Title: How the Water Feels to the Fishes
Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: McSweeney’s
ISBN: 9781932416824
Genre: Short Stories, Literary Fiction
Pages: 63
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5/5
Dave Eggers has always been at the top of the list writers for me in the last decade. Everything I have ever read, which is written by him is simply fabulous. I mean, to put it simply, Eggers cannot go wrong with the written word. He has proved that time and again. I had bought this book a long time ago and got the chance to read it right now and once again was very glad that the month has started with something interesting. This one book is a part of three books. I just decided to read this one alone.
“How the Water feels to the Fishes” is a collection of very short stories – around thirty three of them and most of them are short and extremely interesting. They are centered on characters that are mostly lost and searching for a part of themselves. The stories are full of impact and that is what I loved about them – they need not be long to impress the reader, they can just be communicated with the intent with which they were written and it is all fine.
The characters in this book may seem like touch and go to begin with; however there are plenty of layers to them, which Eggers does not give away that easily. The reader has to work hard to understand every single one of them. Each story has its own life and takes its own course. I loved each and every story. From a boy whose face never gets clicked to the girl who wants a new journal, each story just shines with humanity, pathos and the reality of living. Eggers does not mince his words. He tells it like the way it is. A read not to be missed. Short, sweet and full of life and its ironies.
Here is one quick story from the collection:
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