Reading Water

Emmi Itaranta’s writing style was unlike any other I have ever come across.  The hypnotic flow of her writing embodied the flow of water.  Reading Memory of Water was like diving into a stream – words encircled me, surrounding me until all I was aware of was their cool, crystalline presence, and carried me gently along.  I had difficulty putting this novel down.

The forward made me too guarded when reading about Noria’s father.  We hardly knew anything else before we heard “That was one of the things my father always insisted on.  Sanja told me the dead don’t need pleasing” (page 1).  From this we find that Master Kaitio was going to die.  When I read the novel, I tried to keep myself from getting attached to him.  However, I failed miserably.  His gentleness, stoicism, resolve, refusal to give up his morals, his adventurous streak, how much he loved his family and the beautiful custom of tea making, etc. made me love this character.  I think this will make it heartbreaking for the readers once Itaranta kills him off.

The seemingly contrasting characters of Noria’s mother and father was very interesting.  Noria’s mother is pragmatic, objective, knowledgable, curious, a reader, and a bit standoffish even towards her own family (whether she means to or not).  She is a scientist and, ergo, has a scientific brain.  Most probably on the Meyers-Brigg Personality Test she would be an INTJ.  Noria’s father on the other hand is a traditionalist, adventurous, gentle, soft towards those he loves, an outside explorer, and a family man.  He would most probably be an INFJ.  This means  that the root cause of their problems would stem from an inability to communicate emotionally efficiently.  We can see this occur in the novel.  However, they both share curiosity, their stubbornness, intelligence, and love for each other and Noria.  This is not enough to keep them together inevitably.

Noria is fascinating.  It seems as if she has a combination of her parents’ best characteristics.  I love seeing the world through her eyes.  Everything is so poetically beautiful.

The state of the Scandinavian Union in this novel is terrifying.  The more we read on, the more information Itaranta offers us.  However, the state of what is occurring is never outrightly discussed.  It is a mystery.  We find clues as we read and must piece them together to understand what is happening.  For example, on page 29 we hear “He was a high-ranked official and the ruling military governor of New Qian in the occupied areas of Scandinavia.”  What does this tell us?  A ruling military governor is a high ranked official.  Ruling typically refers to a monarchy or aristocracy; in this case, aristocracy fits better.  Military goes along with occupied areas.  Who is occupying what?  Why?  We find out later about the Oil Wars but still there is much confusion behind it.  This also implies how much focus is put onto the military – especially when the Kaitio household is searched for weeks by the military.  Governor implies a republic or democracy.  “Ruling military governor” seems like a contradiction in itself but it seems to make sense in this world.  I would like to learn more about the politics present in this novel.

So far, I think this situation could be plausible in the future.  I could definitely see wars over the last few drops of water.  We ration food during hard times; it is plausible that we would ration water.  I do not know much about the government but so far it seems so far that it could exist.

I cannot wait to read more in this book.  I just hope the author addresses the answers to my questions later on.