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HomeShop at BookSurgeBusiness & EconomicsHuman Resources & Personnel ManagementSwimming Naked with Jellyfish: The coming-of-age story of a girl who hates semicolons, loves extremes, and lives her life exposed. |
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 More Than A Casual Swim May 04, 2011
By A Brooklyn Prince
I recently read Shelley Gilbert's novel, " Swimming Naked With Jellyfish ". It was a moving and powerful literary experience but at the same time it was thoroughly enjoyable. Shelley Gilbert's style is deceptively simple, even chatty and friendly, but she uses that style to delve deeply into her own psyche and that of her readers.
Gilbert begins her novel with a portrait of Iris Andrea, the novel's protagonist, growing up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Gilbert describes the painful intersection of a young child's innocence and wonder with the wounds inflicted on that child by each member of her dysfunctional family --- mother, father, and sister. As Iris grows and matures, she struggles to find her balance and identity while never able to completely free herself of the residual effects of her difficult childhood.
The novel follows Iris into her life as a young woman, going from one experience to another, some pleasurable, some sad, some tragic. Family, school, work, marriage, the experiences come and go, each one leaving its mark on Iris as she passes through them. Gilbert tells Iris' story and simultaneously holds the reader's rapt attention with plot and language that breathe life into Iris' life. " Swimming Naked With Jellyfish ", a woman's coming of age novel --- highly recommended and very much worth reading.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Shelley Gilbert knows the ropes Jan 27, 2011
By F. Paul Muccigrosso II
Shelley Gilbert knows the ropes
I'm not usually a reader of fictional works like this one but reading this book reminded me of my first journey with Holden Caulfield. Shelley Gilbert captures the true essence of the "coming of age" which Iris defines in each page of her remarkably lived life. Where strength and honesty are needed to capture the reader Iris certainly delivers: she pours out her heart and her deepest feelings about her life and about living life openly and honestly. I found it easy to know Iris and her mother and sister and as I allowed her to bring me into her life and into the fold of her friends and lovers, I learned that my way of caring for her and being her friend provided the sense that Iris had always been capable of being more and of being better. My only disappointment is that because I feel so strongly about Iris, I must wait to see how Manhattan and her own sense of growing maturity helps Iris to grow and continue to develop. Shelley Gilbert makes Iris come alive throughout this novel; her relationship with her father forces Iris to see the world as it truly can be. And sometimes, it ain't pretty. But sometimes this is the lesson that must be learned while growing up. A great read for anyone who loves or appreciates the true human spirit. Shelley helps to make Iris role model material in many ways.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Brooklyn Boy Feb 16, 2010
By John A. Gunn
I totally related with Swimming Naked with Jellyfish. Somewhat because I grew up in Sunset Park and knew Brighton and Coney very well. I also related to Iris' experiences from the male perspective. The writing is fluid and presents experiences in a convincing, factual way. I am looking forward to the sequel.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Narcissim, anyone? Jul 21, 2009
By Highlander
The reviews and blurbs on SNWJ led me to believe that I would read a book much different than the one I did. Admittedly, this is a memoir of sorts, fictionalized somewhat -- which would lead one to conclude that self focus is to be expected. But there is a difference between self focus and complete self absorption.
The author sees the world as a uniform legion of those who are not kind to her and against whom she must constantly struggle. With the exception of her family, all of the characters are facades and shells -- even her lovers are little more than puppets she has circle around her. Her family members are disfunctional and selfish -- never treating her in the manner which she expects to be. We have no idea how someone who presents herself as being so badly treated could ever become a cheerleader -- she must have had friends and supporters, but we never see them through her curtain of self-pity. I wondered, over and over, how she treated others. Had she ever acted in ways that would result in sympathetic response, she might have actually have deserved empathy. It is clear to this reader that she craves attention, healthy or not, but that she is unwilling to recognize that need.
There are a couple of postive points to note. First, she is a child of the '50's and '60's, with all of the constraints, expectations, and pressures of the time -- economic and social and sexual. In that respect, some of her responses are understandable.
Second, the episode in which she is fired from her first job truly evokes empathy. It may be the only point in the book where she convinces me that she was manipulated and discarded. Her reaction, however, is typically overwrought.
However, in general, she expects the world from the world and excuses nearly everything she does in a mist of '60's angst. In this book she demands that the reader be as absorbed in her as she in herself. Her rationale for writing is to reveal herself, naked to the reader -- she does that, but, more, she revels in her self dramatization. Self absorption does not equal self awareness.
In addition, an author who reviews her own work on Amazon can only be overtly demonstrating her narcissism.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Not wild about it Jun 02, 2009
By Libbye A. Morris
"memoirlover"
Of course opinions are subjective. I wanted to like it because I love memoirs, but I had to stop reading about 50 pages in. I found myself tiring of the innuendos about her romantic feelings for her father, and then I read a part about cruelty to animals, and that was it for me. I've never written a negative review before, so I feel badly about it...
See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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