Carry Me Across the Water

by Ethan Canin

Take the advice of no one,' young August Kleinman is told by his mother, as around them in Hamburg the Nazi party is rising to power. With these words alone to guide him, August escapes to America, where he builds a fortune, a family, and a life, on his own daring terms. August's character and fate are shaped by a shocking encounter in a cave with a Japanese soldier, a lifelong passion for an Italian girl named Ginger and estrangement from his own children. Finally, August must face the sins of his life and seek atonement.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, World War II, Literature, Novels, American Fiction

228 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2001

About the author

Highly regarded as both a novelist and a short story writer, Ethan Canin has ranged in his career from the "breathtaking" short stories of Emperor of the Air to the "stunning" novellas of The Palace Thief, from the "wise and beautiful" short novel Carry Me Across the Water to the "epic" America America. His short stories, which have been the basis for four Hollywood movies, have appeared in a wide range of magazines, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The Paris Review, and Granta, and have been selected for many prize anthologies.

The son of a musician and a public-school art teacher, he spent his childhood in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California before attending Stanford University, the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, and then Harvard Medical School. He subsequently gave up a career in medicine to write and teach, and is now F. Wendell Miller Professor of English at his alma mater, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he has been privileged to teach a great number of talented new writers. In his spare time he is very slowly remodeling two old houses, one in the woods of northern Michigan and the other in Iowa City, where he lives with his wife, their three children, and four chickens.

Reviews

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

" آگوست" پسر کوچک یهودی ایه که روزی با مادرش از وحشت نازی ها به سرزمینی دور پناه میبره و زیر سایه ی ناپدری خوش قلبی قد میکشه. و حالا در سال‌های پایان زندگیش احساس تهی بودن اونو به سمت مرور خاطرات بد و خوبش میکشونه:
جنگ و ترس از تله ها، عذاب کشتن ناشناسی که دشمن بنظر میرسه اما ی آدم ه و زندگی و خانواده داره، رد و قبول مذهب و یا حفظ احترام به عقاید خانوادگی، خاطره ی پدر و پدربزرگ کشته شده، چالش ها و موفقیت های کاری و نقشش به عنوان پدر و همسر...
مرا تا آن سوی اقیانوس ببر، تا رسیدن به روبرویی با ی راز قدیمی و دردناک، دو وجه زندگی ی سرباز جنگ که همزمان مردی هدفمند و خانواده دوست هم هست رو به تصویر میکشه.
پراکندگی و جهش های زمانی در مرور خاطرات گاهی مثل شوک بودن، وقتی وسط جنگ و اضطرابش غرق هیجان میشدم، ناغافل ذهن آگوست می پرید سمت دیگه ای از زندگیش و خودم رو وسط ی جمع خانوادگی پیدا می کردم، گاهی این تداخل گیج کننده بود اما این بازی ذهنی جذابیت خودش رو داشت🫠

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I loved this book. It's an intricately woven story deftly going back and forth in time and concurrently building suspense, telling the story of one man's life. Not a wasted word. Gorgeous writing. Wonderful characterization of August Kleinman, a 78 year of Jewish-German refugee who is the essence of the word "mensch." I've known such refugees in my life who have suffered, but survive with their secrets untold but also with both their decency and sense of humor intact. I loved every moment in Kleinman's company. We get to know him as the narrative moves forward towards an important encounter while Kleinman looks back, reviewing his life and past actions.

I just finished this book and already miss Kleinman who became very real to me. I feel a deep sense of loss that I will never meet him again. Always a sign for me that I've read the work of a very talented writer.

[JimZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. It started out as 3 stars and then it took a downward trajectory. The gift of a very good writer when writing a “realistic” (not fantastical) novel is for the reader to believe they are reading about real people. About one third of the way through this I felt that “I am reading a sentence that Ethan Canin wrote”. That’s not good. But it was still 3 stars because a couple of times I felt verklempt (‘verklempt’ comes from a series of sketches in "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman performed by Mike Myers] on Saturday Night Live — “Discuss amongst yourselves this topic, the Holy Roman Empire. It wasn’t holy. It’s wasn’t Roman, it wasn’t an empire. Talk amongst yourselves.”).

Here are some of my comments as I was reading the 206-pagebook (one of the good attributes of the novel was that it was not 400 pages):
• PEZ…acronym for “pfefferminz” (I did not know this)
• This is pretentious and sexist. The females have degrees in French Literature and Art History.
• Oh dear God! He’s talking with LBJ. Right!!
• Dear God. Planting tulips in Japan. Just changed from 3 to 2 stars (p. 146)
• 1 star… A letter from Lady Bird Johnson
• So, author went to Harvard Medical School. Surprise – Augie has Myelodysplastic Syndrome! (JimZ: That last example is Ethan Canin making us aware he knows a thing or two about Science & Medicine. And one of Augie’s sons is a provost at his university where he has tenure.)

So this is fiction. He has Augie Kleinman who has made his millions owning a successful brewery in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania being in a fancy-schamntzy dinner with a bunch of political bigwigs including the President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson. During the height of the Vietnam War. He is in a receiving line to shake the President’s hand and LBJ discerns that Augie wants to say something to him:
• “I can see you’re a man who’s not going to cozen me,” said the president.
• What was it? He was genial, but the eyes had the cold stonewall appraisal of a predatory fish. A scratch-dirt rancher from Texas and a boy off a ball-bearing boat from Dover, a quarter century later. Somehow, social concern was mixed in there too. Johnson. Strangely, seemed Jewish.
• No, Mr. President,” said Kleinman.
• “I knew that as soon as I saw you. What’s your opinion of what I said about our boys over there in Vietnam?”
• “I think you should stop the bombing, sir.” He drew a breath, “I think you’re a coward for continuing.”
• The president said loudly, “Well, that’s what I call a nonsense opinion,” and Kleinman felt the hand of the Secret Service man on his back.
🙄

You can’t make this stuff up. Oh wait, Ethan Canin just did. Never mind… 😐

Oh, and Lady Bird Johnson mailed Augie a letter when Augie’s wife died, expressing her condolences and saying LBJ never forgot what Augie said to him. 😐

I’m giving this 1.5 stars because that’s what I decided in my head despite what I wrote down in my notes. After all, at least I finished the book. 😬

Reviews (I am once again the odd man out! They all love it!):
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
• https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
• https://www.salon.com/2001/05/21/canin/

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethan Canin's skill as a short story writer is apparent in this slim novel that spans the lifetime of August Kleinman. Not a word or sentence is wasted. I was captivated from the beginning - and with each page, deepened my understanding of Kleinman's life and choices - sad to part with him at the end.

[Mark Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like drinking straight cream, reading Ethan Canin forces you to slow down. You can’t swallow quickly. You don’t want to. You appreciate the way words coat your brain, the way images want to linger. It’s not as if every sentence is doing back-flips and waving a big flag saying “look at me, look at me.” There’s plenty of good, plain-vanilla prose as well but Canin peppers his stories with the kinds of details that give his stories punch and life. In “Carry Me Across the Water,” the story careens casually around the life of one August Kleinman, who has experienced a big chunk of the 20th century. I loved the sweep to this story, all told in a fairly compact (200 page) manner. “Carry Me Across the Water” is reflective but not inactive. The end comes with a taut war scene, enemy vs. enemy. Blood and guts. Knife to the heart. Kleinman is taking it all in, making sense of what he’s done and where he’s been. He’s evaluating the “fruit and dirt” of his life. “He had killed one man and possibly a second, told Lyndon Johnson he was a coward after paying two hundred thousand dollars to meet him, grown rich in a business that was abidingly anti-Semitic, beaten all the odds, and then lost the great love of his life before returning, if not to his former self, then at least to a man who could pass as that.” The book flows effortlessly, using telescopes and microscopes to examine Kleinman’s life and make sense of it all. Memorable and, in its own calm manner, oddly riveting.

[Kirstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a short story author this novel is basically several short stories woven together in a non-linear fashion that presents the portrait of complicated man showing where he is and how he got there. By taking the advice of no one he falls in love, serves his country, and earns his fortune. In his old age he has lost his wife and finds himself distanced from his children and seems not quite sure what to do with himself but still not willing to let anyone tell him what to do. There were a few parts that seemed strange, or out of place or just somehow wrong for this book but they came and went quickly so I could just pretend they didn’t exist and enjoy the rest.

[Aleta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I continued reading this book after I decided I didn't like it as well as I had hoped, because it was short and I was banking on it getting better. It wasn't terribly bad, but I didn't really see the point in the plot. I found it confusing and scattered. It wasn't a book I'll remember. I do, however, plan to read one of Ethan Canin's other books because they seem to get good reviews.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's all in the writing. This novel is imaginative and brilliant and beautiful. Every word counts, and every word is perfect. This is storytelling at its finest.

Written by Ethan Canin, this is the life story of August Kleinman, now 78 years old, as he looks back on his many years. As a young boy, he and his mother, privileged and wealthy German Jews living in Hamburg, flee in the middle of the night to New York City, escaping Hitler's rise to power. One month later his father and grandfather are murdered. August grows up loved and cared for. When the United States enters World War II, he is sent to Japan, and it is here deep inside a cave on a remote island near Okinawa that something happens that haunts him for the rest of his life. In his twilight years, August returns to that country to make things right—or as right as he is able. August was the owner of a very successful brewery, and now that he is older and sadly widowed, he wants to give away his money.

This is more than the story of just one man; it is also the story of the human condition. How we survive, how we love, how we create and build, how we succeed and fail, how we transition to each new phase of life—from child to spouse to parent to grandparent. It is a story of mistakes made and redemption sought. It is the story of fathers and sons—their great love and their great conflicts. It is the story of how a strong and abiding romantic love enriches life beyond measure. And it is the tragic story of the loneliness and isolation of old age.

This short novel jumps around in time from present to past and back again. It is always a smooth transition, never jarring, and each shift in the story furthers the purpose of the tale. The magic is in the quotidian details that make the characters pop off the page. And the descriptions are almost poetic, demanding to be reread.

The book is indeed magical. It grabbed a piece of my heart and soul and wouldn't let go. I highly recommend it.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started to read this book, I was very prepared to hate it. Friends had recommended it but I just didn't think I would like it. Begrudgingly, I began the book. And I was right, for about 20 pages. Somewhere after that, this man, August, became someone that I wanted to know more about. This is what kept me reading. The short chapters(?) make this easy to read and to keep picking up again and furthermore I wanted to. I surprisingly really enjoyed this book. I rated it three stars because of the first 20 pages and the last 20 pages which were both disappointing but the rest of the book was very good.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other reviews have mentioned that this is a slight book, and I agree. It's not weighty. Among the innumerable losses suffered by both sides in World War II, one Jewish man (who has fled his country and his father following the rise of Nazism in Germany), is haunted by the one life he took.

It's still worthy, a book of the life and times of August Kleinman, successful millionaire. Some of the best parts of the book are dealing with his interactions with his children, his daughter in law and his grandson. It's a lived in, quiet book. I'll read more Canin.

[Aggeliki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Μια ανθρώπινη ιστορία και η πορεία ενός ανθρώπου από τον πάτο στην κορυφή. Σε σημεία συγκινητική, σε άλλα λίγο σκληρότερη και απόλυτα πραγματική. Ήταν ευχάριστη ανατροπή από ένα βιβλίο για το οποίο δεν είχα υψηλές προσδοκίες οφείλω να πω. Η γραφή του Canin στρωτή, ευχάριστη στην ανάγνωση, λόγος καθημερινός που αποφεύγει βαρύγδουπες εκφράσεις. Στο σύνολό του ένα ενδιαφέρον ανάγνωσμα.

[Unbridled · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was sound, fundamentally, sustaining and building its mild narrative momentum with an easy, limpid prose. Skilled writing, MFA consistency, but nothing to tickle the cells into any sort of rapturous applause.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short and keeps you interested. Neither here nor there, but has the occasional little gem along the way. Not very memorable.

[Philip Readsalot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading this, I had never heard of Ethan Canin. I often get into book discussions with customers, and on one occasion I was speaking with a client who seemed to have a good idea what he was stepping on, and he highly recommended ‘Carry Me Across the Water’ to me. He said Canin had a beautiful way of not telling the reader what to feel, but was able to communicate great emotional depths through pithy storytelling. I must say I agree with this appraisal- Canin’s writing is incredibly emotive without ever getting bogged down by flowery or saccharine descriptions. From the first few pages I was hooked and knew that I was reading something special.

The novel is constructed in an interesting way- an old man is visiting his son’s family in New York and reflecting on his life. It jumps around scenes detailing his childhood, his early years of marriage, the saga of his industry building, a trip to Japan, and a very formative WWII experience in the East China Sea. I found the narrative structure to flow seamlessly and nicely provide a Terrence Mallick-esque overview of the protagonists life.

The novel dances gracefully between a wide array of themes in keeping with the disjointed narrative style. Persecution, fleeing, trying to fit in, fearing for your life at war, grappling with the feelings that accompany a senseless wartime murder, falling in love, tragically losing that love and questioning everything that led up to it. Is there a purpose to endless wealth accumulation when those are hours spent away from the person who means everything to you? Accruing funds to insulate and protect something that you are unable to nourish because you got so carried away in fortifying and barricading?

The characterizations are rich, for such a short novel you get a full sense of the characters’ personalities and idiosyncrasies, even characters that appear only briefly are described with a distinct and humorous flair. Canin’s pithy and rich descriptions are top-notch all over the place, his style is really succinct and rich and you just want to keep reading but he keeps everything so short and full of feeling! It’s a perfect blend between stylized prose and straightforward, you gotta sip on some of this stuff and check it out for yourself, I think Canin is just swell.

In the end, this book made me feel deeply and reflect on my own life. It made me want to focus less on the work and security and future-proofing aspects of life and to spend more time with close friends and loved ones, to cherish all of these wonderful relationships we have. I really enjoyed this book and I think you will too.

[Carlos Magdaleno Herrero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro corto y ameno. Nos narra desde su infancia en la Alemania prenazi y su huida a USA hasta su vejez; con el objetivo de entregar una carta de un soldado japones de la segunda guerra mundial a su amada, en la que el luchó y lo mató, nos va mostrando lo que fue su vida, sus relaciones familiares, su distinto aprecio por lo material y el dinero; eso si, los saltos en el tiempo de la historia hace que tengamos que estar bastante atentos a la lectura, pues son centenares de ellos y algunos muy breves, lo que marea un poco. Pero gustome.

[Bea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethan Canin is such a skillfull writer. The book is about a 78 year old Jewish man,a self made tycoon named August, who is remembering certain times of his life, most of which were rather violent. We gradually learn about his past as his memory is stimulated while he is visiting one of his sons and helping to care for his grandson. His past is vibrant, interesting and very touching at times. The parts of the novel where the main character is crawling through a cave in Japanese territory during WWII is so good it got my heart thumping, as did his encounter with a city thug. For me the book slowed down during the present day part of the book and it took 30 or more pages to get my attention, and it skips from present day to past memories quite a bit, which doesn't bother me. I thought it was worth getting through the first 30 pages for the great writing that follows.

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Jewish boy flees Germany with his mother, marries an Italian girl, starts a brewery in Pittsburgh, & becomes wealthy but loses touch with his 3 children. After his beloved wife dies, he reflects on his life and especially on his experience killing a Japanese soldier and aspiring artist whose letters he retrieves and only now tries to return to the women they were written to. It's a rich novel about the human condition with an appealingly complex principal character, though the short snippets skipping around in time can be a little confusing & frustrating.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick but engaging read. Felt like an extended short story rather than a novel.

[Alan Spinrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well crafted, though it took me a little while to track the multiple time frames in which events occur. Much in life repeats itself. In the end, not much really makes a difference.

[Jack Swanzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written story. I've had this book on my shelf for years and this week it caught my attention. I read it in one day. So engaging and heart-felt.

[Kayla Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75- Picked the shortest book on my parents bookshelf in attempt to finish my goal. This was a quick but impactful read that I did not think I would like at first, as it was dense and wordy and about a man’s life through war, fatherhood, and growing old. But it surprised me and was a very emotional beautifully written book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[LK Hunsaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exquisite read from Ethan Canin, one of the current masters of American literary fiction. Self-preservation meshes with a general concern for society, growth, and love. Very highly recommended.

[Ozimandias · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a young man, I was not immediately drawn into the world of an old, rich Jew looking back on his life, but as the book progressed, I became involved with the protagonist beyond his demographics. Regardless of the particulars, the power of memory is strong, and really haphazard. No one can ever predict what stimulus in the world will create a travel down memory lane in one's mind. August's life is totally broken up into meaningful vignettes, which I prefer. I think there is a beauty in trying to convey a message with as little prose as possible. He remembers his days in childhood in Germany, his brave mother and her new husband, his amazing wife Ginger, his time in Japan...all there, just not in order. It is a poignant story of how times change, we march toward that long goodnight, and all you're left with is your memories, hopefully of a life well-spent. This book is certainly worth everyone's attention, as long as you like that sort of broad look at life.

[Rowland Pasaribu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it was the disjointed way in which I read this little novel, a couple of pages at a time, that led me to be un amazed by it or perhaps it was simply unstartling. Never the less in spite of a nice writing style I finished the book with a bit of a ho hum feeling. The story is of a successful Jewish man reflecting on his time during the war and revealing secrets to the family of an enemy he had killed in the South Pacific. It was enjoyable and easy enough to pick up but never really got me involved.

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delicate and ponderous, this is a strangely fast read that spans decades and moves in a non-linear exploration of the major moments in one elderly man's life. Without becoming maudlin, or even necessarily predictable, the book acts as an in-depth character study of a single man's response to war, independence, love, and aging. The problem is simply that there is more character study than plot, and more examination than sympathy. In the end, I was left wanting far more, as engaged as I'd been with various moments and characters in the novel.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed after reading this book, Ethan Cain is an author that I really like. I loved his previous book, namely For Kings and Planets.. I did`nt understand the plot of the book, they had some characters that were memorable but most were forgettable. I struggled understanding the point of the book, I did`nt get anything that was worth treasuring. It was not a book that I would not recommend to any Cain fans, it was a huge disappointment.

[Cody VC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this more, I really did, but the middle didn't quite satisfy me as much as the beginning and end. It's broken up into sections, rather than chapters, and some of them are brilliantly sharp (for instance, the scene where Kleinman and his wife go to a CPR class) but I felt like others dragged - typically the longer, more plot-heavy pieces - so either this is a poor example of Canin's novels or his strength really does lie in short stories.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Carry Me Across the Water. It was a good book and kept my attention. The chapters were short and jerky. They jumped unpredicatably from time and place. I struggle with books that pull me from present to past without any warning. People who do not mind this type of story should definitely read this book.

[Katelyn Mater · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, the story jumped around to different periods of the main character's life (which I really like), kinda sad, but also very uplifting and happy in certain ways... I enjoyed the book much more than I thought I would at first. The main character was insightful and interesting to follow. Not one of the best books I've ever read, but still enjoyable.

[Harry Wingfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Ethan Canin, but it won't be the last. I enjoyed the way the narrative went back and forth in time. The characters were not one-dimensional, but rounded out in a way that made them each believable. The story provided insights on aging and finding patterns and closure in a life that is in the later years.