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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
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
A bible on writing, this is only the first time that I have picked this book up. George has invited us into his masterclass (According to George 🤪) & has held our hands through craft. I will be picking this up to start again next week.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Misogyny, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Suicide
I'm about half way done with this book and I already know that it's a keeper( I'm NOT trading in this one for credit!). First off all, I have highlighted basically every third sentence, so my local book store folk would give me a great big tsk, tsk if I tried. Like the wonderful Francine Prose book "Reading like a Writer" господин Saunders takes the reader through various short stories written by master craftsmen and illuminates various techniques, tie-ins, and symbolic references. It's really like having a private tutor around helping to flesh out the methods the authors use to weave and sculpt magical nuggets of story-telling, which they manage to make look effortless. Being a devout Russophile and worshipper of short stories done right..I'm now going back to my lunch break reading of this gem.
I will be reading this again. I have so much to think about.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4 1/2 stars. I recognize this isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. And I really wonder how this book even got published. I guess when you’re George Saunders you can publish whatever you want. It’s basically a masterclass on the Russian short story (and the short story genre in general). Once upon a time, in another life, I spend many hours (and went deep into debt!) reading the Russian masters and discussing them with a small coterie of students on the same path. And all these years later, I still have a fond place in my heart for Professor Gray and those friends. But wow. The way Saunders dissects the story and pulls out its meaning is just incredible. It made me realize just how much went over my head during my student days. (I cringe as I remember trying to translate Gogol passages into English and just now understanding that I was missing all the double entendres at the time. No wonder I never got Gogol.
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This book felt uniquely suited to me- I have a weird love of Chekhov’s short stories/short plays (and a not so weird love of his full length ones…) and it was not surprising when I finished this book and found out Saunders grew up Catholic as much of the writing felt impacted by a sacramental way of viewing the world and feeling comfortable in uncomfortable mystery. I think much of what is said about short story can be easily translated into writing of other sorts and it felt like a beautiful masterclass that I’m adding to my “own one day” list (we are very picky about the limited bookshelf space we have left in our home
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This variation of a class taught by George Saunders at Syracuse with classic (read: public domain) Russian short stories and then Saunders observations on their aspects could be my favorite book I've read in the last decade. It speaks to so much of life and all of its attendant needs and emotions, with Saunders's sweet and wry voice guiding you through.