Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Vintage (2005), Paperback, 226 pages
Description
A New York Times notable book and winner of The Northern California Book Award for Best Short Fiction, these nine brave, wise, and spellbinding stories make up this debut. In "When She is Old and I Am Famous" a young woman confronts the inscrutable power of her cousin's beauty. In "Note to Sixth-Grade Self" a band of popular girls exert their social power over an awkward outcast. In "Isabel Fish" fourteen-year-old Maddy learns to scuba dive in order to mend her family after a terrible accident. Alive with the victories, humiliations, and tragedies of youth, How to Breathe Underwater illuminates this powerful territory with striking grace and intelligence. "These stories are without exception clear-eyed, compaassionate and deeply moving.... Even her most bitter characters have a gift, the sharp wit of envy. This, Orringer's first book, is breathtakingly good, truly felt and beautifully delivered."--The Guardian … (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Whisper1
I liked this book very much. All of the nine short stories contain an in depth study of teen age years and situations that occur, some of which impact us for a lifetime.
Note to Sixth Grade Self is a superbly written tale of a young woman who simply doesn't fit in no matter how hard she tries.
The
Stations of the Cross also chronicles the sense of non belonging and the terrible things we do to fit in and buckle under peer pressure.
While some of the stories were deeply disturbing, this is a book that many can relate to.
Note to Sixth Grade Self is a superbly written tale of a young woman who simply doesn't fit in no matter how hard she tries.
The
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Isabel Fish deals with the heavy subject of two young girls who took a fast ride in a car and one died, leaving the other with incredible guilt and remorse and a brother who cannot forgive her because she survived and his girlfriend died.Stations of the Cross also chronicles the sense of non belonging and the terrible things we do to fit in and buckle under peer pressure.
While some of the stories were deeply disturbing, this is a book that many can relate to.
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LibraryThing member CarltonC
An impressive debut with nine emotionally engaging stories about adolescent American girls and young women, many involving Jewish backgrounds.
My favourite, and it is difficult as they are all excellent, is The Isabel Fish, which tells, with skillful use of flashbacks, the relationship between a
My favourite, and it is difficult as they are all excellent, is The Isabel Fish, which tells, with skillful use of flashbacks, the relationship between a
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brother and sister after the sister escapes a car driven into a lake by the brother's girlfriend, who dies in the accident. The amount of story and emotion compressed into 30 pages is breathtaking. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lisa2013
recommended for: short story fans and those who don't realize how good short stories can be
Collection of lovely short stories about children and adolescents. Very dark themes. They brought up a lot of emotions for me. Long after reading this book, I found myself thinking of certain of the stories.
Collection of lovely short stories about children and adolescents. Very dark themes. They brought up a lot of emotions for me. Long after reading this book, I found myself thinking of certain of the stories.
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Each story is complete; she really knows how to write short stories well. Show Less
LibraryThing member joesavage
Lots of short stories. My wife made me read it because we have two girls and I think I learned something.
LibraryThing member billmcn
Julie Orringer lived down the hall from me my junior year at college. She had a big fuzzy white bathrobe and one of those Danish office chairs you kneel on that are a lot more comfortable than they look. We never got to know each other particularly well, but she seemed nice enough, and I remembered
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her name years later when I stumbled across How to Breathe Underwater on the new releases table at my local bookstore. I bought it for novelty's sake, because, as tenuous as it is, my personal connection to Julie is the closest I've ever come to knowing a published author of literary fiction. I swear I'll get around to reading the book someday. Show Less
LibraryThing member Monica71
A collection of dark, tragic stories, yet not completely depressing. A good read. Overall, I liked probably half of the stories.
LibraryThing member miriamparker
OH MY GOD. She does all the things you aren't supposed to do in stories and her stories are so good because of it. Kill little children! It should happen more often. :)
LibraryThing member HomeGirlQuel
I'm an instant fan. Brilliant writer.
LibraryThing member aschrader
I am not ordinarily an avid reader of short fiction. However, this collection is outstanding. I couldn't put it down. The stories are devastating, wry, and beautifully crafted. The protagonists--all women on the border between childhood and adolescence; between adolescence and young
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adulthood--experience (and inflict) violence, guilt, and isolation. They're occasionally blessed by small moments of grace. I found this collection deeply moving; I recognized myself and other women I've known within these stories, and found myself surprised into tears by several of them. Show Less
LibraryThing member Beamis12
As I was reading this book, I kept thinking that I would rate this book a 3, but when I finished I realized that would not be fair. I loved these stories, usually in short stories you like some, dislike some, but in this book I liked them all. All young women, different ages, different life
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circumstances, but all facing challenges that they need to find their way through and without parental involvement. The first story, "Pilgrims" was chilling and gave off a Lord of the Flies type of vibe. "Isobel Fish" was one of my favorites and I expected something to happen that did not and I was glad. Her prose is natural. her storytelling and pacing is smooth and I have never read her novel, but if it is written with the same type of prose, I definitely will. Show Less
LibraryThing member tandah
I wonder if there is any such thing as a book of short stories which is uplifting? I hear it's a much more difficult art form than novels, though not as challenging as poetry. 'How to Breathe Underwater' shows a masterful understanding on the responses a series of teenage girls have to the
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circumstances they are confronted with. Most beautiful is the access we have to their emotions and the impact it has on their decisions. Most of the stories are about small, though dramatic events. They're not happy stories, but clearly there is resilience and lessons learned and survival. I suspect a few of the tales will haunt me, popping up at odd times as, as often happens, Alice Munro's do. What I find interesting is that even though the style of writing feels like the author is much, much older than Julie Orringer, the actual stories are very fresh. Show Less
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
How to Breathe Underwater, Julie Orringer
This, the first book written by Orringer, is an excellent collection of original short stories, concentrating mostly on the young and the difficulties they have coming of age as teens or young adults. The problems they face are unique and the way that they
Every story is rewarding, in some way. It is so refreshing today, to read a story that might contain sex, but is not about sex, that might have a foul word or two, but only if the words are there for a purpose rather than shock value. It is heartening to read about subjects that are not really political or biased or trapped in the PC culture of our modern times. Because it was written just over a decade and a half ago, there is no gender bias or confusion, little racism, and no hate for law enforcement. There is no call for resistance to the powers that be. There is racism, and there is cruelty, but it is managed well and with morality. It is not offensive. Best of all, politics does not invade every story with the author’s personal view.
Each piece that the author has written imparts a value lesson which is largely absent in today’s literature and in today’s daily life with the proliferation of social media and the need for so many to have fifteen minutes of fame and to learn all in a sound bite. This book was written in a more peaceful, or perhaps a more stable time, yet the subject matter covered would not be described as peaceful. Most of the stories are dark, and some are depressing, but they all end with a bit of a hopeful outlook since they move on into a future that is somewhat successful. Problems are resolved either positively or negatively, but they are resolved in a palatable way. The readers are left with the task of thoughtfully ending each story for themselves.
The unwed mother raises her child, the conflicted teen figures out the right thing to do to help a friend, courage overcomes weakness, the missing child turns up, devastating loss is coped with in ways that carry the characters forward, few actually die during the story (that largely occurs before or in our imaginations later on), but the idea of death is front and center in some stories, religious confusion and intolerance are worked through discretely, without causing resentment, really poor decisions are recognized and acted upon correctly before they go completely awry.
The intuitive approach of the author is detailed and authentic. She knows her characters and their problems intimately. Her insight makes them feel like they are real and not made up out of whole cloth. Even the most bizarre or reckless of the stories has plausibility. They do not seem to be fiction, but rather more like mini memoirs. As the author touches children’s innate cruelty, people’s innate bigotry, teens innate jealousy, loss, illness, jealousy, anger, divorce, cruelty, kindness, and so much more in just a handful of stories, she analyzes the stuff of real life, the pain, the pleasure, the loss, the gain, the heartache, the frustration and the helplessness we all sometimes feel. Yet, in each story, there is a resolution that prevents catastrophe. In each story, no one is painted into a corner without an escape route, and most often, the escape route is chosen well.
This book is well worth the read. Put it in on the nightstand and read one or two a night!
This, the first book written by Orringer, is an excellent collection of original short stories, concentrating mostly on the young and the difficulties they have coming of age as teens or young adults. The problems they face are unique and the way that they
Show More
approach them determines an outcome that will probably haunt them in some way throughout the rest of their lives. The author seems to have entered the heads of her characters and their stories seem more real than fiction.Every story is rewarding, in some way. It is so refreshing today, to read a story that might contain sex, but is not about sex, that might have a foul word or two, but only if the words are there for a purpose rather than shock value. It is heartening to read about subjects that are not really political or biased or trapped in the PC culture of our modern times. Because it was written just over a decade and a half ago, there is no gender bias or confusion, little racism, and no hate for law enforcement. There is no call for resistance to the powers that be. There is racism, and there is cruelty, but it is managed well and with morality. It is not offensive. Best of all, politics does not invade every story with the author’s personal view.
Each piece that the author has written imparts a value lesson which is largely absent in today’s literature and in today’s daily life with the proliferation of social media and the need for so many to have fifteen minutes of fame and to learn all in a sound bite. This book was written in a more peaceful, or perhaps a more stable time, yet the subject matter covered would not be described as peaceful. Most of the stories are dark, and some are depressing, but they all end with a bit of a hopeful outlook since they move on into a future that is somewhat successful. Problems are resolved either positively or negatively, but they are resolved in a palatable way. The readers are left with the task of thoughtfully ending each story for themselves.
The unwed mother raises her child, the conflicted teen figures out the right thing to do to help a friend, courage overcomes weakness, the missing child turns up, devastating loss is coped with in ways that carry the characters forward, few actually die during the story (that largely occurs before or in our imaginations later on), but the idea of death is front and center in some stories, religious confusion and intolerance are worked through discretely, without causing resentment, really poor decisions are recognized and acted upon correctly before they go completely awry.
The intuitive approach of the author is detailed and authentic. She knows her characters and their problems intimately. Her insight makes them feel like they are real and not made up out of whole cloth. Even the most bizarre or reckless of the stories has plausibility. They do not seem to be fiction, but rather more like mini memoirs. As the author touches children’s innate cruelty, people’s innate bigotry, teens innate jealousy, loss, illness, jealousy, anger, divorce, cruelty, kindness, and so much more in just a handful of stories, she analyzes the stuff of real life, the pain, the pleasure, the loss, the gain, the heartache, the frustration and the helplessness we all sometimes feel. Yet, in each story, there is a resolution that prevents catastrophe. In each story, no one is painted into a corner without an escape route, and most often, the escape route is chosen well.
This book is well worth the read. Put it in on the nightstand and read one or two a night!
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LibraryThing member m.belljackson
I love Julie Orringer's The Invisible Bridge and was looking forward to this book of nine precursor stories.
Unfortunately, they feel overflowing and packed with human cruelty, death, cancer, sadness, and depression,
with only vague or not at all redemptions.
Unfortunately, they feel overflowing and packed with human cruelty, death, cancer, sadness, and depression,
with only vague or not at all redemptions.
LibraryThing member ennuiprayer
The book is a collection of short stories by Julie Orringer. I took a chance on a new author and I loved her work. The two that I really like are "When She is Old and I Am Famous" and "Note to Sixth-Grade Self." Along with "The Isabel Fish" and "The Smoothest Way Is Full of Stones," this book is
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the perfect sample of lives of people you probably know or meet in the future. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (Finalist — Fiction — 2005)
Language
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
226 p.; 8.08 inches
ISBN
1400034361 / 9781400034369