This book is an immersive experience written with a lot of compassion and obviously after a lot of contemplation about the human condition. The language is simple, the descriptions of the characters’ lives very detailed, to the point of giving the reader the feeling of walking around in their skin.
The very opening, following Alfred around as he starts a long conversation with his friends, somehow signals, with its astonishing amount of detail, that there is going to be no pretense, no attempt to edit anything out of or into the description. This is precisely what makes the novel so unusual: there seem to be no great efforts to polish the work and elevate it to something artificial or crafted – it shows life as it is and as it could happen to any of us. The parallel between the lives of the characters in the novel and those in the soap operas some characters like watching is subtle, and yet there is an air of spontaneity to the dialogues in the book, something unscripted, something that can only be the result of observing human nature and presenting, even transcribing the results in written form. In this case, life doesn’t imitate art for once.

Some of the dialogues are laugh-out-loud hilarious, and the cast of human (and canine!) characters is a very fun one, especially the various customers in Bernard’s taxi.

Finishing “The Taste of Water” fills one with a sense of peace and reconciliation; after being privy to the characters’ deepest thoughts and feelings, it’s a lot like saying goodbye to old friends. There is a lot of comfort in following someone around as they go through their mundane tasks and being with them in their most intimate moment. There is a sense of togetherness, the quiet reassurance of another human being breathing right next to you, another human heart beating just like yours, and another human head preoccupied with the same questions that come with the human condition. Together, we may even come closer to the answers!