The Chronology of Water

Lidia Yuknavitch
Reviewer: Elyse Lowery

The language of Yuknavitchs memoir is poetic and strange, almost as if Yuknavitch has
created her own dialect of English. Emotion is the centerpiece of this language. In an interview
with publisher and editor Rhonda Hughes, Yuknavitch says, You could probably go through
this book and literally chart the moments of emotional intensity by watching where the
languageto quote Dickinsongoes strange. This, along with the non-linear structure of the
story, almost make the memoir seem experimental. But the way she composes the book is quite
political. She writes about her fathers sexual abuse, but vaguely. She writes about her alcohol
and drug use, but vaguely. Yuknavitch mentions that certain topics can only be written about
with a mainstream narrative if they hope to be published. Perhaps she is trying to avoid the
injustice of her experience being called a clich by writing with a measure of ambiguity. But
perhaps this vagueness could make her story anybodys story. Perhaps thats what makes the
story so powerful. While the life Yuknavitch accounts is as unique as it is heart wrenching, the
emotions she writes are simple and human. In that way, the story becomes more than
Yuknavitchs story. It becomes anyones story, and maybe that is why it has such a lasting
impact on so many readers.
There are points in the novel, however, when Yuknavitchs personal narrative drowns out
collective emotions. While she sometimes defers information purposefully, to keep the reader
inside her pain and grief, she is also at times loose with her information, propelling the reader
outside her grief and into other characters. This is especially true in how she describes the
female crushes shes had throughout her life. They are all, quite noticeably for a black reader,
pink nippled and pearly skinned. Its damaging to hear someone like Yuknavitch speak from
such an empowered female perspective, only to realize she is talking about just white women
because she herself is white, and diversity is not a large enough thread in her life to be included
in her memoir. At one point in the story, she calls attention to the differences between herself
and the people she does community service with after a DUI. Ernesto Alejo Angel Manuel Rick
Ricardo Sonny Lebron Pedro Jimarcus Lidia. Notice anything about those names? Six Mexicans,
one Italian, one African-American, one white dishonorably discharged Navy guy wound tighter
then dynamite, and me. While she may rewrite the typical gender narrative, she certainly doesn't
do the same for race. Ultimately, this list of names forms the posse, with Yuknavitch coming
to some stale understanding of their non-whiteness because she too has served time in prison,
and, somehow this makes her a cultural insider.
Nevertheless, The Chronology of Water is a beautiful and inspiring read from a woman
who presents herself as deeply human. We see her flaws, and we let them go, because theyre
okay. Flaws are human, and this book is full of flaws and love and soul. After closing it, I felt I
could forgive myself a little more, cry for the tragedies, and appreciate the crazy, chaotic mosaic
of life.