Open Water

Mit Open Water liegt dem Leser ein Buch vor, bei dem es vorerst um die Anziehung auf den ersten Blick zwischen einem Mann und einer Frau geht. Auf dem zweiten Blick allerdings geht es um die Stereotypen und Gefahren, ein schwarzer Mann zu sein, die sowohl in Bezug zur mentalen Gesundheit, sowie darauf basierend Beziehungen des Mannes beeinflussen kann. Die Namenslosigkeit der beiden Charaktere sorgt dafür, dass das Buch etwas Zeitloses hat, das nicht auf die Protagonisten limitiert ist, sondern eine Geschichte darstellt, in der sich jeder Mensch in verschiedenen Aspekten wiederfinden kann, vor allem aber schwarze Leser, die leider vergleichbare Erfahrungen gesammelt haben. Es ist ein tolles, poetisch geschriebenes Buch, das dich für die Protagonisten mitfiebern und gegen die tagtäglichen, systematischen Bedrohungen für sie mitfiebern lassen wird.

This book feels like a hot summer day in a stuffy crowded city. Caleb Azumah Nelson is a poet in the truest form, there is not one sentence in this book that isn't a work of art. This short book carries so much impact, both in terms of content as well as language. A truly astonishing debut novella.

This is a book about what it means to be young, Black and British in today's society. The author uses the second-person narrator, which makes this story so much more powerful. You don't even get to know the protagonist's name but in order to 'see' him, this is irrelevant. One of my absolute favourites, that left me in tears and literally took my breath away.

It's difficult to say what this book is about without spoiling everything. That's why I'll try to explain it in just one sentence: Two people fall in love and that's when a wave of emotions begins. This book is an incredibly well written novella by Nelson that talks about the many sides of love and what it does to us humans. And all of this in a poetic, dramatic and truly unique way. Poetry meets modern reality! I was so emotionally moved by this novella, it is really indescribable how such a large wave of feelings arose with just a few words and a few pages. I could recognize myself in many pages and I'm sure I won't be alone with that. This great story felt so real and I can only recommend it to everyone!