A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
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- Create Date：2022-01-16 01:19:12
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：George Saunders
- ISBN：1984856030
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Fred Cohen
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This is a must read for anyone who loves fiction。 It’s utterly fascinating， a thoughtful explanation of what makes fiction so compelling。
Al
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I love this book。 Like a exercise in openness or pensive observation， I feel stretched after reading it and ready to pick apart some American short stories （soon）。
Daniel
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An at times revelatory read with some wonderful stories at the heart of it， it’s a must read for creative writers of all stripes。 Saunders’ early analyses， guided by questions and structural breakdowns， are eye-opening and insightful about craft in a way that his later analyses， which read more like college English major’s interpretations of stories， fail to be。 Still， it was a pleasure to read， and got me excited to write again！ I started writing a new story as soon as I put this down。
Caseyobrown
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You'll never read short stories the same way again。 And you may even be inspired to write one yourself。 A great book for those who love the art of writing。 You'll never read short stories the same way again。 And you may even be inspired to write one yourself。 A great book for those who love the art of writing。 。。。more
Fiona Taylor
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This was in equal parts inspiring and completely intimidating
Grey
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Thank you to everyone who told me I’d love this book: Clay Buff of TFIZ， the love of my life Inessa Medzhibovskaya， Addie the English Major， and the girl dressed in yellow for the monochrome party on Halsey St — you were all right I’m so glad I read it。
Donna
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Seven short stories discussed like in an English class with additional comments about writing。 What is the value of fiction？ "I am reminded that my mind is not the only mind。 Seven short stories discussed like in an English class with additional comments about writing。 What is the value of fiction？ "I am reminded that my mind is not the only mind。 。。。more
Ruth Wecker
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puts on a clinic
Kristin
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why are you reading this review and not this book？
Carola Janssen
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Wat een geweldig boek over lezen en schrijven。 Saunders kan het allebei op een superieur niveau。 Echt van genoten en veel van geleerd。
Jeremy Liang
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I felt like I learned a lot from reading this book， which I can't say for most nonfiction books/books in general。 This book brought make back to my times in a creative writing classroom （though I certainly never have had a teacher as wise/kind as Saunders）， carefully dissecting what we loved/hated about what was in front of us to no real avail。 I began writing and writing consistently after reading this， so in many ways， this book was a gift。Aside from the stories themselves， I would say that th I felt like I learned a lot from reading this book， which I can't say for most nonfiction books/books in general。 This book brought make back to my times in a creative writing classroom （though I certainly never have had a teacher as wise/kind as Saunders）， carefully dissecting what we loved/hated about what was in front of us to no real avail。 I began writing and writing consistently after reading this， so in many ways， this book was a gift。Aside from the stories themselves， I would say that the commentary of this book roughly breaks down into craft talk and criticism talk。 For most of the book， this book focuses on the craft of each story: how each one works， stylistic and structural choices， insight into a writer's precision/concision， etc。 This book is MARVELOUS in the craft discussions。 I mentioned a creative writing classroom earlier， but I most certainly learned more about writing reading this book than I did in all of my creative writing classes combined。 Especially in the last two stories， Saunders begins to transition the commentary towards criticism: instead of focusing on why a story works， he escalates why we should care， and what these stories say about life。 My opinion on this is admittedly pretty dependent on my opinion on the stories themselves*， but I think this part of the book was rather hit or miss。 This is mostly because Saunders and the stories （as Saunders argues） actually conclude very little about how to live one's life。 In fairness， I think that's probably true with a capital "T，" but it does make for a rather lukewarm way to end the book， especially since the craft discussions were so invigorating as a result of their precision。Nevertheless， a great way to kick of 2022。 Saunders just seems like the kindest， most generous man， and I hope he knows how much joy he brings people with his writing。 *For the most part， I thought they were well-written but ultimately unmoving and unmemorable。 。。。more
Shauna Tharp
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This book is a perfect example of why I love to read across different topics and genre。 It taught me， entertained me， and left me thinking between reads。 Do you love reading， short stories， Russian classics？ Do you teach reading or writing？ Give this a try。 You won’t regret it！
Ethan
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Enjoyable read。 I think I preferred Tolstoy/Gogol the most and found their work to be easier to read and digest。 My favorite short stories being "Master & Man" + "Alyosha the Pot"。 In college， one of my biggest gripes with writing classes was the extreme analysis with certain choices。 Why can't a door just be pink？ Why most it represent something？ Saunder's does a good job of teetering on this line and opened my eyes to certain choices writer's make and how that shapes the relationship with the Enjoyable read。 I think I preferred Tolstoy/Gogol the most and found their work to be easier to read and digest。 My favorite short stories being "Master & Man" + "Alyosha the Pot"。 In college， one of my biggest gripes with writing classes was the extreme analysis with certain choices。 Why can't a door just be pink？ Why most it represent something？ Saunder's does a good job of teetering on this line and opened my eyes to certain choices writer's make and how that shapes the relationship with the reader。 。。。more
Philip Reari
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Six great Russian stories and six fun， accessible analyses。
Brigham
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2。5。 Awesome insight into writing stories。 The audiobook is well done。 If I found it hard to glean much from the audiobook。 The Russian short stories… I want to like them more than I do。
Kelly Jo
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I LOVED this book， and have given it to several reading hobbyists as a gift。 In describing it as a book that helps us understand what makes great writing， I do not do it justice。 Saunders takes what may seem like a rather academic topic and makes it accessible - funny， clear， demonstrative。 And there's the added bonus of reading extraordinary short stories。 It inspired me to ask for used copies of the Russian greats for Christmas， and I shall begin to tackle them soon as a 2022 reading goal。 I LOVED this book， and have given it to several reading hobbyists as a gift。 In describing it as a book that helps us understand what makes great writing， I do not do it justice。 Saunders takes what may seem like a rather academic topic and makes it accessible - funny， clear， demonstrative。 And there's the added bonus of reading extraordinary short stories。 It inspired me to ask for used copies of the Russian greats for Christmas， and I shall begin to tackle them soon as a 2022 reading goal。 。。。more
Stepan Derluguian
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Astounding book。 The best book I've ever read on reading and writing。 Astounding book。 The best book I've ever read on reading and writing。 。。。more
Jason
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These stories are all excellent - like a "greatest hits" selection of 19th century Russia。 Saunders commentaries are given from the perspective of a professor teaching the craft of writing。 These are witty/perceptive even if you are not trying to teach yourself how to write short stories。 Probably the best work of this type since Nabokov's "Lectures on Russian Literature。" These stories are all excellent - like a "greatest hits" selection of 19th century Russia。 Saunders commentaries are given from the perspective of a professor teaching the craft of writing。 These are witty/perceptive even if you are not trying to teach yourself how to write short stories。 Probably the best work of this type since Nabokov's "Lectures on Russian Literature。" 。。。more
Jess Westhoff
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Wow！ This is a book I want to read again and also give to all my friends and family。
Stewart Mitchell
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This sat on my shelf for a while because， despite loving George Saunders， I didn't want to read a book about writing。 And a book that requires you to read other authors' short stories to understand the essays that follow？ A book modeled after course curriculum？ Count me out。But， actually， count me in。 I finally picked this one up （mostly so it would stop sitting there taunting me） and I really enjoyed it。 It does feel like a course in some ways， but it's a course taught by one of my favorite mod This sat on my shelf for a while because， despite loving George Saunders， I didn't want to read a book about writing。 And a book that requires you to read other authors' short stories to understand the essays that follow？ A book modeled after course curriculum？ Count me out。But， actually， count me in。 I finally picked this one up （mostly so it would stop sitting there taunting me） and I really enjoyed it。 It does feel like a course in some ways， but it's a course taught by one of my favorite modern authors， so I'm not sure why I ever considered that a negative。 More so， it feels like a conversation with Saunders in which he talks about writing， literature， and how these things can enhance the joy of life itself。 He's got such a comfortable presence and a great authorial presence， and it's just nice to spend time with him。 And， most importantly， he doesn't try to write rules for good fiction - he only explains what works for him personally。 I like this approach because it allows us to disagree with him， or to appreciate his ideas while acknowledging that they're not necessarily applicable to everyone。 He says as much throughout the book， so he never comes across as pompous or gives the impression that he thinks he's more knowledgeable than anyone else about this sort of thing （although he clearly is）。 Great book to start the new year off with。 。。。more
Claire Cuniffe
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Challenging to digest。 Could not finish。
Taylor Winslow
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I finally finished this wonderful book！ I’ll admit， it’s difficult to get through， but if you are at all interested in creative writing then it’s worth the effort。 （Also worth reading anything George Saunders writes）
3thn
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Fun deconstruction of classic Russian short stories。 I really enjoyed George's commentary and analysis over the stories themselves。 Fun deconstruction of classic Russian short stories。 I really enjoyed George's commentary and analysis over the stories themselves。 。。。more
Brett Chalupa
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George Saunders， renowned American short story writer who could be said breathed life back into the form after the demise of the short story market following the proliferation of television， presents seven short stories by Russian authors from the 19th century and then proceeds to extract lessons from each and tell us， the reader， why they’re masterpieces。 Saunders delivers on this—his writing on writing and the stories that precede are all enjoyable and insightful。 He really makes a case for th George Saunders， renowned American short story writer who could be said breathed life back into the form after the demise of the short story market following the proliferation of television， presents seven short stories by Russian authors from the 19th century and then proceeds to extract lessons from each and tell us， the reader， why they’re masterpieces。 Saunders delivers on this—his writing on writing and the stories that precede are all enjoyable and insightful。 He really makes a case for the stories and analyzes them in a way that I had never seen short stories analyzed before。 He’s thoughtful and articulate。Having the stories be back-to-back shows the differences in style and choice from contemporary authors in a way that’s impressive。 Turgenev is boring to me， but Saunders shows the power of that。 Gogol’s story reminds me of Kafka’s writing。 But Chekhov and Tolstoy steal the show here， and their stories stood out the most to me。 In particular， Tolstoy’s “Master and Man” is the longest story and most memorable。 Something about his writing just makes the pages pass without realizing it， but not necessarily in a gripping thriller way。 Also， much to my enjoyment， there’s a fair bit if analysis and talk about the different translations of specific lines and passages， which is becoming one of my favorite aspects of reading translated literature because of the style and meaning implications that come with it。 I enjoyed the stories and Saunders’ thoughts。 If you enjoy short stories and literature， I think you would too。 。。。more
Sophia
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This is a 4 or 5 star book in terms of quality， but a “liked it” from me。 I was not the target audience: though Saunders protests it’s classification as a “how to” book， as the book form of the MFA class he teaches at Syracuse for aspiring authors， it aims to teach aspiring writers how people read and give suggestions for how to write a compelling story — without being prescriptive。 To that end， it’s a great book and achieves its goals。 I enjoyed reading it: the short stories are， naturally， won This is a 4 or 5 star book in terms of quality， but a “liked it” from me。 I was not the target audience: though Saunders protests it’s classification as a “how to” book， as the book form of the MFA class he teaches at Syracuse for aspiring authors， it aims to teach aspiring writers how people read and give suggestions for how to write a compelling story — without being prescriptive。 To that end， it’s a great book and achieves its goals。 I enjoyed reading it: the short stories are， naturally， wonderful pieces of literature， and Saunders analysis of them made me long to be in a classroom to discuss and， at times， disagree。 The structure of this book was unlike any I’ve read before and I’d love to see more classes in book format like this one。 It’d be wonderful， as such， for a book club， to have that discussion which feels missing。 Overall I enjoyed reading it and would suggest it to any aspiring fiction writer （or to those of us who wish we could take college classes forever。） 。。。more
Natalia
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Do you ever feel a twinge of loss when you finish a particularly good book， knowing that this is the last time you’ll read it for the first time？ Because that’s how I felt closing this book。I LOVE when stories get meta。 In my favorite scene of my favorite book （If on a winter’s night a traveler）， the protagonist walks into a train station， and the narrator brakes the action to ask - wait， let’s examine that。 What train station did you see in your mind’s eye？ Was it an efficient， modern train sta Do you ever feel a twinge of loss when you finish a particularly good book， knowing that this is the last time you’ll read it for the first time？ Because that’s how I felt closing this book。I LOVE when stories get meta。 In my favorite scene of my favorite book （If on a winter’s night a traveler）， the protagonist walks into a train station， and the narrator brakes the action to ask - wait， let’s examine that。 What train station did you see in your mind’s eye？ Was it an efficient， modern train station， with electronic screens announcing departures， or an old， grand station with a big central clock？ Is the character holding a leather suitcase or one of those little rolly bags？ And so on。 That moment has always felt like magic to me - like seeing a trick so good that it doesn’t matter if the magician tells you their secrets。Reading this book felt like that， but expanded into a whole approach towards reading。 I’m dying to read more short stories now， to try to exercise this approach - that is， to “read the story， then turn your mind to the experience you’ve just had。” 。。。more
Michaela
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Brilliant。 Worth reading for pages 236-241 alone as he weaves his personal experience on a flight with the story Master and Man by Tolstoy。 Not only is George Saunders a good writer， he is an excellent teacher。 From his discussion of Gooseberries by Checkhov， "For that matter， wouldn't it be nice to just throw down on the side of being happy？ To decide to live life as an ardent pro-happiness advocate， always striving to celebrate， dance， have fun， maximize your joy？ But then， before you know it， Brilliant。 Worth reading for pages 236-241 alone as he weaves his personal experience on a flight with the story Master and Man by Tolstoy。 Not only is George Saunders a good writer， he is an excellent teacher。 From his discussion of Gooseberries by Checkhov， "For that matter， wouldn't it be nice to just throw down on the side of being happy？ To decide to live life as an ardent pro-happiness advocate， always striving to celebrate， dance， have fun， maximize your joy？ But then， before you know it， you're an obnoxious turd on Instagram， standing in a waterfall with a garland of flowers， thanking God for blessing you with this wonderful life you must have somehow earned via your immaculate mindfulness。" 。。。more
Martin Jones
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A Swim In The Pond In The Rain is a book version of George Saunders’ Syracuse University course on fiction writing， taught via a selection of short stories by nineteenth century Russian authors who serve as models for how it might be done。I’ve read a number of ‘how to write’ books， and many of them warn against things like inconsistent point of view， or the liberal use of adverbs。 A Swim In The Pond In The Rain is not so literal。 It does have guidance on what makes a good story - give mind to es A Swim In The Pond In The Rain is a book version of George Saunders’ Syracuse University course on fiction writing， taught via a selection of short stories by nineteenth century Russian authors who serve as models for how it might be done。I’ve read a number of ‘how to write’ books， and many of them warn against things like inconsistent point of view， or the liberal use of adverbs。 A Swim In The Pond In The Rain is not so literal。 It does have guidance on what makes a good story - give mind to escalation， try to make one thing cause another。 But all this is sometimes contradicted by the Russian stories used as illustration。 Both causation and escalation are， shall we say， enigmatic in The Nose by Gogol， where a man’s nose takes on a life if it’s own。Even though it might seem that this book has no straightforward prescription， there is one piece of advice it gives consistently。 A writer of fiction is often told to show not tell。 This old chestnut is mentioned in passing， referring to Turgenev getting carried away with long physical descriptions in his story The Singers。 But showing might not just be about descriptions。 The Russian authors we read here are very good at showing complicated situations or characters from all angles， rather than telling a reader what to think about them。 Chekhov’s Gooseberries， a story about the nature of happiness， has George commenting:“The story is not there to tell us what to think about happiness。 It is there to help us think about it。 It is， we might say， a structure to help us think。”Our Russian mentors show that good writing， in accepting contradiction， does not push readers to focus on one side of an argument to the exclusion of the other。 To me， showing rather than telling， is a straight-forward way of describing the light touch， naturally tolerant nature of good fiction， providing for thought and reflection rather than a set of conclusions。 In that sense， A Swim In The Pond In The Rain makes a case for one of the most familiar bits of writing advice - show don’t tell。 I really enjoyed this book。 The Russian stories are wonderful， their exposition insightful， the tone friendly and supportive， conveying the excitement of a true enthusiast who is good at what he does。 I valued the description of writing as a process of many decisions about a sentence， giving the best chance of arriving at a good sentence。 This certainly chimed with me。 Early in my writing efforts I thought the need for endless fettling meant that I was a hopeless incompetent - but the encouragement here to revise， revise， revise reminded me of the relief I felt coming across a remark of Somerset Maugham - he was talking to M。M。 Kaye， at that point a struggling writer， who admitted to sometimes spending an entire day bogged down on one sentence。 Maugham replied: “My dear young woman， that’s the only thing you’ve said to make me think you may be a novelist one day。”Notice， finally that I have referred to George Saunders by his first name in this review。 I wouldn’t have done that in an essay at Syracuse University where he works as a writing tutor。 But the tone of this book is friendly。 The author is someone leading a collaborative thinking effort， rather than telling us what to think。 I had a similar tutor at university。 She told us that Shakespeare， for all his fame as a great writer， is not actually saying anything。 As with Chekhov， Turgenev， Tolstoy and Gogol， Shakespeare shows us complications but does not tell us what to think about them。 All we can do is “maintain the paradoxes” as my tutor said。 I didn’t think of that tutor as professor so-and-so， because for all her knowledge， she was more in the business of showing us things to think about， rather than professing - which is the fanciest form of telling。 I always thought of her as Carol。 Her classes came to mind as I read A Swim In The Pond In The Rain。 。。。more
Luke Lindon
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Reading Saunders is an amazing experience。 Yet I might like reading Saunders reading these Russians… better？ An outstanding journey of noticing the craft and developing your own appreciation for the written word。
Erika Hoff Holmgren
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