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brynalexa's review against another edition
I’m certain I’ll get more from physically reading the book. I’ll pick it back up in print.
makennarenee's review against another edition
2.0
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it's on my list.”
This collection served as my introduction to Sontag. It is obvious that Sontag is an incredibly dynamic writer. However, the subject matter of the short stories did not keep me engaged overall. It was hard to focus while reading sometimes due to her almost rambling style. My standout of the collection had to be Baby. I think this story is where the unconventional writing style aligns the best with the subject matter. It was the most engaging plot wise, and the odd stylistic choices did not distract from the understanding of the overall story, unlike some of the others. Because I was so intrigued with the writing style, I am eager to read more of Sontag’s writing, although this collection did not do it for me.
2.5/5
This collection served as my introduction to Sontag. It is obvious that Sontag is an incredibly dynamic writer. However, the subject matter of the short stories did not keep me engaged overall. It was hard to focus while reading sometimes due to her almost rambling style. My standout of the collection had to be Baby. I think this story is where the unconventional writing style aligns the best with the subject matter. It was the most engaging plot wise, and the odd stylistic choices did not distract from the understanding of the overall story, unlike some of the others. Because I was so intrigued with the writing style, I am eager to read more of Sontag’s writing, although this collection did not do it for me.
2.5/5
sausome's review against another edition
2.0
I've always wanted to read Susan Sontag, or felt that I should, and thought this collection might be a good way to start. However, as the editor described in the collection overview: "The book ranges from allegory to parable to autobiography and shows her wrestling with problems not assimilable to the essay, her more customary mode." This means that there was little to no cohesion for the entirety of the collection except for the fact that they seem not to fit in any other format/genre. It was difficult to grasp whether I was reading fiction, non-fiction, essay, or merely idea fragments, and it made it enormously difficult to get into or want to return to. That being said, the writing itself is masterful, and Sontag clearly has a way with words that makes me believe her larger works must be quite good. I abandoned the collection at exactly halfway, though I may return when I have more time. I most enjoyed "Project for a Trip to China" and "The Dummy" from the first part of the collection.
socorrobaptista's review against another edition
4.0
Alguns contos bem marcantes, outros muito loucos. No geral, uma experiência que vale a pena.
zombiefied35's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t believe these stories are bad. I have read Sontag before and greatly appreciate her nonfiction. However, these feel insecure, somehow. “There is something that should be here but isn’t”, was generally how I felt reading these stories. I did like The Dummy and Old Complaints Revisited the most.
buggyk's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
tayako's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
juliwi's review against another edition
4.0
Susan Sontag is one of those writers I have been intending to read. It is her essays that were mostly on my mind, her writings on war, illness, culture and art. But for me, essays are something I have to actively be in the mood for. Unlike short stories or novels, it is not as easy to sink away into an essay. There are arguments to be followed, facts to take in, statements to agree or disagree with. So when I saw that there was a collection of short stories by Sontag coming out I figured it would be as good a, if not a better, introduction to this fascinating woman as her essays. And they certainly worked for me. Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
For me, one of the clearest descriptions of, and keys to, this collection comes from the blurb:
"The book ranges from allegory to parable to autobiography and shows her wrestling with problems not assimilable to the essay, her more customary mode."
In the stories collected in Debriefing you can feel the wrestling that Sontag is doing. An essay requires a driving thrust, a clear argument towards a resolution or at the very least a suggestion. The issues addressed in these stories can’t be resolved that way, so Sontag battles with them in short stories. Each story is full of questions, partially rhetorical and meant to go unanswered, but partially also desperately waiting for someone to provide an answer. The stories in and of themselves will not necessarily give you any answers or solutions, rather, they will drop you into a situation and make you consider it, join Sontag in approaching it from different angles, and recognize your own questions in hers. There is no clear link, per se, that ties these different stories together, except for the fact that they all deal, in a way, with the human condition. Adolescent desire for adulthood, parenthood, wanderlust, love, companionship, illness, it all features in Debriefing in one way or another.
Sontag’s writing is potentially not for everyone. It is very “wordy”, to put it one way. Where other authors might use two words, Sontag uses two sentences to get to a point. Her language meanders, expands, evades and uncovers. For me, her writing style felt very much like the way thoughts work, without becoming an internal monologue. A story is clearly being told, but chronology or argument doesn’t really hold sway. The story will go where it goes, if it is inspired to move one way now and the other later, then that is what it will do. This can definitely be confusing but it also keeps the story fresh and engaging. Sontag uses different forms throughout the stories collected in Debriefing. Some stories are made up of bullet points, in others we only get one side of a dialogue. Then there are those which feel mystical and those who deal honestly with real life diseases. Sontag’s writing shines through all of these stories for me, always turning a phrase or sentence into something more. Her writing is very descriptive but never sinks into melodrama for me. And some of these stories will stay with me for a long time.
I really enjoyed reading Debriefing! Sontag’s stories have something absurd yet highly recognizable about them, as if someone has taking an everyday problem and makes you look at it through a prism. You know what you’re seeing and yet you’re not quite sure how it all comes together, or even if it can come together. Although Debriefing may not be for everyone, I would definitely recommend it to those interested in challenging short stories.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2017/11/review-debriefing-collected-stories-by.html
For me, one of the clearest descriptions of, and keys to, this collection comes from the blurb:
"The book ranges from allegory to parable to autobiography and shows her wrestling with problems not assimilable to the essay, her more customary mode."
In the stories collected in Debriefing you can feel the wrestling that Sontag is doing. An essay requires a driving thrust, a clear argument towards a resolution or at the very least a suggestion. The issues addressed in these stories can’t be resolved that way, so Sontag battles with them in short stories. Each story is full of questions, partially rhetorical and meant to go unanswered, but partially also desperately waiting for someone to provide an answer. The stories in and of themselves will not necessarily give you any answers or solutions, rather, they will drop you into a situation and make you consider it, join Sontag in approaching it from different angles, and recognize your own questions in hers. There is no clear link, per se, that ties these different stories together, except for the fact that they all deal, in a way, with the human condition. Adolescent desire for adulthood, parenthood, wanderlust, love, companionship, illness, it all features in Debriefing in one way or another.
Sontag’s writing is potentially not for everyone. It is very “wordy”, to put it one way. Where other authors might use two words, Sontag uses two sentences to get to a point. Her language meanders, expands, evades and uncovers. For me, her writing style felt very much like the way thoughts work, without becoming an internal monologue. A story is clearly being told, but chronology or argument doesn’t really hold sway. The story will go where it goes, if it is inspired to move one way now and the other later, then that is what it will do. This can definitely be confusing but it also keeps the story fresh and engaging. Sontag uses different forms throughout the stories collected in Debriefing. Some stories are made up of bullet points, in others we only get one side of a dialogue. Then there are those which feel mystical and those who deal honestly with real life diseases. Sontag’s writing shines through all of these stories for me, always turning a phrase or sentence into something more. Her writing is very descriptive but never sinks into melodrama for me. And some of these stories will stay with me for a long time.
I really enjoyed reading Debriefing! Sontag’s stories have something absurd yet highly recognizable about them, as if someone has taking an everyday problem and makes you look at it through a prism. You know what you’re seeing and yet you’re not quite sure how it all comes together, or even if it can come together. Although Debriefing may not be for everyone, I would definitely recommend it to those interested in challenging short stories.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2017/11/review-debriefing-collected-stories-by.html
marystevens's review against another edition
2.0
She writes well, we all know that, but these seem to be exercises in writing techniques, a sort of tour de force. I was put off by the precious and precocious initial story about a high schooler’s tea with Thomas Mann. The second story was incomprehensible snippets about a trip to China I think. The last was about the friends attending an early victim of AIDS. I stuck with it for the sake of my book club but I’m not motivated to read the rest.
drifterontherun's review against another edition
2.0
If you tend to buy books before reading them, as I do (as opposed to borrowing them from a friend or a library), do you keep them if you end up not liking them, or do you put them in a stack somewhere, to give away or trade in the next time you visit a used bookstore?
There is something nice about keeping a book, even the bad books, simply to keep a sort of physical record of what you've read (perhaps this is sheer vanity). On the other hand, there's also something nice about having a library that consists only of the books you've read and really liked and the books you haven't read yet but plan to eventually get around to.
I find myself pondering this having now finished this collection of short stories by Susan Sontag.
Sontag is one of those authors who has long been on my to-read list, but I understand now that it's primarily her nonfiction that made her name.
I wish I had known that before.
There are a couple of alright stories here. The first, "Pilgrimage," is about, we presume, the teenage Sontag who, along with a friend, is given an invitation to have tea at the LA home of the great German author, [a:Thomas Mann|19405|Thomas Mann|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1430109860p2/19405.jpg]. That's a a pleasant enough story, but things go downhill from there.
"Unguided Tour" is pretty meh, redeemed only by the excellent line, "I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." "The Dummy" reads like second rate Kafka or Hans Christian Andersen, and is about a man who makes a copy of himself that then wants a copy of itself, and, yeah, that's about all that was worth remembering about this collection, most of which isn't fiction at all but vague memories and snippets of conversation that Sontag, for whatever reason, felt was worthy of putting out in the world.
I've placed "Debriefing" on the stack of books to be discarded, but not before removing the bookmark, which I got when visiting the Frick Collection in NYC last November, a memory I don't intend to donate along with this book.
Yes, the author's name looks good on the shelf, but why, my thinking goes, keep a book one didn't enjoy?
There is something nice about keeping a book, even the bad books, simply to keep a sort of physical record of what you've read (perhaps this is sheer vanity). On the other hand, there's also something nice about having a library that consists only of the books you've read and really liked and the books you haven't read yet but plan to eventually get around to.
I find myself pondering this having now finished this collection of short stories by Susan Sontag.
Sontag is one of those authors who has long been on my to-read list, but I understand now that it's primarily her nonfiction that made her name.
I wish I had known that before.
There are a couple of alright stories here. The first, "Pilgrimage," is about, we presume, the teenage Sontag who, along with a friend, is given an invitation to have tea at the LA home of the great German author, [a:Thomas Mann|19405|Thomas Mann|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1430109860p2/19405.jpg]. That's a a pleasant enough story, but things go downhill from there.
"Unguided Tour" is pretty meh, redeemed only by the excellent line, "I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." "The Dummy" reads like second rate Kafka or Hans Christian Andersen, and is about a man who makes a copy of himself that then wants a copy of itself, and, yeah, that's about all that was worth remembering about this collection, most of which isn't fiction at all but vague memories and snippets of conversation that Sontag, for whatever reason, felt was worthy of putting out in the world.
I've placed "Debriefing" on the stack of books to be discarded, but not before removing the bookmark, which I got when visiting the Frick Collection in NYC last November, a memory I don't intend to donate along with this book.
Yes, the author's name looks good on the shelf, but why, my thinking goes, keep a book one didn't enjoy?