Aquarium

This was not an easy read in that it often felt unbearably sad, but it left an impression on me and I really appreciated the book as a whole. It gave a glimpse into a side of people we don't want to see and the believability of the story and characters makes it all the more difficult to read. A young girl, Caitlin, has a fascination with fish and befriends an older man at the local aquarium. The story starts out deceptively light and quiet. Once Caitlin's mother learns about Caitlin's friend her fear for her daughter is heightened due to something that happened to her growing up. The mother's difficult past has manifested into hatred and borderline sadistic behavior, making her a wholly unlikable character, leaving little room for sympathy (in my opinion). My heart ached for other characters in the story as I experienced brutal, heavy, and raw moments alongside them.The language is beautifully stylistic and at times prose like, with wonderful imagery. I often found myself pausing to appreciate how appropriately and beautifully the fish/aquarium metaphor was used. One particular image still stands out in my mind, weeks after finishing the book. I'm normally drawn to books due to strong narrative and characters rather than style of writing, but Vann's use of language is a stand-out in this book. It is largely introspective and at times profound... "A terrible moment in childhood hovers with a kind of eternity, unbearable.""Each thing that happens to us, each and every thing, it leaves some dent, and that dent will always be there. Each of us is a walking wreck."The narrative is quieter in my opinion; the story in and of itself is not a page turner though there is a surprise or two and the chapters are short enough it's easy to keep reading "just one chapter more". I read it in a few days because I was so drawn to the language and characters, who are fully believable and well-written, if not all likeable. As others have mentioned, I also highly recommend the physical hardcover book. I don't know that I've ever read a book so physically appealing... thick pages with a smooth feel, two colored font, color images that add to the story, textured cover... it definitely added to my reading experience.

AQUARIUM is a strange novel that shifts genres as the narrative evolves. Initially, AQUARIUM reads like a strangely allegorical YA novel, as 12 year-old Caitlin Thompson and an elderly man who she considers her friend discuss the fish in the Seattle aquarium. In doing so, they enable author David Vann to display his descriptive chops and to explore the characters and imaginations of Caitlin and her grizzled buddy. Here, for example, is Vann in action as Caitlin describes the ghost pipefish.“I found him at the darkest tank, in a corner, alone, peering through what could have been a window to the stars, endless black and cold and only a few points of life. Hung in this void like a small constellation, the ghost pipefish, impossible. Like a leaf giving birth to stars, I said… Body of small green leaves, veined, very thin, its fins painted in light cast from elsewhere, but from his eye out his long snout, an eruption of galaxies without foreign source, born in the fish itself. An opening in the small fabric of the world, a place to fall into endlessly. He’s my favorite fish, I said…”In its YA phase, AQARIUM is a sad book. Caitlin, you see, is being raised by her mother who works strange hours at a minimum wage job. They are very poor. There is no family or support network. And Caitlin is basically a waif that, nonetheless, has a loving dependency on her mother, who calls her daughter sweet pea. But then Sherri, the mother, erupts and slaps Caitlin and Vann begins to reveal her self-defeating rage, which stems from her father’s abandonment of Sherri’s penurious mother as she was dying of cancer. This story is gruesome and Caitlin is often the undeserved target of Sherri’s anger.In the next phase of AQUARIUM, Vann explores Caitlin’s situation as Sherri’s father returns and tries to restore the Thompson family. The unforgiving Sherri, however, is implacable and the innocent Caitlin, eager for the better life her grandfather would provide, is caught in the middle. The difficult reconciliation of Sherri and her father is definitely the great subject of this book. Nonetheless, Vann does throw in a plot twist—a precocious physical relationship between Caitlin and Shalini, Caitlin’s only friend. For Sherri, this crosses a red line. But if you read AQARIUM, you will see that this also leads to the cathartic event that enables Sherri to let go. The cliché is “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”AQUARIUM has lots of craft. But the book seems to chase after its subject. Regardless, AQARIUM is an involving case study of rage, especially as Sherri has a conniption and destroys, piece by piece, her father’s car.

excellent

Ce livre qui part d’une belle idée cultive malheureusement le sordide et est loin,à mon avis,d’être le « pur moment de grâce » promis par la quatrième de couverture.Le comportement de la mère vis à vis de sa fille est totalement invraisemblable à moins de relever de la psychiatrie et l’obsession de la petite de 12 ans pour les poissons n’arrive pas à me convaincre. Au total un roman décevant, fabriqué,mal écrit,une fin bâclée...Sur un thème très voisin il faut lire « une vie inachevée » de Mark Spragg qui est une merveille de délicatesse et d’humanité.

Eine Familiengeschichte mit Schuld und Vergebung, mit Leid und Tod, Liebe und Solidarität. Im heutigen Nordamerika, mit allen Härten, die das Leben dort für arme Menschen bereit hält. Die Mutter ist die zentrale Figur und vermutlich würden Eltern dem Buch mehr Sterne geben. Ich als Tante sehe dagegen zu viele aufs Elementare eingedampfte psychologische Ansätze mit zu schnellen Auflösungen. Das Buch hätte dicker sein müssen, mehr Sorgfalt und Zeit für Entwicklungen gebraucht in den einzelnen Kapiteln.Ich kann es trotzdem empfehlen, es ist ergreifend von der Geschichte her und ordentlich geschrieben, wobei ich nur die englische Version kenne.

This is a beautifully written story seen through the lens of a twelve year old daughter of a single parent. She is sweet and innocent but at the same time wise well beyond her years. We learn to like and respect her family unit until we have a much closer look. The man she meets in the aquarium where she spends all of her free time is pivotal. We learn to love him and then we wish we could hate him for past mistakes. This is a book that challenges any understanding you may have of what it means to have a family loving or otherwise. It is about human mistakes that cannot be forgiven but a family that is still able to move forward and come together.

Original above all, terrible and beautiful at the same time. Better not to reveal anything else. An incredible and unforgettable experience.