This book I had to look up on amazon: A New York Times best-seller, enthusiastically received by critics and embraced by readers, The River Swimmer is Jim Harrison at his most memorable: two men, one young and one older, confronting inconvenient loves and the encroachment of urbanity on nature, written with freshness, abundant wit, and profound humanity.
In “The Land of Unlikeness“, Clive—a failed artist, divorced and grappling with the vagaries of his declining years—reluctantly returns to his family’s Michigan farmhouse to visit his aging mother. The return to familiar territory triggers a jolt of renewal—of ardor for his high school sweetheart, of his relationship with his estranged daughter, and of his own lost love of painting.
In “The River Swimmer“, Harrison ventures into the magical as an Upper Peninsula farm boy is irresistibly drawn to swimming as an escape, and sees otherworldly creatures in the water. Faced with the injustice and pressure of coming of age, he takes to the river and follows its siren song all the way across Lake Michigan.
Why do I love it?!
I don’t know – I haven’t read this book yet. Two years ago, a friend warmly recommended it to me and I added it to my bucket-list of books to read in the foreseeable future. But the river flowed on and on and I never got round to it. Now, Anne-Marie enthused about it and lent me the book over the summer months. Enough! When two cherished people make a book float in my direction I take it seriously and will make the time to finally read it! Watch this space for an update next week 🙂
Cours d'anglais et d'allemand à Bordeaux 