The Weight of Water (1997) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Billie: 5-year old daughter of Jean and Thomas
• John Hontvedt: Add a description of this character.
• Thomas
• Evan Christensen
• Karen Christensen
• Anethe
• Louis Wagner
• Maren
• Smuttynose
• Matthew
• Jean
• Mr. Yeaton
• Ringe
• Rich
• Haley
• Adaline
• John Hontvet

Quotes edit see section history

• “Sometimes I think that if it were possible to tell a story often enough to make the hurt ease up, to make the words slide down my arms and away from me like water, I would tell that story a thousand times.”

  Jean

• “I learned that night that love is never as ferocious as when you think it is going to leave you.”

  Jean

• “There are moments in your life when you know that the sentence that will come next will change your life forever, although you realize, even as you are anticipating this sentence, that your live has already changed. Changed some time ago and you simply didn't know it.”

  Jean

• “I think about the hurt that stories cannot ease, not with a thousand tellings.”

  Jean's last sentence

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• There are moments in your life when you know that the sentence that will come next will change your life forever, although you realize, even as you are anticipating this sentence, that your life has already changed. Changed some time ago, and you simply didn’t know it.

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• I THINK ABOUT the weight of water, its scientific properties. A cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds. Seawater is 3.5 percent heavier than freshwater; that is, for every 1,000 pounds of seawater, 35 of those will be salt. The weight of water causes pressure to increase with depth. The pressure one mile down into the ocean is 2,300 pounds per square inch.

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• More than that, I’m convinced that no marriage is like it was just the day before. Time is the significant dimension — even more significant than love. You can’t ask a person what his marriage is like because it will be a different marriage tomorrow. We go in waves.”

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• I learned that night that love is never as ferocious as when you think it is going to leave you.

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• I think often of the weight of water, of the carelessness of adults.

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• Sometimes I think that if it were possible to tell a story often enough to make the hurt ease up, to make the words slide down my arms and away from me like water, I would tell that story a thousand times.

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• Are we, as we age, I wonder, repaid for all our thoughtless gestures?

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• I must say that even today I remain quite certain that souls which take root in a particular geography cannot be successfully transplanted. I believe that these roots, these tiny fibrous filaments, will almost inevitably dry and wither in the new soil, or will send the plant into sudden and irretrievable shock.

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• I think about the hurt that stories cannot ease, not with a thousand tellings.

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• I wonder this: If you take a woman and push her to the edge, how will she behave?

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Portsmouth
• America
• Boston
• Norway
• Laurvig
• Maine
• Appledore
• Atlantic
• Gloucester
• Zodiac
• Kristiania
• Cambridge
• Clara Bella

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Anita Shreve (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Orange Prize for Fiction (Finalist, 1998, Shortlist)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3569.H7385 W43 1997
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( S ) › Shreve, Anita
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Psychological & Suspense
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery › Women Sleuths
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

Movie Connections edit see section history

• The Weight of Water (IMDb): 2000