Esther
2026년 3월 6일
<A Vision of the World> by John Cheever
After two months of throwing myself into a swamp of work no one actually asked for, I found myself quietly marking the end of it by thinking about two writers: James Salter and John Cheever.
Reading twenty-plus books with different groups of kids left me pretty drained. I also felt I hadn’t done justice to our last meeting on Andrew Miller. My attention was scattered by a thousand small obligations, and that book really asked for steadier focus than I could give. What I wanted then was something lighter in form: short stories. Something I could step into and out of, like a swinging door.
Maybe that’s why I kept glancing at Cheever’s collection on my shelf. Now that winter break is over, and those unclaimed morning hours have come back to me. There’s no hurry, hurry, hurry. No rush, rush, rush. I can read for pleasure again, and I reach for the two writers I’ve been orbiting. The trouble is, I don’t know how to sell them, exactly. Cheever comes with a small push, though. His collection has an introduction by Julian Barnes, whose latest and supposedly final book, Departure(s), has been buzzing around town. Cheever’s often called a writers’ writer, the Chekhov of the suburbs. I’ve always had a soft spot for the quiet cracking of the ordinary, for the humanity that leaks through flawed characters when they think they’re holding it together.
Instead of choosing between Salter and Cheever, I’m going with both. Call it a slightly dazed, post-workload choice.
I hope you enjoy the read. I’m curious what you’ll make of the flaws on display here, and the small beauty that comes from that incomplete, fragile state. And thanks, as always, for trusting my picks and following along wherever the wind happens to blow.
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John Cheever - the 'Chekhov of the suburbs' - forever altered the landscape of contemporary literature. In a career that spanned nearly fifty years, his short stories, often published in the New Yorker, gave voice to the repressed desires and smouldering disappointments of 1950s America as it teetered on the edge of spiritual awakening and sexual liberation in the ensuing decades. Satirical, fantastical, sad and transcendent, these are stories that speak directly to the heart of human experience, and remain a testament to the wit and vision of one of the most important and influential short story writers of the twentieth century.
‘교외의 체호프’라 불리는 존 치버는 현대 문학의 지형을 완전히 바꿨다. 50년에 걸친 작가 인생 동안 주로 “뉴요커”지에 발표된 그의 단편들은 1950년대 미국 사회에 억눌려 있던 욕망과 속으로 곪아가던 실망을 생생하게 드러낸다. 풍자적이면서도 환상적이고, 슬프면서도 초월적인 이 이야기들은 인간의 경험에 변함없이 중심이 되는 것들을 말하며, 20세기 가장 중요하고 영향력 있는 단편소설 작가로서의 재치와 비전을 증명하는 유산으로 남아 있다.
Sunday, April 26, 2026, at 5pm
Join us for an evening of camaraderie and intellectual stimulation. Admission is free, but attendance is restricted to individuals of college age and above. You can sign up for the meeting via Karrot (당근 모임) or secure your spot through Kakao (에스더어학원).
세종에 거주하고 있는 외국인을 포함해 교사, 강사, 회사원, 공무원 및 가사일을 하시는 분들에게도 원서독서를 장려하고 자유롭게 토론할 수 있는 문학적/문화적 소통과 교류의 공간이 되고자 합니다. 해당 책을 읽고, 영어로 소통이 가능한 대학생 이상의 성인에 한해 누구나 무료로 참석할 수 있습니다. 2026년 4월 모임의 책으로는 John Cheever의 단편 모음집, <A Vision of the World>를 읽습니다.