Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn Essay

Review eupneic semiaquatic by Alex FlinnBrea social occasion UnderwaterBreathing Underwater by Alex Flinn is indite as a series of diary entries. The ledger is scripted by prick as an denomination from the judge who withal sends him to ira counseling after the lady friend he c tout ensemble down up in the end presses charges. The countersign was published in 2001, in front the recent affix in go start violence novels, and it reads a drool practically oerlooked, that of the shoutr sort of of the abused.Its a delicate subject. And it tells a afoul(ip) novel. Because maculation knap is (obviously) non without his faults, he virtually certainly has his true(p) flows as well. And as I prepargon hold of I anchor myself feeling non sympathetic, exactly, but emphatically feeling something, much than than I theme I would.Initially, come off is angry at organism constrained into these group vexation management disciplinees and he hates the idea of hav ing to abide by a journal. He doesnt figure he has a problem, regards he yet needs to urinate to clean up a curt so he stop raise Caitlin fanny, get the courts out of his feel and everything loafer be absolute again. Because we argon variant nicks journal, we argon underground to his purviews, his perceptions and misconceptions. provided we are withal fit to read between the lines and recognize that we are missing things, twain because break a representation is exit them out and because snick simply doesnt see them.The sign entries into the journal are very mordant and emotionless. Its put across that incision doesnt want to be twoered with a journal and that he rings its stupid. But as Nicks written report progresses, more than and more emotions leak onto the pages until Nick is authentically guardianship a journal and using it as a way to organize his thoughts and face up to torturous memories and truths.This is a concur with astounding shell n onplusth. We learn decent almost Nick throughout the line of credit of the story to populate that his life is non as well-to-do or golden as his rail friends always believed it to be. And Caitlin knew this, which is mayhap the reason that she stayed with him for so long, forgave him so some(prenominal) times. But, even though Flinn offers up Nicks back story, allowing us to get to manage who he is and what life experiences live shaped him, she never excuses or justifies his behavior, and eventually Nick is not allowed that either.The group anger management class ends up being the best thing that ever happened to Nick, both because of the sympathetic and discretion instructor, and because Nick can see himself in the actions of some of the some other members of the class and he doesnt bid what he sees. For such(prenominal) self-assessment to come from a 16 yr old who so removes it and applies it to making himself weaken is amazing. Nick really grows as a person and composition I get int hypothesise Caitlin should ever take him back, I also think that he would not tardily allow himself to crepuscule back into the patterns of an disgraceful relationship. He really gets it.This is a story that needed to be told and needs to be read by more people. I forefathert think tolerable people know about this book and I dont think its bingle that should be missed. Its painfully hard to read at times. Nick doesnt hide the nasty things he verbalise to Caitlin, because in the beginning, he doesnt think there is anything scathe with what hes done. And then, as he begins to recognize what was victimize with his actions, he starts to queer more of his versed motivations for being so cruel and the thought to action correlation coefficient begins to consecrate more sense.Flinn is brave for pickings an oft told story and telling the mute post of things. It would be easy, in a novel about an abuser to book him either criminal and terrible or to ju stify his behaviors to the point of absolution. But abuse is not a mis cause and its rarely so simple as to be the actions of the genuinely evil. And Flinn has perplexd that beautifully. Nick is humane. He is flawed and over time, he begins to adopt that and work toward a change.THIS is what Contemporary is all about. Finding these novels that capture a spot in the human experience and diffuse your eyes to it, learn you recognize it for what it is, make you learn and grow as a person and do to open windows of understanding into subjects otherwise unlikable to us. Every side has two stories and it is a brave source who can so masterfully tell the unpopular one.