#tomasz jedrowski

[metamorphesque]

This is how I lived back then– through books. I locked myself into their stories, dreamt of their characters at night, pretended to be them. They were my armour against the hard edges of reality.  

― Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

[emcyan]

swallowing geography, deborah levy / the idiot, elif batuman / swimming in the dark, tomasz jedrowski / burnt norton, t.s. eliot + budapest

[llovelymoonn]

tomasz jedrowski swimming in the dark

kofi

[goodlittlegoddess]

“Some people, some events, make you lose your head. They’re like guillotines, cutting your life in two, the dead and the alive, the before and the after.”

— Tomasz Jedrowski, from Swimming in the Dark

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[arylleth]

when tomasz jedrowski wrote... " this wasn't distraction or entertainment: here was a book that seemed to have been written for me, which lifted me up into its realm and united me with something that seemed to have been there all along and that I seemed to be a part of. it felt as if the words and the thoughts of the narrator – despite their agony, despite their pain – healed some of my agony and my pain, simply by existing "

[lauratheghost]

My favorite books I read in 2024

(*spoiler: they are all gay romances /tragedies*)

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

5 stars

Set in the 80's in Poland. Loved the way this book was written- I can't stress that enough, the language was really beautiful. Shows the struggles of political issues during that time. No happy ending but it made a lasting impact on me.

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

5 stars

I've never cried over a book so badly before- I gave myself a migraine. And then I cried again when I went through and tabbed and highlighted it.

It's slightly controversial because of the ages of the characters, but I really related to Elio on a certain level for some reason. No happy ending.

Fine Me by Andre Aciman

4 stars

A lot of people don't like this sequel, but I enjoyed it for the most part. It gives you the ending you want in the first book, and I actually enjoyed the POV from the father. (I know many people thought this was irrelevant but I actually think it was important.) It did start a bit slow though and took me a bit to get into.

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

4 stars

I honestly didn't know this was based on a short story until a few months ago. I read it within an hour or two since it's very short. It was very sad though, to the point that I'm too scared to watch the movie still.

What Belongs To You by Garth Greenwell

4 stars

Sheesh, idk where to start with this book. The way it was written was very challenging to read- to the point where I almost quit this book a few times. But, I was so curious about the characters that I kept coming back to it.

Overall, a very dark, gloomy atmosphere to this book. It honestly made me never want to go to where this book takes place (but I know that's not a fair way to judge a place.) It just seemed so, so depressing and awful.

Parts of this book were honestly disturbing. The details for every little thing were so descriptive that I can't believe this isn't an autobiography or a true story.

I'm still glad I read the book, but it was pretty hard to get through.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

4 stars

Deemed a classic, and in Swimming In The Dark the main character loves this book, which is what made me curious enough to finally read it.

Not sure what to say about this one other than it was sad and complex, and nothing ended well for anyone.

Lie With Me by Phillippe Besson

5 stars

(this book was translated by Molly Ringwald, so that's random and interesting to me)

I really liked this one. I loved the way it was written, and the setting in the French countryside.

The passing of time in the book was also interesting. .. I'm realizing now this book is hard to talk about without saying too much. But once again, no happy ending.

Tin Man by Sarah Winman

4 stars

Kind've hauntingly beautiful. The only thing I disliked about the book was that the timeline was a bit confusing as it kept jumping around. But overall, I did enjoy the story and it stuck with me for a while.

Anyways, if you see this post and you also like these books and have any book recs, let me know! 😊🖤

[smokefalls]

Because you were right when you said that people can’t always give us what we want from them; that you can’t ask them to love you the way you want.

Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

[frammento]

Because you were right when you said that people can’t always give us what we want from them; that you can’t ask them to love you the way you want. No one can be blamed for that. And the odds had been stacked against us from the start: we had no manual, no one to show us the way. Not one example of a happy couple made up of boys. How were we supposed to know what to do? Did we even believe that we deserved to get away with happiness?

Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

[bodangob]

Belki olan biten her şey idrak edemeyeceğim kadar büyüktü ya da henüz hiçbir anlam ifade etmiyordu. Yere yatıp sokaktaki betonu yüzümde hissetmek istediğim anlar oluyordu. Sadece yatmak, durmak… Üstümde kocaman bir ağırlık hissetmek, kemiklerimin kırıldığını, uykuya daldığımı, sonsuza kadar… Ama hepsini zihnimden itiyordum.

[emcyan]

swimming in the dark, tomasz jedrowski // normafa, budapest

[tthatti]

En büyük korkum yapayalnız kalmaktı ama bir yanım öyle olacağından emindi ki bu da birinin başına gelebilecek en kötü şeydir.

[mccoppinscrapyard]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge July

Day 23: Still Not Over This

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

(I finished to the audiobook about a month ago and this book has lived rent free in my head ever since so I had to get a physical copy, and I’m in the process of annotating my favorite parts. At just under 200 pages it packs an emotional punch.)

[previouslysad]

Some things cannot be erased through silence.

Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

[alittleliterature]

quotes from chapter 2 of “swimming in the dark” by tomasz jedrowski

i urge you all to explore literature from other countries, this book is beautiful

[princessofmistake]

Wszystko mija, nawet najdłuższa żmija. Tutto passa, anche la più lunga delle vipere.