书籍信息
书籍信息
- 作者：George Saunders
- 出版时间：2021-1-12
- 定价：USD 28.00
- 页数：432
- ISBN：9781984856029
书籍介绍
FromtheNewYorkTimesbestselling,BookerPrize–winningauthorofLincolnintheBardoandTenthofDecembercomesaliterarymasterclassonwhatmakesgreatstoriesworkandwhattheycantellusaboutourselves—andourworldtoday.
Forthelasttwentyyears,GeorgeSaundershasbeenteachingaclassontheRussianshortstorytohisMFAstudentsatSyracuseUniversity.InASwiminaPondintheRain,hesharesaversionofthatclasswithus,offeringsomeofwhatheandhisstudentshavediscoveredtogetherovertheyears.PairedwithiconicshortstoriesbyChekhov,Turgenev,Tolstoy,andGogol,thesevenessaysinthisbookareintendedforanyoneinterestedinhowfictionworksandwhyit’smorerelevantthaneverintheseturbulenttimes.
Inhisintroduction,Saunderswrites,“We’regoingtoentersevenfastidiouslyconstructedscalemodelsoftheworld,madeforaspecificpurposethatourtimemaybedoesn’tfullyendorsebutthatthesewritersacceptedimplicitlyastheaimofart—namely,toaskthebigquestions,questionslike,Howarewesupposedtobelivingdownhere?Whatwereweputheretoaccomplish?Whatshouldwevalue?Whatistruth,anyway,andhowmightwerecognizeit?”Heapproachesthestoriestechnicallyyetaccessibly,andthroughthemexplainshownarrativefunctions;whywestayimmersedinastoryandwhyweresistit;andthebedrockvirtuesawritermustfoster.Theprocessofwriting,Saundersremindsus,isatechnicalcraft,butalsoawayoftrainingoneselftoseetheworldwithnewopennessandcuriosity.
ASwiminaPondintheRainisadeepexplorationnotjustofhowgreatwritingworksbutofhowtheminditselfworkswhilereading,andofhowthereadingandwritingofstoriesmakegenuineconnectionpossible.
