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A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the 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. LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Time, San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Town & Country, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Thrillist, BookPage • “[A] worship song to writers and readers.”— Oprah Daily 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. Read more
George Saunders writes he is teaching fiction at a unique moment. Truth has been devalued, words have been cheapened, fine literature no longer commands a large audience. So it’s a little strange that he chooses to write this introduction to fiction by analyzing seven nineteenth century Russian short stories. Surprisingly, he is able to use them to not only provide an introduction but to offer a defense for the place of literature in modern life. Each story is present in its entirety. As an accomplished author, he is obviously able to give a behind the scenes tour that shows the nuts and bolts of what makes these stories work. Chosen for their brevity and apparent simplicity Saunders isn’t out to teach anyone to write like Proust. The book is, after all, an introduction to fiction. But, as the book winds its way through the nineteenth century Russian corpus, a theme grows stronger and stronger. Writing, for Saunders, is an exchange between the best part of a writer and the best part of the reader. It silences, if only temporarily, the natural but delusional perception that the world revolves around us. Ultimately fiction, like prayer or meditation, changes us—hopefully for the better. It’s a noble vision of literature that naturally flows out of the how-tos and what-fors that make up his introduction to penmanship. It’s that rare book that speaks to the present moment while simultaneously possessing something perennial. Cannot recommend enough to writers and readers alike.
Publisher -> Random House Trade Paperbacks (April 12, 2022) Language -> English Paperback -> 432 pages ISBN-10 -> 1984856030 ISBN-13 -> 978-1984856036 Item Weight -> 10.4 ounces Dimensions -> 5.2 x 1 x 7.8 inches Best Sellers Rank: #7,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #3 in Short Story Literary Criticism #3 in Russian Literary Criticism #10 in Study & Teaching Reference (Books)
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