Title: The First Rule of Swimming Author: Courtney Angela Brkic
Published: May 28, 2013
Genre(s): Literary Fiction
Page Count: 336
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Magdalena does not panic when she learns that her younger sister has disappeared. A free-spirit, Jadranka has always been prone to mysterious absences. But when weeks pass with no word, Magdalena leaves the isolated Croatian island where their family has always lived and sets off to New York to find her sister. Her search begins to unspool the dark history of their family, reaching back three generations to a country torn by war.
A haunting and sure-footed debut by an award-winning writer, The First Rule of Swimming explores the legacy of betrayal and loss in a place where beauty is fused inextricably with hardship, and where individuals are forced to make wrenching choices as they are swept up in the tides of history.
There are always those books that sound good in theory but in practice aren’t all that. I found The First Rule of Swimming to be one of those. The unique Croatian setting and focus on a sibling relationship sounded phenomenal, but all in all, Courtney Angela Brkic didn’t really manage to translate her ideas into a cohesive novel.
Though the two main characters are sisters Magdalena and Jadranka, I found The First Rule of Swimming to be more or less a story about a family as a whole. This impression was supported by the way the story is told—through frequent flashbacks and several narrators. The story doesn’t really progress in a linear way at all, so a good portion of the book (if not the majority) takes place outside the so-called “main” timeframe.
The story of Magdalena and Jadranka and their somewhat strained, but ultimately loving, relationship was one I found interesting, but wasn’t blown away by. Brkic didn’t exactly do a lot with characterization, I felt like, and especially towards the end, I wasn’t really sure of the sisters’ actions being consistent with their personalities as I felt I knew them.
Probably my main issue with this book was Courtney Angela Brkic’s writing. In a word: confusing. As I mentioned there were a lot of narrator switches and flashbacks, and the transitions were extremely choppy and often not well-marked. You could start in present-day New York but then after a scene break find yourself in WWII-era Macedonia with no warning and no way of knowing that’s who you were. Often, when there was a narrator switch, it wouldn’t be marked, so there was no way of realizing the “she” you’re currently reading about isn’t the “she” you were with in the last scene. All these aspects added up to make The First Rule of Swimming an exhausting book. It’s hard to enjoy a story when you’re trying to figure out what’s even going on.
My other complaint would be regarding how overwritten the plot got towards the end. Rather than being an emotional, subtle family drama, Brkic verged into definite telenovela territory, which I found to be a massive turn-off. There was already a lot of good material and tension present in the story as it was, so there was no need to throw in a plot twist that was so very at odds with the rest of the story.
I can’t say that I liked The First Rule of Swimming. Brkic’s poor writing was confusing and really ruined the book for me. The story had its moments, and I did love the unique setting and focus on family dynamics, but all in all, it wasn’t the greatest novel ever.
