myself.’”

The book opens with the swimmers revealing the reasons they go to the pool. Alice’s comment demonstrates that the pool, for this group, is far more than a place to exercise. It suggests the swimmers’ time at the pool supports their mental well-being and sense of self, too.

“It’s just like flying. The pure pleasure of being in motion. The dissipation of all want. I’m free. You are suddenly aloft. Adrift. Ecstatic. Euphoric. In a rapturous and trancelike state of bliss. And if you swim for long enough you no longer know where your own body ends and the water begins and there is no boundary between you and the world. It’s nirvana.”

This quote demonstrates Julie Otsuka’s vivid narrative voice and her use of mixed points of view to create an intimate and emotionally charged narration. The imagery in the quote also evokes the idea of a womb, incorporating symbolism into the pool’s description.

“[O]ne of the best things about the pool is the brief respite it offers us from the noisy world above: the hedge trimmers, the weed whackers, the horn honkers, the nose blowers, the throat clearers, the page rustlers, the incessant music that is playing wherever you go—at the dentist’s office, at the drugstore, in the elevator taking you up to see the audiologist about that strange ringing in your ears.”

This catalog of aboveground noises encapsulates one of the novel’s structural devices—telling a story through a series of detailed lists. It also illustrates a subtle humor that permeates much of the narrative. The details in this quote convey the swimmers’ sense of burden and stress when they’re away from the pool.