https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593394021-a-swim-in-a-pond-in-the-rain
So, my library-reserved-copy of this new work by George Saunders—which basically is a writing/reading class—has finally come available. It’s quite good!
Nikolai Gogol: 1809 - 1852
Ivan Turgenev: 1818 - 1883
Fyodor Dostoevsky: 1821 - 1881
Leo Tolstoy: 1828 –1910
Anton Chekhov: 1860 - 1904
I’ve read a little of the Russians. I went through a slight Chekhov short story phase a while back; Read a good portion of Anna Karenina; Enjoyed Notes From The Underground; Flirted with Dead Souls . . .
But this book really teases my puzzle muscle:
Here is how it is laid out:
“In The Cart” Anton Chekhov 1897
(“Cat In The Rain” Ernest Hemingway 1925)
“The Singers” Ivan Turgenev 1852
“The Darling” Anton Chekhov 1899
“Master and Man” Leo Tolstoy 1895
“The Nose” Nikolai Gogol 1836
“Gooseberries” Anton Chekhov 1898
“Alyosha the Pot” Leo Tolstoy 1905
I’m not finished of course (just inspired), and though I’ve linked to versions of the stories out there, the magic of the book is the commentaries before and after the stories. George Saunders is wonderful and articulates my love of good writing; Of art. I really do appreciate the form, but end up needing to read the stories again and again. I sense what’s happening, but can’t begin explain it until two or three times through.
It’s funny too, because before this book was ready, I was re-exploring short stories from this collection:
Come to think of it, I’ve been drawn to Poetry lately too. (Bought a collection by Louise Glück:)
Resubscribed to this magazine too . . . (it’s been at least 10 years or so)
I guess the future is precise and literary . . .