The Swimmer
Jose Ramón 1NA
In my opinion I
must agree with conclusion made by the Spanish editor in the brief introduction
to this short story. In the end, the author J. Sheever makes a criticism about
the socially accepted idea of “the American dream”. The Swimmer is a story
about a well provided middle-aged man blessed with a good family and who is
admired by his neighbours. Suddenly, an apparently absurd idea of crossing all
the country swimming in the pools of all his neighbours seems to drive him
crazy. He thinks about himself that he is spending his leisure time, but you
can see that he is looking all that is worthy for him, family, currency, acceptation
by others… In the end he comes to the deception of his abandoned house and
ruined life.
To be honest I
didn’t like any of the short stories, but if I have to choose one I would
prefer the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, specially the scene at the hospital
when Benjamin was born. I think that it express with good sense of humour the
unrealistic situation of a seventy-year-old baby talking to his young and
surprised father.
Certainly, the story of Benjamin Button is more full of anecdotes, his reading is more enjoyable, because an impossible situation is presented for a start. The rest is to let the pen write.
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