Yesterday I told George Saunders I had a new love. Today, his new book arrived in Kindle (my younger self must have pre-ordered it – ah, the wisdom of youth) and now it’s all back on with me and George.
A swim in a Pond in the Rain takes us through seven Russian short stories – it’s a distillation of Saunder’s class at Syracuse University. The point is to make us see how the story works, to help us be better readers and better writers.
The Creative Writing course George teaches (I’m going to call him George, I’ve just been inside the man’s mind for a couple of hours) takes students whose skill at writing is a given – they take on seven students out of 700 applicants. This is about elevating their storytelling, giving them space to develop their unique voice.
As a result, and because it’s George, this book isn’t prescriptive, like so many of the writing books I’ve read recently. It shows us how to to pay attention.
If you are a short story writer you will get heaps from this. If you are a reader, you will get heaps too. I consider myself a newbie writer and an excellent reader – though apart from Dr. Zhivago, which I read about 40 years ago, I have deliberately avoided Russian Literature. I can’t remember why now … ah, the arrogance of youth.
I stopped reading to spread the word. I’m heading back to a Pond now. In the Rain. See you once I’ve learned to swim.
Just waving 