Time Swimmer (Island Fiction) [Paperback]

Gerald Hausman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2009 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Island Fiction

"Time Swimmer" is the story of a young Jamaican, Luke, who befriends an ancient storytelling sea turtle, Odysseus. Together they travel through Caribbean time, righting wrongs and saving lives - the pirate, Henry Morgan, for one; and Cyparis, the only survivor of the Pelee volcano that killed 28,000 people in Martinique in 1902, to name another. The novel is full of spiders that are men and lizards that are gods. All mixed together in a pepperpot stew of fantastic spice that blends fiery history with delectable fantasy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gerald Hausman has written more than 70 published books including such Jamaican titles as Duppy Talk, Doctor Bird, The Jacob Ladder, The Boy From Nine Miles:The Early Life of Bob Marley and Three Little Birds. He founded the Blue Harbour Creative Writing Program, which ran for 13 summers on the north coast of Jamaica. His books have won 35 prestigious awards and honors from the American Folklore Society, the Bank Street College, Booklist, Parents' Choice, New York Public Library, and the National Council of Social Studies.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan Caribbean (January 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405098988
• ISBN-13: 978-1405098984
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an inveterate storyteller, which is to say: I love to do it, am helpless not to do it, and I do it all the time, even when I am by myself there is an inner monologue going on in my head. This habit of privately roving around in the land of legends is something I've done for as long as I can remember. My mom worried about me when she saw that I spent too much time by myself. I would creep into a closet and close the door and in the silence of the darkness I would spin tales of all kinds. I was never lonely as a kid because I had the imagination of a wild thing, and I was content to play in the fields and valleys and secret caves of that imaginary world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Epic Poetry Redefined. It's About Time!, April 13, 2009

By 

Dharma Hand - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Swimmer (Island Fiction) (Paperback)

The slippery slope of ancient mythos merging into present day realities has been climbed and mastered by the author in this sensuously written page turner. When academicians try to poeticize their knowledge of myth you are as likely to get porridge as you are to get winged inspirations and when the poetically gifted attempt to tell rollicking tales you may have to saddle up for a wild ride or you could get a goose egg.

Miraculously, Mr. Hausman leaps the hurdles of blending the old with the new and arrives at something much more. In Time Swimmer, I believe he has created a portal into the eternal truths in a way I've never seen or read before. The language and writing itself is brilliant and I would push for anyone to read it for the exquisite use of simile throughout, the alliteration and syncopation, its tight rhythms and brave, yet precise leaps into colorful descriptives.

The tale, and it is fantastic, is guided by his ear for language and attunement to Caribbean ways and a precise understanding of how character is revealed by speech. When you combine this gift of tailoring description and dialogue to character and their actions with a very evident level of wisdom, the reader realizes the author themselves are the shaman and the teacher and it is their embodiment of the actual truth and wisdom of the eternal myths that has written this book.

How else could one explain how the greek myths are made to come alive so fluidly and clearly in their message in an entirely different time and place? And how is it that what may be seen by some as a playful adventure for younger readers is actually a deep and penetrating meditation on spiritual liberation, free will and the star stuff we are made of? How? Because it is jazz, mixed with patois, written by a wise man who has given voice to the gods because they have spoken to him. This is modern myth making.

Odysseus and Gerald Hausman are sitting at the same poker table folks. Get this book so you can watch them play the hands that are dealt in this fantastic, time warped, shape shifting beauty of a book. Harry Potter, move over!

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic battle with the gods of the old myths, June 22, 2009

By 

Amber Urth Dune - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Swimmer (Island Fiction) (Paperback)

The old gods of Greek, Norse and other myths battled each other in Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS, and the protagonist Shadow became caught up in the middle of that chaos. In Gerald Hausman's TIME SWIMMER, the young Jamaican Luke is also caught up in battles between the old gods. Befriended by the epic warrior and journeyman Odysseus (who has been cursed by Zeus to live as a sea turtle), Luke has numerous fantastic experiences during this epic tale of travels through time in the Caribbean. This is a fitting book for a young reader who may be interested in fantasy and tales of the elder gods; it may even encourage some readers to seek out books of those original myths. The adult reader may recognize other allusions, including Ambrose Bierce's classic tale, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Overall, this is a satisfying young adult tale.

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun read, April 1, 2009

By 

Franco Antonetti "Franco" (Horseshoe Bend,AR.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time Swimmer (Island Fiction) (Paperback)

I have read a number of books by the Author Gerald Hausman.
It amazes me how he can write about so many interesting subjects and be so informative on each.No doubt he must do a great deal of research and preparation before creating his new story.
I am also letting readers know that Mr Hausman is also a great showman.A dear friend let me know that Mr Hausman was the key speaker at their school and let me know that he had each child's attention of every word that he was reading from one of his books.
My point is that this latest book from him is a wonderful read for many.