The poetry of the love story between two boys in communist Poland is an enveloping reading experience. The use of language is heavenly. When you lines like this on the page, “ a strong neck with a place made out for his Adam’s apple” or “ I felt a dull reproach against myself, an alienation from my twenty-two-year old body” ,you can’t help but fall under the spell of the writing. ( )

A beautifully written, almost poetic book. Though the story itself has not much going on, it was never boring and the first half of the book had my favourite writing so far this year.
I'll be looking for more books like this as I feel like a lot of contemporary or fiction novels in general that I have found so far have a stream of consciousness form of narration with a detached tone, Sally Rooney, Naoise Dolan etc. While I enjoyed those books, I also appreciate beautiful and emotive narration. The good old fashioned reader in me misses it a lot.
Really enjoyed this wonderful book, it discusses the narrator coming to terms with his sexuality with a country that is struggling to find an identity of its own in the background. ( )

I absolutely loved this book both as a gay man and someone who has Polish (from my Dad's mother's side, mostly from Podlaskie Voivodeship). I loved how Tomasz Jedrowski made you feel Ludwik's emotions from erotic lust, jealousy, and political anger.

However, having Polish, this novel made me re-realize how much the Polish fought to keep there culture alive from occupations, genocide, and authoritarian dictatorships. I also hope, gays in Poland, now, know of this novel and see there is hope for them because it makes me angry where Poland, politically, is going.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good gay male romance along with cold war and Polish history. Keep in mind this is a non-linear novel so the plot keeps going back to flashbacks. As well as, keeping in mind, the narrator, Ludwik, is talking to Janusz. ( )

Incredible! If you want only one word to sum up a book, 'incredible' is the word, and this is the book.
Swimming in the Dark makes a few references to Jomes Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. Giovanni's Room is one of the most influential novels in literature. It portrays the forbidden relationship between two men who love one another. Anyone who has read that novel will find it almost unimaginable that this one is as good! It is as powerful and as emotionally devastating as Baldwin's, dealing with so much more than the pain of same-sex relationships.
Yet, the story of the relationship between two men exists in a climate even more toxic than that of Baldwin's classic. This book is like an onion with many layers to peel, any one of which can bring you to tears.
As a boy, Ludwik experiences feelings for another boy who shares his feelings. As their relationship develops, anti-semitism sweeps Ludwig's young lover away, never to be found again.
A few years later, Ludwik meets Janusz, reigniting his preference for other men. The two young men confine their encounters to infrequent events, yet each man realizes he deeply loves the other. The homophobic atmosphere of Poland and Poland's Soviet dominators prevents the fullness of the relationship Ludwik craves.
Neither lover feels free to allow anyone else to know about their relationship. Ludwik cannot face his own sexuality until forced to, very late in the novel. He struggles to even say the word 'homosexual,' yet being able to say it holds the key to his freedom. His self-realization is every bit as powerful as Huckleberry Finn's declaration, "All right. I'll just go to hell,' for Mark Twain's powerful social commentary.

Jamusz makes Faustian deals, almost entirely unconcerned about their impact upon his others. He pretends having a strong relationship with a girl, joins the repressive ruling political party, hardens himself to the plight of others. At the same time, he enjoys the luxuries of wealth and privilege. He loves Ludwik but loves himself and his comforts even more.
The contract between the two men indites the repressive rule of Communism, condemns the self-indulgent corruption of political Power, demonstrates the toll of poverty on those victimized by the power elite (Communist or not--consider homelessness in America, for example), and exposes the monumental hoax of Communism in general.
The novel amply proves, "Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely." Layer after later of this book peels back to expose human foible and human self-centeredness in every way possible.
Beyond the Power of the novel's themes is author Tomasz Jedrowski's powerful command of language. Describing Ludwik's dilemma between following the course Janusz has surrendered to or refusing his pwn Faustian deal, Ludwik thinks, "I was paralyzed by possibility, caught between the vertigo of fulfillment and the abyss of uncertainty."
Swimming in the Dark is Jedrowski's first novel. I want to be first in line for his future products.
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A coming out novel set in the Poland just prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Matter of fact, this is a story of a love broken up by a conservative set of societal norms. Remorseless in its vivid portrayal of a time and a place, it could have buried itself in cheap sentiment. But like the novel that plays such a pivotal role in the book (Baldwin’s _Giovanni’s Room_), Jederowski’s novel focuses on the social alienation of the narrator and his central dilemma: Can he be happy lying about his sexuality and his love?

Spoiler Quote:
“…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.” ( )