Book
A swim in a pond in the rain : in which four Russians give a master class on writing, reading, and life / George Saunders.
"In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders guides the reader through seven classic Russian short stories he's been teaching for twenty years as a professor in the prestigious Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program. Paired with stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, these essays are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. Saunders approaches each of these 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. For the process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is as much a craft as it is a quality of openness and a willingness to see the world through new eyes. Funny, frank, and rigorous, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain ultimately shows how great fiction can change a person's life and become a benchmark of one's moral and ethical beliefs"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781984856029 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: xii, 410 pages ; 24 cm
- Publisher: New York : Random House, [2021]
- Copyright: ©2021
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Includes texts of seven short stories. |
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | We begin -- In the Cart--Anton Chekhov. A page at a time: thoughts on In the Cart ; Afterthought #1 -- The Singers--Ivan Turgenev. The heart of the story: thoughts on The Singers ; Afterthought #2 -- The Darling--Anton Chekhov. A pattern story: thoughts on The Darling ; Afterthought #3 -- Master and Man--Leo Tolstoy. And yet they drove on: Thoughts on Master and Man ; Afterthought #4 -- The Nose--Nikolai Gogol. The door to the truth might be strangeness: Thoughts on The Nose ; Afterthought #5 -- Gooseberries --Anton Chekhov. A swim in a pond in the rain: Thoughts on Gooseberries ; Afterthought #6 -- Alyosha the Pot -- Leo Tolstoy. The wisdom of omission: Thoughts on Alyosha the Pot ; Afterthought #7 -- We end. |
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- Baker & Taylor
"In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders guides the reader through seven classic Russian short stories he's been teaching for twenty years as a professor in the prestigious Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program. Paired with stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, these essays are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. Saunders approaches each of these 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. For the process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is as much a craft as it is a quality of openness and a willingness to see the world through new eyes. Funny, frank, and rigorous, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain ultimately shows how great fiction can change a person's life and become a benchmark of one's moral and ethical beliefs"-- - Baker & Taylor
The award-winning author of Tenth of December pairs scholarly essays based on his Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program with seven classic Russian stories to explain the essential literary processes of narrative, story immersion and perspective. Illustrations. - Random House, Inc.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ⢠From the Booker Prizeâwinning 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 ourselvesâand 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 ⢠â[A] worship song to writers and readers.ââOprah 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 itâs more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.
In his introduction, Saunders writes, âWeâre going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesnât fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of artânamely, 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?â 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.
