In the novel Learning to Swim by Graham Swift many issues arise among characters, but the main central idea is the rift between men and women. Inside, the reader is submerged in conflict between couples that were thought to be in love. The characters very well might be, but Graham keeps the forceful repetition of characters struggling to comprehend the progression of thought between characters. For example, the first small story was that of a husband and wife whose only battle is the skirmish of teaching their son to swim. The father who was a champion swimmer in high school takes the task upon himself to instill buoyancy into his son, while the wife who loves the arts and was not known for athletics just wants her small son to do whatever pleases him. This battle somehow consumes the struggle that is the marriage. Second up, a young runaway couple slowly learns of the real world and love. The story begins in a small, dirty, and dank apartment that the couple has taken refuge in. The young woman is from a family of large wealth while the man is from nothing, only further foisting a split. Over time the couple becomes agitated at each other. The romance ends and the real world begins when the couple is forced to take jobs to finance living. The story ends in an abrupt fashion when the couple is at the peak of an argument  and the young woman learns of her inheritance which allows complete financial freedom to both of them. 

Interestingly enough, the final struggle of the book is not that of a man and a woman, but instead of a man and time. The man is born into a family that created a watch that will tick forever and with that comes immortality to the family. The watches as his grandfather lives to around 160 years of age without a hiccup and notices how the quality of life is diminishing. They are all healthy, but the mental attitude of the members degrade over time. So when the man is caught off guard and is roped in to deliver a baby, the watch and its magical powers are used to save the fresh life. This leaves the man with no hope and so he takes his life in a river.

Last Orders so far seems to be about death and the memories that are left behind. The book starts off with Jack in a small bottle in the form of ashes and his various friends confronted with his funeral and the duty of dispersing his ashes into the sea of his choice. The first member of the gang is Ray. Ray began his journey with Jack in the deserts of Africa during World War Two. Vic, the town undertaker come next because of his shop being located across from the butcher shop of Jack. Vince, the son of jack, and Lenny also follow suit. 

Mr. Swift seems very intent on shifting the characters, and so every chapter is named for the point of view of the speaker. I really like how it feels as if the characters are viewpoints of a camera, yet that is the main difference from other authors. Swift likes to jump from character to character and I don't blame him because he definitely knows how to do so. 

A good majority of authors have similarities between their works. The novel Waterland and Last Orders share this fingerprint that is created from within. First, the characters in both novels share the similarity of seeing war firsthand.The character set in Last Orders met and created bonds during the second World War. Tom Crick, book 1, gained his small-town fame by trampling on the fascist powers overtaking Europe.This only makes sense because Swift was born in the late 40's and was forced to grow up with the iron curtain clearly visible Second, the two book explore the meaning of life, friendship, and family which seems to be a very common topic of Swift's. Lastly, the two books mentioned are set in small towns with the main characters, or the parents of, being middle of the road when it comes to wealth due to working a skilled job.