Carry Me Like Water

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Diego, the deaf-mute son of Mexican migrant workers, and his pseudo-yuppie sister, Helen, find their lives transformed when Helen's roommate, a dedicated AIDS nurse, discovers she has the ability for out-of-body travel

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Magical Realism, Contemporary, Queer, Adult, Young Adult

503 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

About the author

Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 16 August 1954) is an award-winning American poet, novelist and writer of children's books.

He was born at Old Picacho, New Mexico, the fourth of seven children, and was raised on a small farm near Mesilla, New Mexico. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1972. That fall, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado where he received a B.A. degree in Humanities and Philosophy in 1977. He studied Theology at the University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium from 1977 to 1981. He was a priest for a few years in El Paso, Texas before leaving the order.

In 1985, he returned to school, and studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned an M.A. degree in Creative Writing. He then spent a year at the University of Iowa as a PhD student in American Literature. A year later, he was awarded a Wallace E. Stegner fellowship. While at Stanford University under the guidance of Denise Levertov, he completed his first book of poems, Calendar of Dust, which won an American Book Award in 1992. He entered the Ph.D. program at Stanford and continued his studies for two more years. Before completing his Ph.D., he moved back to the border and began teaching at the University of Texas at El Paso in the bilingual MFA program.

His first novel, Carry Me Like Water was a saga that brought together the Victorian novel and the Latin American tradition of magic realism and received much critical attention.

In The Book of What Remains (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), his fifth book of poems, he writes to the core truth of life's ever-shifting memories. Set along the Mexican border, the contrast between the desert's austere beauty and the brutality of border politics mirrors humanity's capacity for both generosity and cruelty.

In 2005, he curated a show of photographs by Julian Cardona.

He continues to teach in the Creative Writing Department at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Reviews

[Daniel Carpio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything this man writes is absolute perfection. Wow. What a gorgeously written novel. I’m speechless. This was everything I could have ever wanted and more.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true 5 star rating.

A couple times I opened this book on my e-reader, looked at the page count and went to something else. It was long, but once I got into it I didn’t find it as daunting. The characters were loveable, and I loved how everyone was connected. My mom’s best friend died of AIDs so that was another reason I hesitated with this for so long but the author did Joaquin & Jacob’s story justice. Carry Me Like Water was emotional, strange and hooked me from the first chapter.
Definitely recommend this!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really was and wasn't. I just don't know how to feel about it.

Simultaneously great and awful... I want to say the characters were well developed, but at the same time they weren't. Someone called it a soap opera, and it is, with this weird dash of the supernatural (for no good reason if you ask me). I almost gave up on it about 50 pages in, but at the same time, I just couldn't put it down.

My biggest complaint? The rampant use of the word "lovers" is almost more than I can handle. Are there people who actually talk like that? "how many lovers have you had" "she snuggled up next to her lover" "he held his dying lover in his arms" lover lover lover. augh.

[Saoirse]

Best book that I have read in 2019. Wish more people had read it. So poignant and beautiful. As always.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recensione completa qui: http://thereadingpal.blogspot.it/2017...

"I have to get you a doctor."
"Can't I just sleep here?"
Jacob kept rocking him in his arms. "Shhhh. Shhhh. I'll carry
you."
"Like water?"
"What?"
"Like a river carries water."
"Yes-just like that."


È davvero difficile riordinare i pensieri riguardo a questo libro. Carry me like water è il terzo libro che leggo di questo autore, ed è anche una delle più belle storie che abbia mai letto.
Seguiamo svariati personaggi: Diego, un ragazzo sordo-muto che cerca di sopravvivere in El Paso, Texas; sua sorella Helen, che vive col marito a San Francisco, cercando di dimenticare completamente le sue origini; Lizzie, la migliore amica di Helen, che, durante il suo turno di lavoro come infermiera, incontra un paziente che distruggerà tutte le sue certezze sulla sua vita; Eddie, il marito di Helen, che cerca di dimenticare il passato, ma il cui passato non lo ha dimentato; Jacob e Joaquin, che sono costretti ad adattare le loro vite alla malattia del secondo, l'AIDS... E poi ancora Mary, Luz, Mundo, Tom, Rose, che cercano di sopravviere come possono, molto diversi l'uno dall'altro. Tutti questi personaggi sono legati da un filo rosso: un filo che non può essere spezzato, che li porta assieme e che cambierà le loro vite.
Forse per alcuni potrebbe risultare confusionario avere così tanti personaggi, così diversi tra loro, e con vite così diverse, ma è proprio questo il bello, no? La vita di nessuno è uguale a quella di qualcun altro, eppure ci incontriamo e cambiamo la vita l'uno dell'altro, proprio come succede in questo romanzo. Accanto a dei temi come il razzismo e l'omofobia troviamo anche quello della famiglia e dell'amore, dell'attaccamento alle proprie origini, alla vita stessa.
Il dolore si confonde con la felicità, in vite non facili ma in cui le gioie non mancano, nel ritmo della vita di ognuno.
Ed è impossibile non amare questi personaggi, in particolare Diego, che è quello che cambia e cresce di più pur restando fedele a se stesso. Ho amato anche Mundo, che pur dovendo essere un personaggio poco positivo è uno dei personaggi più importanti, che spinge Diego ad avere una vita migliore.
La rabbia di Jacob è praticamente palpabile e totalmente comprensibile, proprio come il suo dolore. Porta entrambi come macigni sulla sua anima e non riesce a lasciarli andare, proprio come Joaquin.
Helen mi è piaciuta nella sua fatica a lasciare indietro il passato e a riabbracciarlo tornando alle sue origini e alla ricerca di quel fratello che aveva abbandonato anni prima.
Forse l'unica "pecca" è stata Lizzie e il suo dono, una cosa che ho trovato strana ma che ha comunque un suo perché nella storia, e lei è anche uno dei personaggi che mi è piaciuto meno, anzi, forse l'unico.
La scrittura di Sáenz ha qualcosa di speciale, di magico, a tratti poetico, che non mi ha permesso di abbandonare questo libro in nesun modo, me lo ha reso caro proprio come la storia. Ho perso il conto di quante volte avrei voluto sottolineare alcune frasi, cosa che io non faccio mai. È uno di quei libri che ti rimane dentro, che ti porti dietro tutta la vita anche se ti dimentichi i nomi dei personaggi o l'autore, perché è ciò che ti trasmette e come ti modella che ha importanza, null'altro.
Questo libro è molto diverso da quelli che leggo di solito, molto più profondo, per certi versi, di Last Night I sang to the Monster e Aristotle and Dante discover the Secrets of the Universe, tanto che ora che l'ho terminato ho come un vuoto dentro.
Davvero, non so più cosa dire se non che ho maato questo libro, e che ora ho quasi paura ad aspettare di leggere gli altri libri che mi mancano di Sáenz...

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book - no spoilers here - was one of the most fantastical, different books I've ever read. It had deep, dark depth, laughter with tears, and an overall fascinating look at the human condition. It is one I will most assuredly be reading again.

[Jack Powwidge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah. An Alire Sáenz book. It was obvious that I was going to love it a lot. Honestly, the only reason I didn't give it five stars was because I have to compare it to my other five star reads.
Where do I even start? Sáenz' novels don't live because of the plot. They live because of the characters and that was also the case here. All the characters were fleshed out. You suffer with them and you're happy when they're happy and god beware, if someone dies, you cry. This novel was about so many human things. Bodies, love, hate, rage and death - be it slow or quick. It treats all the topics so well. Every single book of his makes me reconsider some things in life.
My main reason give this four stars is probably that I'm used to him writing first person which - in my opinion - fits him a lot better. But man, did I love Joaquin and Mundo and Rose. And man, did I get my heart broken.
The fantasy aspect in the book didn't exactly seem out of place, but I would've liked some more information on it. Some more explanation. But like I said, that wasn't the main focus of the book, so it's completely fine.
If you want a good novel with a bit of fantasy that talks about every single human thing there is, here you go. Just don't expect it to be a fantasy novel or a YA novel like his others, because that's not it.

[Leia Lanstov · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm so let down by this book. Benjamin alire saenz is one of my favorite authors (so far I thought) but now...I had to keep dragging to finish this. This is the worst I've ever read. I didn't like the characters. The plot is boring. What's with lizzie's out of body experiences? I just don't get it. It's so unrealistic. Gosh I never knew the struggle of reading a book I dislike up until now.

[artemis · Rating 5 out of 5]

god its so long and definitely not a book you can just binge read but its so beautiful. god damn you benjamin alire sáenz for being an amazing author who writes so beautifully and seems like that it takes little effort to write. he makes it seem so easy to write when you read his books.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book of all time!! I am planning on going and taking a class from him for my masters. An amazing book, intertwining lives in the most unique and overwhelming way.

[Sarah Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a lot going on in this book and so much of it was about humanity. Humanity at its best, worst, compassionate, angry, humbled, loving and pained. Each character was unique and fully fleshed out. Even the characters that only have moments.

I had put this book on a constant ‘I’ll read it later” shelf because of its size. I’m happy I finally got to it, the size was more daunting only before I started.

This is one of those books that makes you laugh and cry, take deep breaths and think. These people got under my skin and they felt like I knew them as family members not characters in a book. So much of this book was depressing, the death, the disease, the hate. But, in the end, and thank the Lord, life, family, compassion and love ends the book. Not to say it’s a happily ever after with no more pain, but for this set of people, they find a sense of peace.

[-Anne- · Rating 5 out of 5]

five stars, but are we really surprised? It's me and Saenz, I see the world in his words.

I thought I loved when BAS talked about youth, the stopwatch of childhood and figuring out your place before you meet the fates of your parents or the fates expected of you, but I didn't realize I'd love his insights on adulthood even more. I think these are the stories of the parents of the kids I've read in his previous novels, to pull an "In Search of Mothers Gardens," (cc Alice Walker) their stories live on in the new generation of suffering Latin-American and queer youth.

This is a story about people in the desert who belong to each other. This is a story about healing and mourning, childhood innocence and the loss of it, boys who grow up too fast, boys who die too fast, the impact of seeing and the vision of silence. These are the tortured patterns that line the surface of the earth, the surface of the border, and the wrinkles of a face.

We all go back to the river I suppose, some are dragged and others are carried by the river. It feels like it should be unexpected, but it's really just inevitable.

[hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

such heartwarming book. really precious!!! the way benjamin alire sáenz understands and describes human feelings is something that can be so personal to me

[Leigh Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.

Ah, where to start...Well, maybe the obvious: There's no mention of sensitivity reader, no apparent connection between author and anyone deaf—and it shows through his character, Diego, which was probably inspired by Nick Andros in Stephen King’s The Stand (unless they both coincidentally believed deaf-mute was a literal term, and that lipreading is magically easy, etc.). The author seems aware that his representation is unrealistic but is unwilling to do the work to make it realistic, favoring stereotypical metaphors over authenticity.

I'm aware it's magical realism. There's a character who astral projects, so why not a deaf character that makes no sense? But I think the issues go beyond intentional writing choices.

The first thing that strikes me is the use of the term “deaf-mute” despite the setting: El Paso, TX, 1992. Deaf-mute has been considered derogatory since the 1950s.

We begin with Diego, who “cannot talk” and “cannot hear” but that’s all he thinks about doing. Instantly does not bode well. I fear we have a deaf character who is nothing more than deaf, a mere symbol of isolation, loneliness, incompetence. By the end of the novel, I find that he is actually a metaphor for isolation, loneliness, and innocence/purity. So close.

From the start I was deeply skeptical of his muteness, given oralist practices at this time. It's revealed towards the end that Diego refused to learn speech at school. Why do hearing authors keep opting for this trope? It doesn’t make sense. Students--especially those in elementary and middle schools, who would be the most likely to be placed in speech training classes--don’t get to pick and choose their classes. If they don’t participate they risk punishment. A student who sits out of PE without permission or doesn’t complete their math worksheet isn’t getting a free pass and potentially are not going to graduate.

But hold on: Diego laughs, and it's a loud laugh—he can voice. And he's mentioned at several points to whisper to himself, to whisper prayers....So....He's not mute. He's had enough speech training that he can mouth actual, intelligible words. (If the author meant for Diego to be signing to himself, he surely would have written that.) For a guy who loves bragging about how smart he is, he hasn’t figured out how to voice at the same time he moves his mouth? Sure. It’s one thing to choose not to speak—which is what historically deaf-mute meant in the deaf community—but an entirely different thing to present a character as being (inexplicably) incapable of speech as the author does throughout the novel.

And speaking of school, where are all of Diego’s deaf contacts? If he went to a deaf institute, as is suggested in the novel, he would have made friends. (Ever heard of pen pals?) If he learned to read and write as incredibly well as he did, he would have been a shoo-in for the school paper, which would only have been even more networking opportunities and something for his resume, and his teachers would have done a ton of legwork to help him land an editing or writing job after graduating. What gives? I can only assume the author’s ignorance and biases are once at play here, as they are for so many other aspects. He is so focused on deafness as a metaphor that he keeps forgetting that we deafies are also human. Sigh.

Indeed, in his quest to make Diego intelligent, the author often makes Diego into something not human. His speechreading is a prime example.

He speechreads magically easily considering he has no residual hearing to help him. “He liked the legends he read on people’s lips better than the things he read in the books of the library.” Huh?? He also reads the lips of complaining customers as they dine.

He can apparently speechread 100% of spoken language with no problem, no matter the circumstances, with very few exceptions. It’s not clear what the exceptions are—aside from eating (but wait, doesn't he just loooove speechreading the dining customers? How can he do that if it's nearly impossible?), yelling, and preaching (aka religious yelling). This latter point smacks of the naive/innocent stereotype, the incorruptible and perpetual child deaf character like in A Single Light by Maia Wojciechowska and “God’s Fool” by Mary Roberts Rinehart, reinforced when Mary literally calls Diego innocent and incapable of sin on p. 136.

The author generally complicates what Diego can and can’t understand by providing all the dialogue for the reader’s comprehension, and sometimes saying that he reads the lips of someone in one situation, and sometimes saying he only understands half or none of what someone says when they are doing the same thing that the previous person had done—that is, it’s incredibly inconsistent, and incredibly obvious that the author is just doing whatever is most convenient for plot at a given time.

At one point Diego tells a woman to speak slowly and carefully, which is definitely NOT advice a speechreader would give to someone, as they would begin to overenunciate and cause all sorts of issues. But actually it's fine, because Diego is a magical speechreader. All that needs to happen is for the author to tell the reader that Diego can't understand, transcribe the dialogue for the reader's benefit, and then Diego will somehow know it too, and we all move on.

According to Luz, speechreading deaf people are incapable of detecting mispronunciations or accents. Later, Diego sees Mundo pronounce “cognac” incorrectly and teaches him to say it correctly. Not at all how it works. But no one gets any points here because obviously deaf people can detect differences, even if they don't know the correct pronunciations themselves.

I feel like the author is making stuff up as he goes along, or didn’t go through his drafts thoroughly enough. The way it’s written makes me feel like there’s supposed to be a twist: surprise, Diego is actually hearing and has been all along! (But obviously that doesn't happen.)

He was born deaf. Mother never learned “sign language.” Diego “talks with his hands,” later explicitly named ASL (a relief because many authors just take it for granted). He learned ASL and English writing at the deaf school. Diego was tutored for three summers as a child to learn to read written Spanish, which I suppose also magically translated to an ability to speechread spoken Spanish with no training. Unless that lip-reading teacher he mentions at one point taught him specifically how to speechread in Spanish. But bro, I don't know. Where was his mother finding all these resources? How was she affording to hire them? They're an explicitly poor family. Saenz's attempts to explain/justify Diego's sheer exceptionalism only raises more questions.

But anyway.

Diego obsesses over sounds he cannot hear, constantly wishing he could hear and trying to imagine sounds he’s never once experienced. He even dreams he can hear sometimes, which is the opposite of what typically happens—usually people using marginalized/oppressed languages dream that the people around them can suddenly use their language fluently with them (in deaf people’s case, a signed language).

At one point, Diego and his buddies go on a pilgrimage up a mountain and Diego hears a Jesus statue tell him where a treasure is buried. He breaks down in joyous hysterics. Everyone worries about him, and he gets angry that they disbelieve him. They humor him and eventually dig up a skeleton, no jewels. Obvious lesson: Stop obsessing over something unattainable (i.e., You will never able to hear so stop wishing/dreaming about it). This would have been more effective for a late-deafened character. You know. Someone who actually maybe needed to learn that lesson.

Hearing people cannot imagine that deaf people are disinterested in something that they have never experienced or that they can lead full and meaningful lives without hearing, and this character is a good example of that.

The way Diego communicates with people throughout the novel is weird, and it's nowhere more clearly illuminated than in the cringey and fever-dreamy scene where somehow Diego becomes the interpreter/middle-man between a dying man, the woman who found him bleeding out, the nurse and doctor who came to help, and someone who knows the man. In the midst of all this chaos, everyone is conscientious of Diego’s speechreading needs and lets him write everything out in complete sentences to show them, etc.? Really? We were already in angsty, tragiporny fanfiction territory, but now we’re really there.

Throughout the novel there are these weird, off-putting claims and thoughts that just give me pause. I sit there for a minute like "Wait, what?" Like, at one point it’s mentioned that Diego is safe from gang violence because gangs think it’s bad luck to hurt a deaf guy, but it later becomes clear that pretty much none of the gang members in the area have any idea who Diego is—and it doesn’t even make sense anyway because deafness is an invisible disability. Diego has no connections to the gang world other than Mundo, so up until that point he should be more or less “fair game” as far as chances of being victimized goes. Then, dinner table syndrome at the end is portrayed as Diego’s choice (he wants to observe the inaccessible conversations happening all around him) and this is supposed to be heartwarming (inspoporn). Aw, look how happy Diego is to be surrounded by his family talking to each other and ignoring him, so lovely. Seriously?

Let's talk about the baby, even though for the purposes of the plot he had all the lines and action of a sack of flour.

Baby Jacob Diego is born deaf. Oh look, yet another inexplicably completely and totally deaf character! Sigh. Kind of strange they caught it within a month of birth, considering newborn hearing screenings weren’t really a thing until 1999. In California only NICU and high-risk babies were screened until 1998, which Jacob (explicitly described as healthy) would not be included in. The only possible reason Jacob would have been screened would be if Elena herself requested it because of her brother’s deafness, or if either parent noticed their newborn not responding to noises (something in itself very rare). Am I just being nitpicky now? Yeah. But if you're not gonna give me anything substantial to work with why shouldn't I?

And now Maria Elena wants to find her brother Diego, to give baby Jacob a mentor—at least one positive. Time passes and they don't really look for Diego. Jacob is about one year old. No mention of a personality or language development, but we do learn the baby is apparently narcoleptic? Jacob is almost always sleeping and virtually every time the author mentions it, one of the characters goes, “Shh, you’ll wake the baby!” and the other replies, “He can’t hear.” Gets real old real fast.

There is never any actual communication interactions between him and his parents. Maria Elena speaks directly to him once (with eye contact) and elicits a smile but it’s just to call him an endearment. No transactional, collaborative, or meaningful language development. This baby is apparently completely without language input. I could literally pick up any book with a dog and probably find some dialogue directed at that pupper and it would be more words than were even devoted in thoughts to this child hahaha.

The only interaction between Jacob Jr. and Diego is in one. single. page. in the penultimate chapter. And it’s just that they are laughing deafly with each other, instinctually and magically drawn to each other as Maria Elena watches them and feels hearingly inspired about it. So ZERO substance. Diego is teaching his newfound household to sign ASL, so obviously baby Jake now finally has access to language after at least a year of no meaningful linguistic input from the adults in his life, who knew about his deafness since he was a month old. Yeesh.

The best parts were when the author left out Diego’s deafness and wrote him like any other character, with thoughts and feelings for other people, such as when he wants to beg Luz not to leave for Chicago. Too bad.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carry Me Like Water is not the first Saenz novel I have read. In fact, I will say I'm quite biased to his work. There's something about his control of language that I really enjoy. That being said, this book is by no means my favorite work by Saenz, but it is definitely a good read.
This story is at times predictable, but Saenz makes up for this in the eloquence of his words. And he has words, all the words. When I first read Saenz I knew he was a poet because his novels stick to me like poetry, and this novel is no different. The characters are imperfect and flawed in all the obvious ways (the gang member who can't seem to stay out of a fight, the rich 'gringos' who can't understand the poverty around them, or the angry, abusive fathers who refuse to accept the blame for any of their misdeeds), but they are also some of the most endearing people you'll ever meet, real or imaginary.
Take Diego, for instance. Diego is a poor, deaf man living all alone in El Paso, TX. He is often described in the novel as an innocent man, one who is on the periphery of life due to his deafness. While I don't believe simply being deaf makes you innocent or even prone to innocence, it is an apt description of Diego who constantly takes it upon himself to always be involved in the lives of those around him without truly expecting anything from anyone else. Sure he's capable of being disappointed by his odd group of friends, but that's about it. He takes his disappointment in stride and although he can get angry at times, he's always willing to forgive. He doesn't demand anything from anyone even when he has the right to. This is tragic, of course, because it leads him to feeling alone most of the time. He's so alone that his only real hobby beyond reading is trying to perfect a suicide note that is addressed to no one in particular. Thankfully, Saenz pushes this character to something far beyond loneliness, and his growth throughout the novel is one of my favorites.
I could write further, more in depth about each of the characters but it would likely take forever, so I will just say this much: Saenz is able to beautifully weave together multiple journeys for his characters in a way that elicits growth and understanding from each and every one of them. Sure, many of the issues in the novel get fixed and tied together with the help of magical realism (it's okay, suspend your disbelief and just go with it) but I found I did not mind this as a reader, because I enjoyed the relationships that were built so much.

Some cons about this novel: as I said before, this work is at times very predictable. Saenz even seems to enjoy dropping hints of what will occur within the dreams the characters have. I could have done without these constant hints. Another con is the length of the novel, which could have easily been done in a couple hundred fewer pages.
I also felt there were a few missed opportunities to develop the main characters further. For instance, in the novel El Paso is practically its own character. We know exactly how it looks and even how it smells. This same level of care and detail is not given to the other cities in the novel. Yet, understanding San Fran or Palo Alto could perhaps helps readers fully understand the characters who chose to live in each respective city a little better. A perfect example of this would be Maria Elena. I understand a part of her is simply running from her past, but why is it that she runs to Palo Alto? Or California, for that matter? What is it about these places that called to her?
And for the life of me I cannot figure out why we needed to know so much about certain minor characters and not others. Why did we need to know so much about La Mary's life and absolutely nothing about Salvador? I want to know his story, he is such a huge aspect of the book in many ways and we know almost nothing about him. Or what about the nurse named Carolyn? What came of her?
And finally, one thing I really disliked about this book is that every character seemed to have several names, and it made it really difficult to follow in the beginning. In fact, some separate characters even shared names, which I felt was completely unnecessary to do to the readers (ex: Eddie and Crazy Eddie...two different dudes). For reference, here is a quick guide of the main characters at least (I don't think this is really a spoiler, but if you want absolutely no spoils then ignore this part):

Helen = Maria Elena = Nena
Eddie = Jonathan = Jon-Jon
Jacob = Jake = Jacob Lesley
Lizzie = Elizabeth Edwards = Maria de Lourdes Aguila
Salvador = Jesus Salvador Aguila
Mundo = Edmundo
Diego = Juan Diego
Jacob Diego Marsh = the baby

Please don't read into my cons too harshly, as I still really loved and recommend this book. I just tend to be more thorough in voicing the things that bugged me rather than the things I loved, that's just me.

[Yamin Farabih · Rating 4 out of 5]

“People love a show, especially when freaks are involved.”

Summary:
Diego a deaf-mute Mexican. He is living his life as a son of a migrant. His life became more miserable when his sister abandoned him. He is trying his level best to survive on the border, Al Paso. Helen aka Maria Ramirez his sister living with her husband named Eddie in San Francisco. Helen is hiding her past and trying to forget about it. Eddie, her husband has his own past he wanted to forget except his brother Jacob. Jacob has already lost everything. Story moves forward while these characters moves forward and start to embrace each other. This story is an epic story of life, race, family and compassion.

Review:
Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s first novel. I didn’t expect anything like this. This book crawled under my skin and gave me pain. Every taboo thing which exist in our society but we hate to accept; writer brought all together in this book. Name it and it’s there. I must say this book is very matured. I want to alert the readers about some issues which this book contains. It contains very sensitive issues like homosexuality, sexual abuse and pederasty. So, if someone has problem with these issues, she/he should avoid the book.
This book was very long more than 500 pages and contains many characters with stories. Writer could write a single book for each character. I enjoyed it how he brought religion, spirituality and atheism together. One of the main parts of this book was parents of the characters. Writer showed what bad parenting can do to a person. They try everything to not to turn out like their parents. Like Joaquin said

‘I didn’t turn out to be at all like you, did I Dad?’

This book contains so many things together it’s very difficult to talk about all of them. But I want to talk about the characters. Diego and Mundo were my most favorite characters though they were total opposite to each other. Writer developed all the characters slowly. During this development time they were both amazing and irritating. But I must say the best character development was of Jacob’s. A person with full of rage became a very compassionate person at the end. It was beautiful.
But I didn’t like this book like his others. It was definitely an amazing book yet I liked his other books more. This is what I felt. May be because this book is very dramatic compare to his other works.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been trying to read all of Benjamin Alire Saenz's books after loving "Aristotle & Dante..." and this one is the best! This is tied for favorite book read in the past 5 years (with Let the Great World Spin). This actually has a lot of similar characteristics as Let the Great World Spin. I also read this immediately after my grandfather's death and think that it helped in a way, especially with the magical, fantastical, supernatural parts of Lizzie's adventures. I am just sorry I didn't read it sooner! Bravo Mr. Saenz for capturing the desert south, the border life of El Paso, and the sweet sorrow of life & death and long lost family members. I wanted to be a part of this wonderful group of people. I hope to recommend this book to others and await their feedback as well!

[Alyssa Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved it like i love everything this man writes. stories so full of love like this are a weakness of mine, especially when it's between unlikely characters. also stories within stories that eventually connect; another weakness of mine. it is obvious that this is an early novel of his (his first actually) because his writing is not as refined as in others. sometimes it's too... i don't even know what the word is, but sometimes his use of words is... nauseating... in a completely non disrespectful way. still 5 stars though because of the way it gripped my heart and because it's such a love letter to my hometown.

[Arida · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the worst books I have ever read. He needed a good editor to tell him to cut the book in half! Others have discussed the content so I won't reiterate. It is full of superficial, poorly developed characters and disconnected threads. The exception is the character, Diego Ramirez, and his story. He is a deaf-mute young man who was abandonded in El Paso by his sister. He is just getting by economically, but is intelligent, self-educated and has a good heart. He befriends other interesting quirky "outcasts" and grows and expands his milieu. Just read his parts!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing could have been a little more...nuanced? And it probably could have ended a few dozen pages earlier, but the story was good. I like magical realism, and I liked how there were a lot of moving parts that came together, different people who were unconnected but still connected. Overall, I liked it.

[Barbara Mcpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it took me a few chapters to get interested in the plot, his writing is beautiful throughout. Saenz creates characters who remind us of our flaws, yet leave us hopeful about mankind's ability to accept each other.

[Mary Fabrizio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how i loved this. Its my 3rd from this author and again, my only complaint is i wish these characters were real. Because so much wrong in the world could be made right with their kindness. Yes, kinda hokey with the body flying stuff and a bit too long and preachy, but damm, i enjoyed it!

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a a beautiful story which I am now rereading after 10 years. It is about love, forgiveness, acceptance with a little bit of mystic.

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening experience!

[Micol Mian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immaginavo che avrei amato questo romanzo, ma non avevo idea di *quanto*. Molto rapidamente, soltanto per fissare le idee, perché prima o poi dovrò scriverci qualcosa di compiuto: è come se fosse stato scritto apposta per me, quando ero bambina, e rimasto in attesa per anni che mi decidessi a prenderlo finalmente in mano. "Portami come acqua", davvero - un titolo che è anche un simbolo e un motivo ricorrente e la prima cosa che mi ha attratto e quella che in qualche modo racchiude meglio l'effetto che mi ha fatto il romanzo. Che poi è il primo di Sáenz e sembra già racchiudere tutto: le sue famiglie di scelta, e di sangue - è un romanzo di fratelli, vivi e morti e feriti e perduti, e di sorelle che si scelgono da grandi, e di genitori orrendi e genitori bellissimi, e di amanti e amici e tutte le sfumature intermedie possibili - il deserto e la pioggia, il confine, El Paso come inizio e conclusione, e poi morte, tantissima, struggente e al tempo stesso leggera, un'occasione come un'altra di celebrare la vita, e spiriti che lasciano il corpo, candele accese per aiutare il passaggio, il silenzio in cui vive immerso Diego e i suoi bigliettini che lo infrangono, le lettere che Eddie e Jake si scrivono senza mai spedirle, affidandole a diari, conservando l'uno il ricordo dell'altro come un talismano che fa quasi spavento, e i mille modi diversi di affrontare il dolore, di riscrivere il passato. Il passato che ritorna, sempre, e a volte non è neanche cattivo. E un coro meraviglioso di personaggi che si intrecciano e si incrociano e si amano, teneramente, come acqua, davvero.
Era tutto quello che desideravo.

[elise amaryllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5
bro. i don't understand Benjamin Alire Sáenz. how the hell does he do it?? i mean seriously, what the fuck? most of my favorite authors, i devour a bunch of their stuff and then i come upon a book that makes me realize that they are only human and they are not writing gods—obviously. most notable examples of this are stephen king and murakami. but THIS BOOK. this shit is so good. it's his first novel, and that does show: it's longer and clumsier and can feel a bit too wordy at times, like it's trying too hard, and he approaches his later books with more precision, but it's still SO FUCKING GOOD and i do not UNDERSTAND.

seriously, the stuff he writes is so moving and beautiful and tender. the connectedness of people and the way he just revels in people's flaws/imperfections without romanticizing them or erasing them is just...UGH.

i continually went back and forth on a four or five star rating because the writing could get suuper clumsy (imo) & sometimes i felt like he was overusing certain words or phrases and i just...meh. my love for sáenz may have pushed it over the edge instead of giving it a 4.

[Camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

UN MES EXACTO LEYENDO ESTE LIBRO. No quería dejarlo de lado así que me forcé para terminarlo. La historia es bonita y reflexiva pero siento que el estilo de narrarlo no era para mí. Era muy profundo y tenía que saltar algunos párrafos porque me desesperaba que reflexionara o pensara tanto tal personaje. Eso si, tiene muchos POVs y fue un punto menos en mi aburrimiento jeje. Con Aristóteles y Dante me ocurrió lo mismo pero me gustó más que este, tal vez porque es más reciente???? Este es de 1996, y me sorprende la complejidad de los temas que trata para ese año. No suelo leer muchos contemporáneos pero cuando lo hago sé que valen la pena! :)

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as polished as his more recent works, but in other ways so, so much deeper. I thought giving it time would let me write a review, but it hasn't. The combination of the divinely fantastic and the deeply human was beautifully done.

(The Kindle edition is a total dumpster fire, though. Someone OCRed it and didn't go back and fix any errors. Not one. So you have cases where rn becomes m, etc. This is especially problematic here since there is a lot of Spanish and Google Translate is problematic enough without the errors.)

[Ryan A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago and I still sometimes think of these characters, even the minor characters have a feeling of a complete past and personality. It feels like a saga; tragic heartbreaking moments occurs, yet more often beautiful moments of characters connecting with each other with poetic prose. Some might say it drags on, has too many melodrama plots, and uses strange dialogue -there is some truth to those points- but for me I loved all the mystical elements and how the characters had revelations that deeply changed them. A book full of character studies.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I adore it. It is firmly one of the best things I have ever had the true pleasure to read in my life. Gorgeously written with so many fully fledged, complicated characters. I cried tears of happiness and sadness, I laughed, I felt frustration. I simply cannot praise this book enough. I want to start reading it again...but instead I shall seek out and devour every other book this man has written.