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Why We Swim
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'A beautifully written love letter to water and a fascinating story. I was enchanted.' Rebecca Skloot, bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
'A truly great story. I love this book.' Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run
Take a dive into the deep with writer and swimmer Bonnie Tsui and discover what it is about water that seduce ...more
'A truly great story. I love this book.' Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run
Take a dive into the deep with writer and swimmer Bonnie Tsui and discover what it is about water that seduce ...more
Audiobook, Unabridged, 7 pages
Published
April 14th 2020
by Dreamscape Media, LLC
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No spoilers....
I shared my own relationship with water....
Thankful to Bonnie Tsui for writing this perfectly beautiful book....
A tribute to water, and swimming.
Audiobook...narrated by Angie Kane.....
I was in heaven for six hours and 35 minutes.
Author Bonnie Tsui is an author I’d like to meet...'in the water'.
I’m a water baby. My kids are water babies. ( one of them was on the TV news with me at 2 weeks old as I demonstrated how she was 'water safe'), from swim teams, master swim classes, lots ...more
I shared my own relationship with water....
Thankful to Bonnie Tsui for writing this perfectly beautiful book....
A tribute to water, and swimming.
Audiobook...narrated by Angie Kane.....
I was in heaven for six hours and 35 minutes.
Author Bonnie Tsui is an author I’d like to meet...'in the water'.
I’m a water baby. My kids are water babies. ( one of them was on the TV news with me at 2 weeks old as I demonstrated how she was 'water safe'), from swim teams, master swim classes, lots ...more
The book started off well. There were several real-life stories that were interesting to me and I enjoyed learning about the achievements of several people I hadn't heard of before. I wish topics like the science of how swimming impacts our mind and our body were discussed more than the personal life of the author, her family etc. I lost interest for the last 30% of the book because it started to feel repetitive and like a dreamy memoir.
...more
This book isn't much what I thought it would be from the trailer. It's all about effusive feelings and almost romantic notions of our Earth's water. Of course there is some science and reality but it's minority of the whole.
This is memoir, happenstance story heard, memory type of celebration for a survivor of shipwreck, and numerous other cultural brand directions going on with the seas/ swimming being the focus. And the human affinities for sea close living and swimming within seas or various ...more
This is memoir, happenstance story heard, memory type of celebration for a survivor of shipwreck, and numerous other cultural brand directions going on with the seas/ swimming being the focus. And the human affinities for sea close living and swimming within seas or various ...more
Mar 15, 2020
Kathryn Speckels (Metaphors and Miscellanea)
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arcs
Beautiful, insightful, if occasionally a bit slow and redundant. Really resonated with me, as a former competitive swimmer.
Full review coming soon :)
Full review coming soon :)
4.5 rounding up because I loved every wet moment! I used to swim daily, I adore being in water, albeit not the same wild waterways she pursues. I was lost in every drop of time.
A personal and historical tour of swimming. This book really touches on why we swim, and surprise, the reasons are many. From survival to competition to therapy to health... even for creativity, Bonnie Tsui really reminded me why I wish I was swimming right now instead of being quarantined in my room.
But I've always been a terrible swimmer. It started with swimming lessons as a kid, but it never came intuitively to me as it did so many others. I saw them zip through the water with barely a motio ...more
But I've always been a terrible swimmer. It started with swimming lessons as a kid, but it never came intuitively to me as it did so many others. I saw them zip through the water with barely a motio ...more
I won an Advance Reading Copy of Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui from Goodreads.
Pardon the pun, but the writing in Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui is so fluid that the reader feels as if he is slipping into the prose as a swimmer slips into water. Tsui takes readers to waters around the world, including oceans, lakes, pools, and more. She ushers the reader through time, stopping at a desert to visit an ancient sea and reliving the final seconds at Olympic meets. She speaks with amateurs, professionals, sc ...more
Pardon the pun, but the writing in Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui is so fluid that the reader feels as if he is slipping into the prose as a swimmer slips into water. Tsui takes readers to waters around the world, including oceans, lakes, pools, and more. She ushers the reader through time, stopping at a desert to visit an ancient sea and reliving the final seconds at Olympic meets. She speaks with amateurs, professionals, sc ...more
These are swim stories from around the globe and even through history. Most involve the personal involvement of author Bonnie Tsui. She is a life-long swimmer that understands how swimmers think and feel.
The first major story about an Icelandic survivor of a fishing boat that went under was inspiring. His couple other crewmates drowned, but this humble guy with literally thick skin made it through very cold water back to shore. (6 hours, 3+ miles, 28 deg water) He became a hero in Iceland, and m ...more
The first major story about an Icelandic survivor of a fishing boat that went under was inspiring. His couple other crewmates drowned, but this humble guy with literally thick skin made it through very cold water back to shore. (6 hours, 3+ miles, 28 deg water) He became a hero in Iceland, and m ...more
What a beautiful book! An original idea, and the writing style is fluid and sparkling - like water. She explores the significance of swimming across many cultures and times (samurais, Icelandic fishermen, prisoners escaping from Alcatraz) as well as the physiology and psychology of it. My one complaint is that the chapter on who gets to swim felt like an afterthought, although it was in the middle of the book. I would've liked a bit more on segregation and the reasons Black Americans have lower
...more
As an avid swimmer, I’m always in search of books that will capture the feeling of being in the water. Tsui beautifully touches on all of the elements that water evokes for humans, in a style that is prose, memoir, and biography of some of her swimming heroes. What I liked is that it highlights both the collective and individual experience of swimming and how we simultaneously both belong in and are foreign to the water. Especially poignant are the scenes of open water swimming, with all of its
...more
I expected more “Born to Run” and less “Beethoven to his Immortal Beloved” but found myself pleasantly surprised by the latter. This is not about why we swim. This book is a love letter to swimming. A swooning note to a hobby, a sport, a state of mind.
I absolutely loved this book! Being in "Shelter-in-Place" and my pool closed - plus having a broken arm so I couldn't go in the pool anyway - loved remembering what I love so much about swimming.
I was on a swim team from age 5 to high school, then Masters swimming in my 30's, now old lady water aerobics with some lap swimming. She really captures so much about the experience. Also loved reading all the information about various big name swimmers. Bonnie Tsui lives in San Francisco - my turf - I ...more
I was on a swim team from age 5 to high school, then Masters swimming in my 30's, now old lady water aerobics with some lap swimming. She really captures so much about the experience. Also loved reading all the information about various big name swimmers. Bonnie Tsui lives in San Francisco - my turf - I ...more
What a captivating, beautiful book. I want to love something as much as Bonnie Tsui loves swimming, as much as she adores and yearns to be in the water and contemplates her place—and our collective human place—in relation to it. There are many interesting facts woven through the tapestry of the author’s lifelong love affair with being in the water to make this lovely, specific, meditative book. I learned a lot and feel moved by her passion for swimming.
If you think you don’t care about swimming, ...more
If you think you don’t care about swimming, ...more
This a wonderfully researched and beautifully written tribute to water, swimming, and the human spirit. I read riveted, full of admiration for its author, Bonnie Tsui, and the many survivors, adventurers, and heroes the book salutes. I finished feeling inspired, and aching to swim, and wondering how I could live a bigger, bolder life.
Wonderfully interesting exploration of many aspects of our attraction to water and swimming. Stories of survival, competition, teaching, therapy, flow, even Samurai trained to swim in armor. Well-written and engaging, this book draws on history, literature, psychology, and other areas to give you a tour of the human population’s love of being in, and moving through, water.
I also loved the elegant cover!
I also loved the elegant cover!
Apr 13, 2020
R.K. Cowles
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-won-on-goodreads-giveaways,
sports
A Goodreads giveaway. Do you really need to know why? As long as we know how to. Although you may not care why we swim, this is a fascinating read of stories, history and theories on why.
One of my favorite books of 2020.
This book was a birthday gift from a friend who knows me well enough to know how much I love to swim, and as it turns out, it was the perfect literary companion to an initially impromptu (and then very intentional) 100-day swim streak this past summer-into-fall.
Why We Swim is a wonderful book, for swimmers and non-swimmers and would-be swimmers alike, with chapters I expected (How do you write a book about swimming and not talk about Kim Chambers? If you haven't ...more
This book was a birthday gift from a friend who knows me well enough to know how much I love to swim, and as it turns out, it was the perfect literary companion to an initially impromptu (and then very intentional) 100-day swim streak this past summer-into-fall.
Why We Swim is a wonderful book, for swimmers and non-swimmers and would-be swimmers alike, with chapters I expected (How do you write a book about swimming and not talk about Kim Chambers? If you haven't ...more
uh this was obviously a self-indulgent book lol. i thought it would be science-y and, go into, you know, why humans swim but there was only surface level stuff and nothing new. the book was just personal stories which got super repetitive in the second half and the writing was, like, super flowery
Oct 06, 2020
Jim
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
california,
non-fiction
A love letter to swimmers, especially open water swimmers.
I found it very inspirational - I don't swim enough! I need to do more open water swimming! And go for as long as I can without a wetsuit in the SF Bay, maybe all winter.
Why We Swim mixes memoir with the science of the benefits of swimming, especially cold water swimming, and the psychology & physiology that swimming promotes.
Her book isn't too kind to competitive swimmers - she gives it a mixed review. It's beneficial as a physical disci ...more
I found it very inspirational - I don't swim enough! I need to do more open water swimming! And go for as long as I can without a wetsuit in the SF Bay, maybe all winter.
Why We Swim mixes memoir with the science of the benefits of swimming, especially cold water swimming, and the psychology & physiology that swimming promotes.
Her book isn't too kind to competitive swimmers - she gives it a mixed review. It's beneficial as a physical disci ...more
Collection of various inspirational stories about swimmers that overcame obstacles. Seemed a little disjointed in the collection/selection, but each story stood well on its own.
It was just all right.
Well-researched but nothing new. It was like she collected what everyone ever said/wrote about swimming and put it neatly in a book. From greek gods, through Aristotle and Neruda, all the way to Clintons and Michael Phelps. Touched some society views on swimming and added a few contemporary stories of friends and her family, but again - well known. Lacked creativity and personality.
Well-researched but nothing new. It was like she collected what everyone ever said/wrote about swimming and put it neatly in a book. From greek gods, through Aristotle and Neruda, all the way to Clintons and Michael Phelps. Touched some society views on swimming and added a few contemporary stories of friends and her family, but again - well known. Lacked creativity and personality.
Why do we swim? That is a big question. To answer it, Tsui takes a look at swimming through several facets: survival, well-being, community, competition, and flow. It felt to me that this book could have been an anthology, there is so much to explore. In that, it felt a bit complete. Or perhaps I was just missing swimming so much that I wanted more. The stories and reflections Tsui shares are interesting and engaging. Anyone who is a swimmer will find something to appreciate here. And during a t
...more
A very readable overview of various people's and societies' love affairs with water and the act of swimming in it....along with personal snippets and insights.
Also a blast to my personal past during college in Berkeley to hear references to surfing in the bay area, ab diving, and Bolinas...I thought I'd never forget those days but the memories had gone dormant, because they surprised me by coming up fresh to the surface just by reading a few words.
In my opinion, an infinity of more books about s ...more
Also a blast to my personal past during college in Berkeley to hear references to surfing in the bay area, ab diving, and Bolinas...I thought I'd never forget those days but the memories had gone dormant, because they surprised me by coming up fresh to the surface just by reading a few words.
In my opinion, an infinity of more books about s ...more
It doesn't matter if you're a competitive swimmer or even if you know a lot about it. I impulsively chose this thinking it might be interesting- and it's fascinating. Tsui has explored swimming and swimmers across cultures and around the world in a way which is both thoughtful and educational. It's beautifully written; her own love for the water shines through. I especially liked that lesser known people star here. Thanks to Edelweiss for the arc. A great read which will make you look forward to
...more
I miss swimming. If it weren't for COVID-19 and my general paranoia with seeing people other than those I'm required to see (coworkers and the public at the library mainly) I would be getting a membership to my local pool and signing up for the Masters Team immediately. Alas, I'll have to suffice with thinking about swimming.
A beautiful book that anyone can enjoy. ...more
A beautiful book that anyone can enjoy. ...more
Written beautifully, this book interweaves the history of swimming with its healing, meditative power. Bonnie Tsui spoke to my swimming soul, it felt like she and I had had an intimate conversation about the magical physical and mental power that swimming provides. A calming of the soul, and an incredible understanding, this was a powerful read.
Such an interesting read! So glad a friend told me to check this out at the library.
The sea is dope! Swimming is dope! This book is dope!
There were a few times when this felt a little over-effusive (in the way of like Hello I Am A Creative Non-Fiction Book), but I shall again reference the fact that the sea, and swimming, is dope, so I forgive it. It's very clear that Tsui is sincere through it all. This was very charming and very inspiring. ...more
There were a few times when this felt a little over-effusive (in the way of like Hello I Am A Creative Non-Fiction Book), but I shall again reference the fact that the sea, and swimming, is dope, so I forgive it. It's very clear that Tsui is sincere through it all. This was very charming and very inspiring. ...more
This book was written for me. The author share my love to water and enjoyment associate with this medium. I’m not saying enjoyment of swimming because I enjoy far more activities in water other than swimming. I’m not an extreme swimmer but while listening to the audio I was jealous of the wonderful experiences and people Bonnie Tsui had and met.
Loved loved loved this book on the history and significance of water and swimming. For fans of John McPhee, sports writing, nature writing, and just good nonfiction writing in general. Makes me want to swim, NOW!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Books & Banter: August 2020 - Nonfiction | 1 | 7 | Aug 03, 2020 11:28AM | |
| Mt. Lebanon Publi...: Why We Swim | 1 | 3 | Jun 09, 2020 01:05PM |
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Bonnie Tsui is a journalist and longtime contributor to The New York Times. She's the author of AMERICAN CHINATOWN, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. Her new book, WHY WE SWIM, was published by Algonquin Books in April 2020; it was a TIME 100 Must-Read Book of 2020, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a Boston Globe bestse
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“Tanaka’s lab has pioneered new research on swimming’s effects on two of the biggest hallmarks of aging: high blood pressure and arthritis. “Over the last four or five years, a funky thing happened—we realized that the effects of swimming actually surpassed the magnitude of the effects of walking or cycling,” he tells me. “None of us knew that before.” Average reduction in blood pressure after land-based exercise training is five to seven points. Swimming, he found, reduces blood pressure by an average of nine points—in the blood-pressure world, that’s significant. It also decreases arterial stiffness, a condition in which the walls of your arteries become less elastic and add strain to the heart muscle.”
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“For many swimmers, the act of swimming is a tonic, in that old-fashioned sense of the word: it is a restorative, a stimulant, undertaken for a feeling of vigor and well-being. The word tonic comes from the Greek tonikos, “of or for stretching.” About a dozen people”
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