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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
4.5/5. This book was a fun format for an audiobook. Felt like I was in a creative writing lecture and the stories were well narrated. Wish more books were styled this way. In the cart was my favorite story and I liked the analysis of gooseberries a lot.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
This feels self-indulgent in the best way. If you're George Saunders and you're known as a master of the short story who's just won the Booker prize for your first novel and you get asked what you're going to do next, you absolutely get to say "I'm going to take the class I teach at Syracuse where I teach Russian short stories to MFAs into a book." As someone who's been a fan of Saunders' writing (both fiction and non-) for a while, I was happy to follow wherever he lead, even if this was a direction I pictured us going.
I can't honestly say I ever had the desire to get deep into the short stories of Tolstoy, Gogol, Chekov, and Turgenev, but I could spend hours listening to Saunders talk about his craft, so that was well worth the price of entry. After taking the first story a few pages at a time with you so that you can see how he wants you to approach these, the book falls into a pattern of story, Saunders' notes on what he wants you to notice, and an afterword where he'll also tell you his frustrations with a piece. It's like reading these with a friend completely excited with these stories who's sitting on the other end of your couch, not intruding with your process, but wanting to make sure you catch all the little details they're obsessed with. That sounds like it could be suffocating (we've all had that friend who watched US watching their favorite movie, hoping we'd completely get on board with it), but Saunders is also willing to make space for us to really Not Like a thing and be fine with it.
I'm almost tempted to read this through again now that I've read these stories once, just to see if I see more now that I've sat through this book version of his seminar. That feels like pretty high praise.
This feels self-indulgent in the best way. If you're George Saunders and you're known as a master of the short story who's just won the Booker prize for your first novel and you get asked what you're going to do next, you absolutely get to say "I'm going to take the class I teach at Syracuse where I teach Russian short stories to MFAs into a book." As someone who's been a fan of Saunders' writing (both fiction and non-) for a while, I was happy to follow wherever he lead, even if this was a direction I pictured us going.
I can't honestly say I ever had the desire to get deep into the short stories of Tolstoy, Gogol, Chekov, and Turgenev, but I could spend hours listening to Saunders talk about his craft, so that was well worth the price of entry. After taking the first story a few pages at a time with you so that you can see how he wants you to approach these, the book falls into a pattern of story, Saunders' notes on what he wants you to notice, and an afterword where he'll also tell you his frustrations with a piece. It's like reading these with a friend completely excited with these stories who's sitting on the other end of your couch, not intruding with your process, but wanting to make sure you catch all the little details they're obsessed with. That sounds like it could be suffocating (we've all had that friend who watched US watching their favorite movie, hoping we'd completely get on board with it), but Saunders is also willing to make space for us to really Not Like a thing and be fine with it.
I'm almost tempted to read this through again now that I've read these stories once, just to see if I see more now that I've sat through this book version of his seminar. That feels like pretty high praise.
slow-paced
I enjoyed the short stories that George Saunders picked out.
After each short story, Saunders gives tidbits on the craft of writing by describing why the story works. He also dives deeply into the meaning of each story.
I recommend A Swim in a Pond in the Rain to those who love to write and also those who like philosophical discussion.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
After each short story, Saunders gives tidbits on the craft of writing by describing why the story works. He also dives deeply into the meaning of each story.
I recommend A Swim in a Pond in the Rain to those who love to write and also those who like philosophical discussion.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5 - what fun to be in conversation with Saunders and to flex our literary analysis muscles together! I immediately borrowed the page at a time activity and used it in my classroom. A perfect book for nerds who love to break down writing
Seems like the perfect grift to sell a book that contains 7 short stories other people wrote, but also what a delight to read them along with Saunders warm guidance. He provides a small amount of author bio and minimal Russian language or historical context and instead treats these as any other fiction we read to enjoy and to be transformed. This made the works much more approachable for me. Also a useful deconstruction of the writing process and story elements that makes it seem like anyone can write a work of genius, just read this book.
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Beautifully written, entertaining, informative, inspiring even. Plus the opportunity to read and understand Russian masters.
Story-lovers, do not miss this book. George Saunders writes a love letter to fiction and to life as he ushers his readers through the stories of Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol. It’s more than a craft book. It is a meditation and a delight. I have not been so moved or encouraged by a writer writing about writing since discovering Lamott’s Bird by Bird as a high school junior, just starting out on my writing life. (Plus, there is plenty of practical application to the crafting of short fiction.) At the end of A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, I’ve discovered that Saunders is not just a master writer but a master reader and a master teacher. There is much to learn from him.