Book Review – Like Water and Other Stories by Olga Zilberbourg

‘Like Water and Other Stories‘ is a collection of fifty two short stories by Olga Zilberbourg. That sounds like a lot of stories, but it doesn’t feel that way while reading the book, because the stories are of varied length – some of them are what used to be called short-shorts which run for a few pages, while others are just a paragraph long like a Lydia Davis story, something which is called micro fiction these days. There are some stories which are longer too.

There are two major types of stories in the book – the Russian stories and the American stories. Olga Zilberbourg is Russian-American and so she has given importance to both sides, though I would say that the book on the whole leans towards the Russian side. Many of the Russian stories explore the Russian-American experience. One of my favourites was a story called ‘Sweet Porridge‘ in which a Russian mother and her American child read a Grimm fairytale together and how their interpretation of the story is totally different. Another of my favourites was ‘Cream and Sugar‘ in which a Russian mother comes to America to visit her daughter and her family. What happens during that time and the gentle clash of cultures is beautifully depicted in the story. Another favourite was ‘Doctor Sveta‘ in which the narrator travels to St.Petersburg to meet her family and during a formal dinner she is seated next to her aunt’s best friend who is a doctor. The narrator and this doctor have a conversation and what happens after that is fascinating. The title story ‘Like Water‘ was beautiful and was one of my favourites too. The narrator of the story discovers a secret about her past and it surprises her very much. I can’t tell you anything more about it. You have to read the story and discover its pleasures for yourself. The last passage in the  story –

“And most likely, it’s too late. My habits have been too firmly established. Water isn’t for me. But I’m staring at the mug—it’s right there in the middle of the table. I can’t forget that water is in there. I’ve grown used to something else by now, but what if I dared? What if I did what so many of my students do at eighteen or twenty? Namely, experiment. Try out a new identity. I’m terrified, but I also can’t pretend I don’t understand. Water is life.”

– was one of the most beautiful passages in the book. I can’t tell you, of course, what the water she has mentioned there means. You have to read the story and discover its pleasures and secrets for yourself.

Out of the American stories, one of my favourites was ‘Helen More’s Suicide‘. It is about a literature professor called Helen More who is dynamic and fascinating, but for some unknown reason takes her own life one day. Her best friend and one of her younger friends meet one day and talk about this. It is a beautiful story which asks some big questions.

There are more stories in the book, of course, there are fifty-two in all. I loved most of them, but I’ll stop with this sample. I enjoyed reading this collection. Olga Zilberbourg’s first three short story collections were published in Russian. This is her English language debut. I hope her Russian collections get translated into English. I’d love to read them.

Have you read ‘Like Water and Other Stories‘? What do you think about it?