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W is for Writing with Water.

I think about water. A lot.

For one thing, my state, California, is experiencing its worst drought in 100 years? 500 years? 1,200 years? Depends who is delivering the news. A story in the San Jose Mercury News written by Paul Rogers claims the last time California suffered such a severe drought “Vikings were marauding Europe.”

Eek.

So I think about water. A lot. I try to make water work at least twice. I wash my hands over a sink of stacked dishes to aid in rinsing. When I’m drawing a bath, I capture water in a bucket that I carry out to the garden. And so on.

Whenever I think about stuff in life, I think about how it relates to literature. Writers are funny that way. Let’s see…how does water relate to writing?

Glad you asked.

Water can be symbolic of many things, but the most common are:

Purity. There’s nothing more pure and transparent than clear water running over stones.

Eternity. You know, the continuous cycle–rain forms ponds that evaporate into the clouds that produce more rain.

Death and Rebirth. Baptism, for instance, is a religious rite that exemplifies this idea.

Also, in Greek mythology, five rivers surround the Underworld. Those who die must drink from the River Lethe, which erases all memories of earthly life. Only after drinking from this river can a soul be reborn.

Writers capitalize on built-in symbols (sometimes without realizing it), and readers can derive extra meaning from fiction when they know their symbols. I’m still thinking about that final scene in the movie Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King when they all float away on a barge. Is that supposed to represent death as if they are journeying down that final river…or eternity because they are now free? Or purity because they passed the test of temptation? What do you think?

I did a search on novels with water and came up with 9,584 results. Here are some I chose for your reading pleasure:

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson. In the novel, the girl who stopped swimming is a ghost. Ghost narratives seem to work with water as symbol; after all, ghosts are caught between mortality and eternity.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. I haven’t read this one, but I saw the movie and liked it very much.

Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan. Like The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, this one combines ghosts with water. The novel takes place in Locke, California. With lyrical prose, the author makes wonderful use of water (and other symbols and mythology) as she weaves multiple tales together.

Water Like a Stone by Deborah Crombie. I haven’t read this one, but I’ve read quite a few of Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid/Gemma Jones mysteries in this series, though unfortunately not in order. The author juxtaposes smart detective procedurals with heart-felt women’s fiction.

I’ll stop there at the number four–also symbolic, but number symbolism is a discussion for another day.

How about you? Have you ever noticed water in novels before? What is your favorite water book?