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Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
7 posts | 10 read | 26 to read
From the New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves--and our world today. For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In his introduction, Saunders writes, "We're going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn't fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art--namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?" He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.
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quietlycuriouskate
quietlycuriouskate
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
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Pickpick

This was an absolute joy to read. ? Stories by Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gogol, and Turgenev, each followed by a lively "what they did and how they did it" from GS. (It's much better than I've made it sound, I promise!)
George Saunders is both erudite and entertaining and once again I've come away with the impression of his being a remarkably *humane* writer: he gets people, for sure, and has a lot of compassion for them.
Loved the book. Love him. ❤️

Caroline2 Oh my god I loved this book so much!! I could sit and read it all over again. (And I think I will over Christmas maybe 🤔) 1y
quietlycuriouskate @Caroline2 It's fabulous, isn't it? Definitely one for the to-be-reread pile! 1y
41 likes2 stack adds2 comments
blurb
quietlycuriouskate
quietlycuriouskate
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
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Preach, George Saunders, preach!

I've had a tiring day of dashing around on my feet or two wheels, followed by banging my head against other people's perversely crap admin systems. Tired body: frazzled mind.

I am so in the mood for unstinting technicality, nerdiness, and frankness right now!

26 likes
review
Graywacke
Graywacke
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
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Pickpick

A series of lessons on writing, and they were thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating. I really enjoyed his comments on art in general, how an artist should put the biggest things up front and basically create problem without a solution, and how the artist resolves the problem in unintended ways. But also the stories are good, his commentary is wonderful, and he‘s such a warm reader. A lovely way to spend some time.

47 likes1 stack add
blurb
Graywacke
Graywacke
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
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I‘ll start this on audio tomorrow. (I have a note suggesting @merelybookish inspired me to try this)

batsy It's on my list because of @merelybookish as well 🙂 Look forward to your thoughts. 2y
merelybookish Oh, I was just thinking about this book the other day. I also did audio but need to get a hard copy to revisit. I hope you enjoy and like @batsy am excited to hear what you think! 2y
Graywacke @batsy @merelybookish Saunders talks a little like I think. He was trained in geophysics#, and i work in geophysics. I like that. But anyway I‘m looking forward to this. His introduction was lovely. I want my moon!! (Moon = inspiration) 2y
Billypar I read it on audio - you're in for a treat. I found every essay brilliant, regardless of how much I liked the Russian story it focused on (though I liked most of the stories as well). 2y
Graywacke @batsy @merelybookish oops. Moon = enlightenment ☺️ @Billypar thanks. Now I have two great recommendations! Feeling motivated 💪 2y
47 likes5 comments
review
ClairesReads
ClairesReads
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
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Pickpick

Like being in lit class with George Saunders when you can‘t be in lit class with George Saunders. I love fiction with every fibre of my existence, and this book reminded me of many of the reasons why I love it so much. Even better that Saunders unpacks short stories from my first real lit love, the Russians. Whether short stories, or Russian literature is your jam, if you are a reader this is a book for you. Exquisite.

34 likes1 stack add
review
Caroline2
Caroline2
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
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Pickpick

I really loved this! The author teaches a MFA course in Creative Writing and this really feels like a mini Masters course book! By looking at Russian short stories, George analysis what makes a story great, what makes us fall in love with certain characters and why we love stories so much! Detailed, interesting and I want to read it all over again! (Me and George are now BFFs ☺️)

squirrelbrain I was intrigued by this when it came out, but thought it might be too clever for me! 3y
Caroline2 @squirrelbrain it can be a bit high brow at times and it‘s taken me a couple of months to read as there‘s lots of concepts to sink in but it‘s very clever and well written. It‘s like a course book! 3y
103 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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Nebklvr
Nebklvr
Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life | George Saunders
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Pickpick

I learned to slow down and notice the careful choices of the authors of these exceptional short stories. Received as a digital copy from Edelweiss. The first short story mentioned, “In the cart” by Chekov is also published under the name “The Schoolmistress”.

52 likes