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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m not sure if I just didn’t have the right mindset for these stories right now, or if I would never have the right mindset. They just weren’t for me.
A couple of things to start -- I generally do not listen to short stories on audio, but did so here because of the all star cast of narrators --Tina Fey, Jack McBrayer, Jenny Slate and more -- and am glad I did. I think they added a lot and I recommend the audio. Secondly, I am a bit of a George Saunders fangirl so it surprises me to 4 star this, but here we are. It would be a 4.5 if that were a GR option.
I generally review each story in a collection separately, but I am not going to do that here, because things I liked and the things I did not like quite as much were consistent from story to story. I am going to tackle it all. One thing I love about Saunders is that without being pedantic or saccharine he is always deeply moral and breathtakingly decent in the way he approaches characters and situations even when he is downright caustic. He respects the characters, they are never one-note. We always see the characters so fully, we can question their actions, but we never question their humanity. That is great writing. So it was surprising to me in this collection to read stories where it felt like Saunders was putting the POINT before the characters -- and the characters seemed emblematic of a certain type of person outside the pages and George has stuff to say. Look, Saunders is not the only person in America whose heart has been broken over and over in the last ten years. I, and I suspect essentially all his readers, are right there with him. But this is why I need him, I need him to use his breathtaking talent to help me remember shared aspects of being human, to help me find empathy for people I find myself loathing in a blanket sort of way. He can make fun of them and still not hate them, and that helps me do the same. For illustration, I will note A Mom of Bold Action (brilliantly narrated by Tina Fey.) Saunders unites us with our shared irrationality when it comes to protecting our kids, the truth of what we give up to parent in a certain way. That was great until there was a very minor perceived threat to the MCs tween and Saunders turned that main character into a ridiculous right wing suburban mom, more concerned with being perceived as a supermom, with maintaining some 1950's picture of a family than with basic humanity, eventually reducing morality to something entirely transactional. It is a very good story, it is a funny story, and it is an observant story, from another writer would have had me raving all over the place, but from Saunders it did not feel as satisfying. Don't get me wrong -- it moved it from a 5 to a 4.5, but still. Additionally there were a couple stories here that I thought were too on the nose -- Love Letter for sure fits in that box - it was weirdly earnest. I don't know what he was thinking. At least it is short.
Some of the stories were amazing - funny and sad and trenchant as I have come to expect from this writer. A Thing at Work was just so good, and Edi Patterson's narration made it even better. Ghoul felt like old Saunders work and I liked it very much. The title story (and the longest by far) Liberation Day also felt like old Saunders, but with a little twist I found quite satisfying (I found the "love story" within the larger story to be simultaneously one of the saddest and one of the funniest things Saunders has written.)
All in all as a collection this is a high 4 and a must read. When Saunders is good, there is no one better, and more often than not he is very very good here.
I generally review each story in a collection separately, but I am not going to do that here, because things I liked and the things I did not like quite as much were consistent from story to story. I am going to tackle it all. One thing I love about Saunders is that without being pedantic or saccharine he is always deeply moral and breathtakingly decent in the way he approaches characters and situations even when he is downright caustic. He respects the characters, they are never one-note. We always see the characters so fully, we can question their actions, but we never question their humanity. That is great writing. So it was surprising to me in this collection to read stories where it felt like Saunders was putting the POINT before the characters -- and the characters seemed emblematic of a certain type of person outside the pages and George has stuff to say. Look, Saunders is not the only person in America whose heart has been broken over and over in the last ten years. I, and I suspect essentially all his readers, are right there with him. But this is why I need him, I need him to use his breathtaking talent to help me remember shared aspects of being human, to help me find empathy for people I find myself loathing in a blanket sort of way. He can make fun of them and still not hate them, and that helps me do the same. For illustration, I will note A Mom of Bold Action (brilliantly narrated by Tina Fey.) Saunders unites us with our shared irrationality when it comes to protecting our kids, the truth of what we give up to parent in a certain way. That was great until there was a very minor perceived threat to the MCs tween and Saunders turned that main character into a ridiculous right wing suburban mom, more concerned with being perceived as a supermom, with maintaining some 1950's picture of a family than with basic humanity, eventually reducing morality to something entirely transactional. It is a very good story, it is a funny story, and it is an observant story, from another writer would have had me raving all over the place, but from Saunders it did not feel as satisfying. Don't get me wrong -- it moved it from a 5 to a 4.5, but still. Additionally there were a couple stories here that I thought were too on the nose -- Love Letter for sure fits in that box - it was weirdly earnest. I don't know what he was thinking. At least it is short.
Some of the stories were amazing - funny and sad and trenchant as I have come to expect from this writer. A Thing at Work was just so good, and Edi Patterson's narration made it even better. Ghoul felt like old Saunders work and I liked it very much. The title story (and the longest by far) Liberation Day also felt like old Saunders, but with a little twist I found quite satisfying (I found the "love story" within the larger story to be simultaneously one of the saddest and one of the funniest things Saunders has written.)
All in all as a collection this is a high 4 and a must read. When Saunders is good, there is no one better, and more often than not he is very very good here.
I love George Saunders - I think his strange, funny, wise, sometimes deeply weird stories are amazing. Just not this collection of them. Read "Civilwarland in Bad Decline" or "Lincoln in the Bardo" to enjoy Saunders at his best.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m open to changing my mind, but I think Saunders is the GOAT
Nine stories, five of which I would rate as excellent, whereas the rest are merely very good. I love Saunders' world building, sense of humor and the way he puts his characters in morally compromising positions. You always read his stories thinking "I would never be like that," while realizing deep in your heart, that if you were ever in the positions these characters are in, you would probably be just as lost. A challenging read, like all his work, but very rewarding.
one of the best collections of short stories i have ever read
Whenever I start a new book by George Saunders, I briefly feel like I've forgotten how to read. The way that he writes is like being submerged in an entirely different world, and it takes a moment to learn how to be in that world again. Liberation Day: Stories is Saunder's latest collection of short stories and the title story pulls you into a new world that is deeply unsettling yet oddly familiar. This collection of stories is deceptively short, yet each one feels so different and asks something different from the reader. To me, the stand out of the collection is "Love Letter". Overall, Liberation Day is a complex collection that shows Saunders remains the master of short stories.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.