Новелла Кэтрин Рунни о мужчине, проплывшем в океане после исчезновения с круизного лайнера

Kathleen Rooney’s latest novel made me nervous at first. Her protagonist, Patrick “Kick” Kilpatrick is our narrator. He explains my discomfort and his own: “Do I not remember how I got into the sea because I don’t want to?” Kilpatrick had been a passenger on board a Carnival cruise ship carrying nearly 3,000 passengers from New Orleans to Mexico. Until he wasn’t. Kilpatrick is now treading water in the Gulf of Mexico. He along with most of his family members were on a Thanksgiving cruise but now he is in the ocean. It is midnight, and he cannot recall how he got there as the ship sails away from him. Did he jump? Did he fall overboard by accident or was he pushed? We start an hour by hour narration of his marathon swimming experience. Fortunately he is a superb swimmer in excellent physical condition. Unfortunately, he never enjoyed swimming a vast expanse like this one. His view of the sea: “My entire life I’ve feared and hated it.” This is why I felt nervous as a reader because I share his oceanic attitudes. Thankfully, his actual water treading becomes a mere footnote here as we are taken through his life story, his memories, his fears, his depression, his sense of loss, his inability to commit to a relationship and his dysfunctional family history. He has a lot of time on his hands to reflect as he paddles along wondering, is this it?, or will he get saved from drowning. I spoke to the author recently. We discussed Kilpatrick’s family situation. His mother was out of the picture, something our narrator and his family have difficulty discussing. His father remarried quickly after his wife, who had been battling cancer, was gone. Rooney described the senior Kilpatrick as “emotionally constipated.” Once I comprehended what the author is doing so brilliantly in this story I became much more relaxed and was able to savor the adventure Kilpatrick is experiencing as he swims along hour by hour. The sun finally comes up and he realizes he’s going to burn up from the rays if he doesn’t cover up his head. He removes his boxer shorts and begins wearing them as a hat. Meanwhile he is encountering various ocean dwellers. This is where the reader becomes uncertain as to whether we are witnessing his conversations with these incredibly wise creatures, or is he hallucinating the entire thing? I won’t spoil it for you by describing exactly what sorts of beings he encounters but it is truly delightful to eavesdrop on what they have to say to one another. This novel is a quick read at under 200 pages, which makes it the ideal summer read. You swim along with him for hours without ever getting wet. It is funny, witty, scary, with a surprise twist at the end that left me in tears. You can hear my latest interview with Kathleen Rooney 10:30 a.m. Sunday, July 5, on WYSO (91.3FM).