"The Swimmer" Quotes
A man decides to swim across his neighbors' pools, revealing a journey of self-discovery and disillusionment.
short stories | 16 pages | Published in NaN
Quotes
He seemed to see, with a cartographer's eye, that string of swimming pools, that quasi-subterranean stream that curved across the county.
The day was lovely, and that he was in the world made everything seem more profound. He felt like some blessed pilgrim, an explorer.
He seemed to have no doubts that the gift of life was a remarkable one, and he was determined to travel through it with grace.
He was not a practical joker nor was he a fool but he was determinedly original and had a vague and modest idea of himself as a legendary figure.
There was no sign of struggle, only of the sullen grace of the water.
He had an inexplicable contempt for men who did not hurl themselves into pools.
The sound of the pool was only a memory. He was come to the exhausted end of the day, and all he could do was get home.
He was always well received, especially by women. They liked his humor, his literary allusions, his sense of the dramatic.
He was a kind of impostor, and he suspected that they all knew it. He had no duty but the most delightful one of all, to realize his own capacities and enjoy them.
He had a theory that the human soul was like a bird that would escape the body and fly away if it were not watched.
