A review by elwirax
Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"Little sparks cause fires too."

"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?"
 

My heart is always so overjoyed to see progressive content from generally conservative cultures (especially when it comes from my homeland). This was an interesting exploration of political conflict,  personal freedom, shame, hypocrisy and forbidden love. The political discussions were perhaps my favourite part of this book and perhaps the saddest part of this novel was how relevant its discussions are in contemporary politics not just in Poland but in various countries of the West. Protests being shut down, the difficulties of getting medical care unless you pay for private, food shortages and the fear of speaking out against an oppressive government were truly saddening and difficult to read about (though I do think that this book was heavily anti-leftists, these are all things that weren't magically resolved after Communism fell in Poland). If anything, I wish the historical and political context were a bit more detailed, there were inklings as shown through the aforementioned examples but very much surface level. The story had the potential to be more impactful had the author fully submerged the reader in the time period.
 

In terms of characters, I liked that both Ludwik and Janusz sought to create meaningful lives for themselves but through drastically different methods. Where Ludwik outwardly opposed the countries' oppressive politics and aimed to leave, Janusz conformed and gained privileges by engaging in organisations that maintain the social order. While I rooted for Ludwik I thought his belief that the USA was a sort of haven was a bit misplaced and unfortunately we do not see his character come to that realisation. Janusz was a very two dimensional character and I didn't really feel any true connection between the two especially given their strong and opposing political opinions. 

JÄ™drowski utilises some beautiful and poignant lines in this book to convey an atmosphere of pressure and unease in the wider context of the characters' lives. Yet, at times, I felt that the author pushed this lyrical style into strange directions through his repetitive use of similes and metaphors, I feel like points could've been more hard hitting had the author just said what he meant in plain words rather than trying to embellish them. This overwritten vs underwritten nature of the author's writing style made it difficult at times to remain engaged in the story. 

Overall, I thought this was a good book which explored many interesting themes, though the characterisation and political situation could've been used better to create a more meaningful story.