Swimming in the Dark
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Will Watt
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By:
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Tomasz Jedrowski
About this listen
"Imagine Call Me by Your Name set in Communist Poland and you'll get a sense of Jedrowski's moving debut about a consuming love affair amidst a country being torn apart." (O Magazine, LGBTQ Books That'll Change the Literary Landscape in 2020)
"Captivating both for its shimmering surfaces and its terrifying depths. Tomasz Jedrowski is a remarkable writer." (Justin Torres, best-selling author of We the Animals)
Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism, a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide - a stunningly poetic and heartrending literary debut for fans of Andre Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst.
When university student Ludwik meets Janusz at a summer agricultural camp, he is fascinated yet wary of this handsome, carefree stranger. But a chance meeting by the river soon becomes an intense, exhilarating, and all-consuming affair. After their camp duties are fulfilled, the pair spend a dreamlike few weeks camping in the countryside, bonding over an illicit copy of James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. Inhabiting a beautiful natural world removed from society and its constraints, Ludwik and Janusz fall deeply in love. But in their repressive communist and Catholic society, the passion they share is utterly unthinkable.
Once they return to Warsaw, the charismatic Janusz quickly rises in the political ranks of the party and is rewarded with a highly-coveted position in the ministry. Ludwik is drawn toward impulsive acts of protest, unable to ignore rising food prices and the stark economic disparity around them. Their secret love and personal and political differences slowly begin to tear them apart as both men struggle to survive in a regime on the brink of collapse.
Shifting from the intoxication of first love to the quiet melancholy of growing up and growing apart, Swimming in the Dark is a potent blend of romance, post-war politics, intrigue, and history. Lyrical and sensual, immersive and intense, Tomasz Jedrowski has crafted an indelible and thought-provoking literary debut that explores freedom and love in all its incarnations.
©2020 Tomasz Jedrowski (P)2020 HarperAudioListeners also enjoyed...
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This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who "shares the blood" by two women there, Gilda spends the next 200 years searching for a place to call home. An instant lesbian classic when it was first published in 1991, The Gilda Stories has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of blackness, radical ecology, re-definitions of family, and yes, the erotic potential of the vampire story.
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A Critical and Timely Classic
- By Qasima Wideman on 08-09-19
By: Jewelle Gomez
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The Shadow Lines
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Raj Varma
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Opening in Calcutta in the 1960s, Ghosh’s radiant second novel follows two families - one English, one Bengali - as their lives intertwine in tragic and comic ways. The narrator, Indian-born and English educated, traces events back and forth in time, through years of Bengali partition and violence, observing the ways in which political events invade private lives.
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Narrator Doesn't Know How to Pronounce
- By Amazon Customer on 08-27-11
By: Amitav Ghosh
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The Puzzle Women
- By: Anna Ellory
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Berlin, 1989. Siblings Rune and Lotte are shaken awake by Mama and told to follow her quietly into the night. Last time they snuck away from Papa, with Mama bruised and broken, they were back within a week. But this time they are starting a new life, Mama says - where nobody can ever hurt them again. Ten years later, the memories of their escape are blurry; Mama is long gone, and the siblings are back at Papa’s house.
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Heartbreak to Joy
- By Jo Ann Roussey on 01-17-21
By: Anna Ellory
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I Couldn't Love You More
- A Novel
- By: Esther Freud
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
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A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past.
By: Esther Freud
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A Happy Death
- By: Albert Camus
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Abridged
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In his first novel, A Happy Death, written when he was in his early 20s and retrieved from his private papers following his death in 1960, Albert Camus laid the foundation for The Stranger, focusing in both works on an Algerian clerk who kills a man in cold blood. But he also revealed himself to an extent that he never would in his later fiction. For if A Happy Death is the study of a rule-bound being shattering the fetters of his existence, it is also a remarkably candid portrait of its author as a young man.
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Camus Secret Masterpiece
- By Samuel Cohen on 08-03-19
By: Albert Camus
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Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light
- By: Tanya Huff
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
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First published in 1989 and taking place in downtown Toronto, one of the earliest of the modern urban fantasies, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light is the story of a fight against encroaching darkness by a developmentally handicapped young woman, a street musician with no idea of his potential, a bag-lady who's tired of picking up the pieces, and an adept of the light. Mixing actual Toronto ghost-stories with traditional Faire, a police procedural, and a cat, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light opened a gate at street level to the urban fantasy that followed.
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Old favorite novel, awful narrator...
- By S. Douma on 08-15-14
By: Tanya Huff
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Elliott appears to be living the dream as a successful TV writer with a doting boyfriend. But behind his Instagram filter of a life, he’s grappling with an intensifying alcohol addiction, he can’t seem to stop cheating on his boyfriend with various sex workers, and his cerebral palsy is making him feel like gay Shrek.
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The very deepest end of the pool
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Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving LA for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with. Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways.
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Great Performance; Strange Obsession with White People
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By: Aaron H. Aceves
What listeners say about Swimming in the Dark
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- diane davey
- 10-01-20
Beautifully Written
There was nothing to dislike about this book. It was a beautifully written, realistic story of two young men in love during communist Poland. It gave us an insight into life’s struggles for ordinary people during that time, especially for Ludwik, the likeable main character, torn between wanting to be free of the communist regime and his love for Janusz. The narrator was easy to listen too.
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- MGHart
- 07-24-21
Together, Jedrowski and Watt are stellar
Flawless novel and unsurpassed performance. I will seek out and support both of these artists. The story ends in hope, and I hope for this story to be continued.
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- Eric
- 10-11-20
So beautiful yet so sad
Such an interesting book. Its a gay themed story set in a most unusual setting - communist Poland.
The author so vividly and sensuality describes the sensations and feelings of a young gay man falling for someone for the first time. I really reminded me of my experiences and allowed me to feel them again through the characters.
The plot is rather predictable though, sort of the same as every other gay story set before our current day.
What really sets it apart from other gay books is it's setting in communist Poland. It was so interesting to hear about the forced labor for young people before they're allowed to graduate and the oppressive, inept government and how it affected people's daily lives. With some characters in support of the communists and trying to work in the system and others against it, it really gives food for thought and is an interesting look into Poland during that era.
I absolutely recommend reading this book.
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- Janet L
- 01-26-22
Touching
Beautiful narration and a touching story. I felt I knew these characters. Their world is so clearly articulated and their relationship so fully understandable. It is a most rewarding read.
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- AJ McLaren
- 03-13-23
immaculate
for a novel less than 200 pages, this packed an emotional punch. kudos to the narrator for putting all of the feeling and emotion into every word.
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- Carlos
- 07-07-23
Beautifully Narrated
Outstanding story and Beautifully Narrated. I wish I found this story when I was a teen.
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- Eric Warnick
- 07-22-24
Wonderful story
Coming of age, exploration Turns love, turns acceptance, devotion and heartbreak. That doesn’t even remotely scratch the surface
Immensely meaningful
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- Casey
- 10-20-20
This is a stunning book.
This is a stunning book. To start, the writing is something to admire on its own. I found it economic in the best possible way yet with a deep richness in the characters and environments. I found myself daydreaming of every person, every sweater, every street. I'm incredibly visual in nature so it really hit in a very specific way, the way that my favorite books do. If this kind of writing is something you admire I think you will be completely enamored with this book. I found myself looking at pictures of Poland to try to actually see the landscapes written about and I couldn't get enough.
The story is fairly heartbreaking but it's honesty and place in history and time gives a bit of ease. You may understand how we are products of where we sit in time, I'm not sure everyone will find some relief in that but I did. This story couldn't have happened another way based on when and where it sits so its heartbreaking but impossible to imagine otherwise. I hope LGBTQ people are having a better time there now, from the little I've read it seems only a little.
I highly recommend this book if you are someone who loves to understand how gay people made their way in life in different points in time and the effect that society has on informing decisions you make about love and how you view yourself.
Another case of a narrator, Will M. Watt, making an incredible book an even richer experience. Such a lovely voice that brought me deeper into the story and the lead character. One of the best I've heard this year.
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11 people found this helpful
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- S. B.
- 08-03-20
A book about Love and friendship
The politics this search for love and the Importance of friendship All reinforced In wonderful dialog and narration. A truly life affirming story Of angst and deep seeded need
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1 person found this helpful
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- teodoro rodriguez
- 05-31-21
Different
different and unexpected. Thought I wouldn’t like it in the beginning but word by word draw me in. A reality that is unfamiliar and true of how things were only yesterday. The detail of the places and the characters so well written, so authentic.
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