Rating: 
Summary: Impressive First Time Out
Review: "Swimming" is without a doubt an impressive debut from a talented writer. It is not an entirely successful debut, but it interesting even in its flaws, and that is more than I can say for most novels I read. The tale is kind of an emotional whodunit, or perhaps a whydonit. The first part of the story takes place in 1987 when college student Aaron Silver brings his girlfriend Sunanne to meet his family in rural New Hampshire. The family is a bit odd, and there are unexplained and perhaps inexplicable tensions between Aaron and his wild brother, Jack, and soon sparks begin to fly between Jack and Suzanne. Much emotional mayhem ensues until the visit climaxes in a tragedy that the book cover describes but I will not, since I wished I hadn't known it when I was reading. The novel then picks up ten years later, focusing on Lila, the younger sister, who is obsessed with the events of that night and begins stalking Suzanne in an effort to learn the truth about her brothers. Hershon's writing is at its most successful when she is conveying the very real emotional confusion people feel at what seem like key moments in their life. "Swimming" seems to me especially effective at demonstrating the intense importance of these private feelings and the sometimes horrific consequences of privileging irrational passion over logical responsibility. In the heat of the moment, the author wants to argue, the selfish and thoughtless decisions we make, radiate outward into our lives and the lives of others. The book is also wonderful when it examines the confluence of memory and sadness, demonstrating how we process our own bad decisions, what we chose to remember, forget and to fabricate. On the other hand, "Swimming," splashes around in the pond a bit too loudly and clumsily at times. The opening prologue is both unnecessary and so badly written I cannot even believe the same person composed those few pages and the book that follows. In the main body of "Swimming," the writing is never bad or clunky, but it is sometimes burdened by too much attention to craft. The flap copy tells us that Hershon received her MFA from Columbia University, and this book reads to me like MFA fiction. Obviously some people like that sort of thing, but I find her endless and belabored details of clothes, rooms, smells, plants, and anything else on which she happens to draw a bead ultimately kind of tedious and rarely in service of the story she wants to tell. If anything, the resonance of her tale and her characters gets lots sometimes in her descriptions. This book could have been a bit slimmer, and if Hershon had reserved her truly impressive talents for elements of the story with emotional consequences, it would have been a sleeker and far more poignant volume. As it is, it reveals an unquestionably talented author whose next work I would most certainly seek out.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive First Time Out
Review: "Swimming" is without a doubt an impressive debut from a talented writer. It is not an entirely successful debut, but it interesting even in its flaws, and that is more than I can say for most novels I read. The tale is kind of an emotional whodunit, or perhaps a whydonit. The first part of the story takes place in 1987 when college student Aaron Silver brings his girlfriend Sunanne to meet his family in rural New Hampshire. The family is a bit odd, and there are unexplained and perhaps inexplicable tensions between Aaron and his wild brother, Jack, and soon sparks begin to fly between Jack and Suzanne. Much emotional mayhem ensues until the visit climaxes in a tragedy that the book cover describes but I will not, since I wished I hadn't known it when I was reading. The novel then picks up ten years later, focusing on Lila, the younger sister, who is obsessed with the events of that night and begins stalking Suzanne in an effort to learn the truth about her brothers. Hershon's writing is at its most successful when she is conveying the very real emotional confusion people feel at what seem like key moments in their life. "Swimming" seems to me especially effective at demonstrating the intense importance of these private feelings and the sometimes horrific consequences of privileging irrational passion over logical responsibility. In the heat of the moment, the author wants to argue, the selfish and thoughtless decisions we make, radiate outward into our lives and the lives of others. The book is also wonderful when it examines the confluence of memory and sadness, demonstrating how we process our own bad decisions, what we chose to remember, forget and to fabricate. On the other hand, "Swimming," splashes around in the pond a bit too loudly and clumsily at times. The opening prologue is both unnecessary and so badly written I cannot even believe the same person composed those few pages and the book that follows. In the main body of "Swimming," the writing is never bad or clunky, but it is sometimes burdened by too much attention to craft. The flap copy tells us that Hershon received her MFA from Columbia University, and this book reads to me like MFA fiction. Obviously some people like that sort of thing, but I find her endless and belabored details of clothes, rooms, smells, plants, and anything else on which she happens to draw a bead ultimately kind of tedious and rarely in service of the story she wants to tell. If anything, the resonance of her tale and her characters gets lots sometimes in her descriptions. This book could have been a bit slimmer, and if Hershon had reserved her truly impressive talents for elements of the story with emotional consequences, it would have been a sleeker and far more poignant volume. As it is, it reveals an unquestionably talented author whose next work I would most certainly seek out.
Rating: 
Summary: I can not wait for Hershon to write again!
Review: After reading this book, I am absolutely hooked on reading books. I have never enjoyed a book so much and recommend it sincerely. I hope that Joanna Hershon will come out with a new book very soon, maybe even a romantic sequel to her characters: Ben and Lila whom I am in love with.
Rating: 
Summary: swimming?
Review: although this book kept my interest level high, as some other reviewers mentioned the author goes into way too much detail about irrelevant things and many times i wanted to throw the book right out the window. too much detail went into the way the room looked or what was on the wall or just things that became increasingly annoying to hear so many details on. the book could have been much shorter had she left out details that didn't make the book more interesting, but left me skimming through the nonsense to get to the real story. **i did enjoy the book, though.
Rating: 
Summary: Started, not finished
Review: I appreciate this as a freshman novel, but this author needed a better editor. With little exception, there is no character development. Some friends and I read it and compiled a LONG list of great character issues and plot twists that were introduced and then never referenced again. One more thing:the coincidences that allow the book to continue until it's long-overdue end are insulting to people of normal intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Deep...
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. As everyone knows, families are complicated. Ones that have gone through a traumatic event, such as this one, tends to be even more so. This story of a girl searching for her lost brother, who disappeared after the death of her other brother, is one ful of drama and feeling. It is choppy at times, and it takes a lot of patience to be able to understand the motivations of the characters, but it is truly wonderful and I definitely recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: worth the time to read
Review: I enjoyed this story - although after the fact - I can see were the story could be whittled down a tad. Still, this story contains an element of mystery that was refreshing in this genre and it did keep me going up to the end.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: I had a hard time putting this book down. Although just a tad slow in places, the book did a good job of letting us get into Lila's head. I agree with another reader that we could have gotten to know some of the other characters in the book better, but as a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was suspenseful and emotional.
Rating:
Summary: Page turner
Review: I just gave birth to a boy on July 15th. The importance of this is that I picked up "Swimming" after the baby was born and was able to finish it in one week. That's incredible considering all of the demands of a newborn. But I found that I couldn't put the book down from the inciting incident of the two brothers and girlfriend to the ending. Joanna Hershon does a phenomenal job developing her characters. The plot and the story line hooked me as well. Her writing is poetic and there is some wonderful imagery. I believed in the story and I believed the characters. Only toward the end did I have a hard time believing how the characters meet up again (I don't want to give anything away). All in all, I didn't want to say good-bye to these characters.
Rating:
Summary: Page turner
Review: I just gave birth to a boy on July 15th. The importance of this is that I picked up "Swimming" after the baby was born and was able to finish it in one week. That's incredible considering all of the demands of a newborn. But I found that I couldn't put the book down from the inciting incident of the two brothers and girlfriend to the ending. Joanna Hershon does a phenomenal job developing her characters. The plot and the story line hooked me as well. Her writing is poetic and there is some wonderful imagery. I believed in the story and I believed the characters. Only toward the end did I have a hard time believing how the characters meet up again (I don't want to give anything away). All in all, I didn't want to say good-bye to these characters.
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