Swimming with Jonah

I checked this book out one summer while on break and working on campus at the University of Denver. I cannot even really explain how it affected me. It is more of a feeling than anything else - I like how Schulman's books make me FEEL when I read them. Since reading Swimming for the first time, I have read The Cage and A House Named Brazil and now own all three. I can only hope to read more of what she has written. This story will touch you in a place you have long forgotten. You will remember your body and your relationships and re-invent them the way that Jane does in the book - Bravo!

Vivid setting, excellent non-stock characterization, a compelling and bizarre situation, unexpected moments. As she did with The Cage, Schulman surprises convincingly. I loved how her protagonist changed and grew. It's one of those infrequent miracles of fiction that the heroine becomes more sympathetic and interesting when we read something which should make us dislike her but which instead gives us hope for her future. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

I enjoyed this as much as THE CAGE, which I loved. Part of the author's gift in storytelling is showing so much with action, requiring so little in dialogue. The people are vivid. The story became more interesting once Jane reached Indonesia and a lot more interesting once we learned the truth about her failing to get into an American medical school. I wish I knew what happened to her next.

Audrey Schulman's recent novel Swimming with Jonah is that rare combination of thoughtful characterization and forceful narrative that kept me turning the pages late into the night. Schulman's prose is clear, economical, subtle, and vigorous. She's a great storyteller. We follow the narrator, a young woman attempting to survive a last-chance medical school in Indonesia, as she struggles for identity and independance. I read the second half of the book on a plane, and was actually happy when a delay was announced--because I could finish this book. Schulman is a find. Highly recommended.

I should hate Audrey Schulman because this book was so engrossing that I lost track of time and burned my dinner. Instead, I was mad at the burning dinner for interrupting my reading.This fascinating book took me on a harrowing and sometimes disturbing journey. I enjoyed watching Jane Guy--a brow-beaten, self-conscious girl who is overly eager to please--survive her challenges and grow into a self-confident woman capable of determining her own future.I've been recommending it to all my friends, and they've had equally positive reactions. Several said they were still thinking about this book days after they finished reading it.