If we want to make good structure, we just have to be aware of what question we are causing reader to ask, then answer that question. If it’s denied an adequate instrument (and we’re all denied that, at birth, some more than others), out`comes. It is not about happiness for Ivan and it is definitely not about being content in spite of believing that it is no-one should be happy. Sí, el relato es un formato literario exigente —incluso cruel, despiadado— como lo pueda ser un chiste, una canción, una nota de suicido: el autor se lo juega todo a una tirada. Tolstoy wrote, "If once we admit---be it only for an hour or in some exceptional case---that anything can be more important than a feeling of love for our fellows, then there is no crime which we may not commit with easy minds.

And alas, the Summer I was planning traveling abroad through Europe seems to be falling through as every time I mention it to my dear wife steam shoots out of both her ears and her face turns an alarming shade of red.

stories from the Russian masters he and his students discuss throughout the semester, distilling the most important elements in his approach to short story writing. 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. Nor did it make Hitler and his boys--murders of millions as well, and lovers of literature and music and art--more humane. Right now I am cleaning off the mantel above my fireplace to display the slightly ostentatious Booker Prize statue I will soon be winning now I know Ole George’s writing secrets. After the premature end of two marriages and one romantic liaison, Olenka goes through a crisis and cannot see her future.

We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. Good writing is “the cumulative result of all this repetitive choosing on the line level, those thousands of editing microdecisions”. The result is an uptick in our attentiveness; subtly rebuffed by the story, we get, we might say, a new respect for its truthfulness.

I've tried to be as clear and persuasive as possible, telling you what you should be noticing, pointing out certain technical features, offering my best explanation of why "we" were moved in this place or that, and so on. Ivan’s point is just that—we must strive to do as much good as we can, because we will inevitable unintentionally do bad, and happiness and pleasure is so brief in the end. A swath of prose earns its place in the story to the extent that it contributes to our sense that the story is (still) escalating.