A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
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A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
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By:
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George Saunders
About this listen
Bloomsbury presents A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, read by George Saunders, Phylicia Rashad, Nick Offerman, Glenn Close, Keith David, Rainn Wilson, BD Wong and Renée Elise Goldsberry.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
PICKED BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, INDEPENDENT, IRISH TIMES, SPECTATOR, TLS, NEW STATESMAN AND EVENING STANDARD AS A BOOK OF 2021
'A masterclass from a warm and engagingly enthusiastic companion' Guardian Summer Reading Picks 2021
‘This book is a delight, and it’s about delight too. How necessary, at our particular moment’ Tessa Hadley
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From the New York Times-bestselling, Booker Prize-winning 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 ourselves – and our world today.
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 it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.
In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, 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?” 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.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 George Saunders (P)2021 Penguin Random House AudioCritic Reviews
"George Saunders makes you feel as though you are listening fiction for the first time." (Khaled Hosseini)
"What warm, kindhearted and radical writing. Such delicacy, such serious wit. I love it." (Max Porter)
What listeners say about A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 29-07-2022
The kind words I needed
I’m not a writer, but this book, with it’s accompanying essays to some of the greatest Russian short stories, drew out of me how much I love to read. This book reminded me why I, no… we, all fell in love with reading. George’s insight (while only one perspective) struck my core. A core that had long been buried and confused and scared by life. His words were that of a friend I had known for years and words that finally clicked life into place. Learning the nuts and bolts of what makes stories tick also provided me a lot of “Ah-ha” moments that I take immense pleasure in.
I recommend this book to anyone: writer, reader, human.
To George Saunders, all I can say is:
Thank you
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- James Leibert
- 27-02-2025
Fabulous
We need more books like this. Fascinating, engaging, occasionally contrarian but always fun and thought provoking. Great choice of stories and great discussions.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Beverley Grace
- 27-02-2025
Creative writing process
This expanded my way of thinking about short stories. The process that reflects our life plus other revelations. Most enjoyable
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 25-04-2021
Joy
Incredibly insightful, Saunders describes the art of storytelling in novel and honest lessons. A wonderful book for all those interested in what makes good writing and what gives it the power to move us.
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- Marita
- 04-11-2023
Outstanding. Top drawer
I'm so glad I found this book. I was interested as I wanted to become a better reader. I'm now tempted to have a go at writing. It was wonderful to hear the Russian classics, and to have help in interpreting them. We know so much about what we read, and our views are valid, but sometimes we don't actually recognise or trust what we know. I would so love to meet the author - he sounds like a truly insightful and humble person. I loved his analysis of the various stories. I even started to form my own views after a while. In the Alyosha story where Alyosha was dying and looking surprised - I really felt that he was recognising what he already knew about, but perhaps hadn't seen for a long while. I think he saw how it really is when free of the body. The readers, were exceptional. And the author did a great job of narrating.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 05-06-2021
Thoughtful swim
This was quite a swim. The Russian short stories are interesting but become much more than that when George Saunders gives his thoughts on completion of the reading of each one of them. If you were to do nothing but hear his final afterthought as the book comes to an end you’ll be pleased to have acquired this fine book
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Alison
- 17-07-2021
Marvelous reflections on the short story form
The stories of Chekov, Tolstoy and the like can be challenging for the modern reader, but George Saunders' commentary on them is superb - particular in the final chapter. I wanted to transcribe it word for word.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Robert
- 29-04-2022
Wonderful
Beautiful book, beautifully read and conceived. It made me go out and buy the hard copy to I could savour it again, slowly.
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- Felicity
- 28-02-2021
This is wonderful
If you like books about books, or books about creative writing, this is for you. George Saunders has the most beautiful voice and he talks in an engaging, unpretentious way about these stories, really unlocking what's special about them. For years I've avoided Russian short stories, regarding them as boring. But now I see I just needed a good teacher. As a bonus, Saunders encourages us to be more open and patient people. I was sad when this ended, but glad that I can listen to it again. (Note: some of these stories are quite long, but they are narrated well, so you find yourself just going with it.)
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 14-05-2021
Excellent book for both writers and readers
Brilliant reading from Phylicia Rashad (In the Cart) and Keith David's reading of Master & Man might be the best thing I've heard on Audible . Highly recommended
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1 person found this helpful