A Swim in a Pond in the Rain - Book Review

George Saunders’ newest book, “A Swim in the Pond in the Rain” has the feel of auditing a Russian Literature class. And, that is by design.

My first exposure to George Saunder’s writing was Lincoln in the Bardo – a book that I really liked but found to be really weird. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is totally different.

Rather than being an original work of fiction, A Swim is a collection of short stories by Russian masters like Tolstoy, Gogol, and Chekhov. After each short story, Saunders pens an essay sharing with the reader why each of the stories selected is considered a masterpiece.

The seven short stories selected for the book are:

In the Cart by Anton Chekhov
The Singers by Ivan Turgenev
The Darling by Anton Chekhov
Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy
The Nose by Nikolai Gogol
Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov
Alyosha the Pot by Leo Tolstoy

If this sounds like something a professor might do, well, that’s because it is. The content for A Swin in a Pond in the Rain was generated over the years through a similar class that Saunders teaches at Syracuse University. Reading the book felt like participating in one of the best literature classes I’ve experienced.

Apart from just reading the short stories to enjoy them, I found myself learning more about great literature as well. In the introduction, Saunders shares that the book is written for students of writing. Picking apart the work of Russian masters and seeing how the sausage is made works to improve the content of aspiring authors. The appendix to the book even includes several exercises the reader can perform to improve their skills.

Though I like to write (hence this site) I have no real aspirations to do so professionally. But learning about the craft of writing will also serve to make me a better reader as well. I finished this book a few weeks ago and I’ve already identified some of the lessons Saunders teaches through A Swim in a Pond in the Rain in other material I’ve read.

Whether it is Freytag’s Triangle seen in The Darling or the use of repetition and escalation in Master and Man – these principles create interest and tension that pull the reader through the story to the end.

Freytag's Triangle - A Swim in the Pond in the Rain

The essays in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain are written in Saunders’ informal and at times irreverent style. They feel less like what you would hear in a lecture hall and more like how he would discuss them in a pub over beers.

I wasn’t smart enough to get into Syracuse. Also, I hate cold weather so maybe it’s just as well. But I would have loved to be in the classroom as Saunders was developing the content that would ultimately become this book.