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1.51k reviews for:
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
George Saunders
4.52 AVERAGE
1.51k reviews for:
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
George Saunders
4.52 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Most of the stories featured in this book I would not have read on my own. To be honest I didn't really enjoy all of them, but I found George's explorations of them quite enlightening about how authors either intentionally or unintentionally make choices about what they include. It helped me practice taking a step back and thinking about why certain details are included or omitted. Overall, I walk away from this book feeling better equipped to appreciate choices being made by authors and get more out of my fiction.
A college course in short story reading but make it a book! This was very fun to read and I really learned a lot about being a ~reader~ and Russian literary history. I really love a short story! My favorite bits were the actual Russian stories and I felt like by the end I was getting a little tired of the long analyses so it took me a while to finish.
Nonetheless, if you love to read or maybe write, I would recommend!
Nonetheless, if you love to read or maybe write, I would recommend!
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This is so peak. If anything, I took away that the world is bubbling over with nuance, and that it’s tough to say that you really know anything. Writing what pleases you in hopes that it will please something else is all art is. Super duper cool, incredibly thoughtful, very nuanced, and I’m changed for the better. Would recommend (obviously)
Phenomenal-- a gift I'll be giving to the writers and aspiring writers in my life for years to come.
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
This was so good, I love the way Saunders thinks about stories, both the criticism of them and the writing of them.
I am obsessed with Gogol's "The Nose," I didn't realize people were writing stories so absurd in 1836. It was crazy how modern it felt in terms of the way it spoke so casually about what is absurdly un-visualizable.
So many good nuggets in this book that really changed the way I think about writing:
I am obsessed with Gogol's "The Nose," I didn't realize people were writing stories so absurd in 1836. It was crazy how modern it felt in terms of the way it spoke so casually about what is absurdly un-visualizable.
So many good nuggets in this book that really changed the way I think about writing:
- Voice comes from the revision, oddly provides permission in a way to do crazy intense revisions.
- Short stories, even if they seem to talk about ordinary events, are always incredibly exaggerated in the way they handle time or dialogue.
- the writer is a version of the person writing who creates a world that advocates for a certain set of virtues
- Heightened causality is what makes a story really good
I <3 so dearly anyone who enjoys writing or reading should read this