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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
Magisterial. Mature, taut, restrained work on the prose-level. Thematically rich, especially in depicting themes like heroism, capitalism, class, etc. My favorite favorite thing Saunders does in this masterful collection is use a 3rd person narrative perspective to "paint" with first person narrative color. He does this incredibly in, for example, "Victory Lap," "Puppy," and the title story. Speaking of the title story, wow. Just lovely.
Masterfully conceived and executed.
Masterfully conceived and executed.
The man is a genius. Whether it's taking a seemingly innocuous event and turning it extraordinary or creating a completely new reality, George Saunders is among the great short story tellers of this generation. They are each dense and full of life - you never know what kind of delivery you are going to get. Sometimes stories punch you in the face, others are the slowest of burns.
Short story summaries (for personal reference):
- "Victory Lap:" Scrawny, sheltered kid witnesses the kidnapping of his neighbor.
- "Sticks:" Memories of a father decorating a cross-shaped structure in front yard. Short but powerful.
- "Puppy:" Dog seller keeps crazy son chained to a tree.
- "Escape from Spiderhead:" Experimental drugs used on criminals to give them improved diction, lust, pain, etc. What is love?
- "Exhortation:" An odd memorandum for encouraging employees. Not sure about the purpose of this one.
- "Al Roosten:" Al is having money trouble so basically becomes a fashion model for an event for money. Meanwhile, he envisions a more fulfilling life.
- "The Semplica Girl Diaries": Not to give too much away, but the SGs are "living lawn ornaments." The most interesting story here, dealing with status and true happiness.
- "Home:" Man returns home from serving in a war to an insane family. Great ending.
- "My Chivalric Fiasco:" Man witnesses fellow Renaissance reenactors having an affair.
- "Tenth of December:" Old man in the woods has pretty much accepted his terminal death until he spots a kid drowning in a freezing lake.
After looking back at these, class and society have a lot to do with these stories. I did not pick up on that until now.
Short story summaries (for personal reference):
- "Victory Lap:" Scrawny, sheltered kid witnesses the kidnapping of his neighbor.
- "Sticks:" Memories of a father decorating a cross-shaped structure in front yard. Short but powerful.
- "Puppy:" Dog seller keeps crazy son chained to a tree.
- "Escape from Spiderhead:" Experimental drugs used on criminals to give them improved diction, lust, pain, etc. What is love?
- "Exhortation:" An odd memorandum for encouraging employees. Not sure about the purpose of this one.
- "Al Roosten:" Al is having money trouble so basically becomes a fashion model for an event for money. Meanwhile, he envisions a more fulfilling life.
- "The Semplica Girl Diaries": Not to give too much away, but the SGs are "living lawn ornaments." The most interesting story here, dealing with status and true happiness.
- "Home:" Man returns home from serving in a war to an insane family. Great ending.
- "My Chivalric Fiasco:" Man witnesses fellow Renaissance reenactors having an affair.
- "Tenth of December:" Old man in the woods has pretty much accepted his terminal death until he spots a kid drowning in a freezing lake.
After looking back at these, class and society have a lot to do with these stories. I did not pick up on that until now.
dark
funny
reflective
Full review @https://ecstaticyetchaotic.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/tenth-of-december-by-george-saundersbook-review/
My first book by Saunders and I loved his writing style. It’s conversational and casual yet powerful. ‘Tenth of December’ is a collection of stories where the author explores a lot of social themes such as drug testing, abuse, degradation of relationships, reminiscing about happy days etc.
Each story is distinct. I don’t mean just the plot, but the writing, the characters, the atmosphere, and the overall impact. While a few stories took time to make sense, most were quite interesting. The stories are funny, dark or emotional, sometimes all at once.
The author has experimented a lot with the writing style, and that turned out to be one of the reasons the stories kept me hooked. The reading didn’t feel monotonous and at any given point, things didn’t feel out of place (in most cases).
The book has been named after the last story ‘Tenth of December’ in which on a chilly December day a man decides to walk away from his family, as he is ow a burden to them. But then life happens and he has yet another adventure waiting for him.
A few reviews talk about how this book is about American Life. Well, I don’t know about the Americal part, but this book is definitely a glimpse of the different aspect of life. I wasn’t expecting anything from this book when I dived into it, I just had faith and this book truly surprised me by its easy-going yet eloquent. All those talks about Saunders being a literary genius is quite true, you know. And this particular edition has an introduction to Saunders, and I can relate his personality to the stories he writes and it feels like a closure. I am definitely reading everything by George Saunders.
If I had to recommend one story that is a must-read from this collection, it would be The Semplica Girl Diaries. The story talks volumes through many simple diary entries by the protagonist. A close, second favorite would be Victory Lap- very unique, very emotional and very real.
‘Tenth of December’ is Saunders take on everyday life in an unpretentious and surreal manner.
My first book by Saunders and I loved his writing style. It’s conversational and casual yet powerful. ‘Tenth of December’ is a collection of stories where the author explores a lot of social themes such as drug testing, abuse, degradation of relationships, reminiscing about happy days etc.
Each story is distinct. I don’t mean just the plot, but the writing, the characters, the atmosphere, and the overall impact. While a few stories took time to make sense, most were quite interesting. The stories are funny, dark or emotional, sometimes all at once.
The author has experimented a lot with the writing style, and that turned out to be one of the reasons the stories kept me hooked. The reading didn’t feel monotonous and at any given point, things didn’t feel out of place (in most cases).
The book has been named after the last story ‘Tenth of December’ in which on a chilly December day a man decides to walk away from his family, as he is ow a burden to them. But then life happens and he has yet another adventure waiting for him.
A few reviews talk about how this book is about American Life. Well, I don’t know about the Americal part, but this book is definitely a glimpse of the different aspect of life. I wasn’t expecting anything from this book when I dived into it, I just had faith and this book truly surprised me by its easy-going yet eloquent. All those talks about Saunders being a literary genius is quite true, you know. And this particular edition has an introduction to Saunders, and I can relate his personality to the stories he writes and it feels like a closure. I am definitely reading everything by George Saunders.
If I had to recommend one story that is a must-read from this collection, it would be The Semplica Girl Diaries. The story talks volumes through many simple diary entries by the protagonist. A close, second favorite would be Victory Lap- very unique, very emotional and very real.
‘Tenth of December’ is Saunders take on everyday life in an unpretentious and surreal manner.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A decent mix of stories with exquisite vocabulary and relatively interesting character work, Tenth of December has some really cool ideas that kept me quite enraptured (“Escape from Spiderhead,” “Exhortation,” and “My Chivalric Fiasco” were my personal highlights), some stories buoyed by strong characters or prose (“The Semplica Girl Diaries” and “Home”), and a handful of mostly forgettable but inoffensive tales.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Several of the stories were excellent and really stick in my mind for various reasons (Victory Lap, Puppy, Escape from Spiderhead, The Semplica Girl Diaries, and Tenth of December). A few of the other stories were good as well and a few others I didn't really get. Hard to give an overall rating but I'd say this collection is definitely worth your time. I found many of the stories to be haunting in a very good way.
I can't rate this because I didn't finish it because it was boring
