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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Science fiction, dystopia, political oppression, family
This is probably a true 3.5/5.0! "Lincoln in the Bardo" is one of my favorite books. Anyone I know who reads, I will recommend it to them. It is so weird, smart, and has both breadth and depth. It is a ghost story that is rooted in reality. It's there where I say: George Saunders short stories are hit-or-miss for me, and 2 out of 3 times here they are absolute hits. When his stories are rooted in reality or supernaturalism, I dig it. Most of the futurism, dystopian, android-level writing is just not for me. My favorite stories here are "Mother's Day" and "Sparrow", where I literally dropped the book and said wow, this man is a genius. Other stories that work really well for me here are "The Mom of Bold Action", "A Thing at Work", "Love Letter" and "My House". The other three all miss as they exist in that ultra-dystopian, very-sci-fi atmosphere that is just not for me. Overall, I love Saunders. He is such an exciting writer and I'll always try what he's writing.
ghoul and liberation day stories are 5 stars: a mediation on how dangerous it is to think you don’t have a purpose
The first story in this collection is a marvel. The rest are great, too.
This book is quintessentially George Saunders in style and subject matter, but it feels bleaker than any other collection he's written. That redemptively kind reflex in a flawed humanity which I've always loved about Saunders' stories is essentially missing, and many of the stories here feel like almost explicit recantations of those previous moments of moral redemption. In "Liberation Day," the mind-wiped Speaker, a human converted into a stationary performing curiosity, finds the power to recognize the injustice of his plight, but not the will to overturn it. In "Ghoul," Saunders' most dark conception of a roleplaying theme park yet, love is not transcendent but naïve, perhaps incompatible with the status quo, and our main character can only pray for a revolution some time after he is most likely kicked to death for his subversive beliefs. And in "Mother's Day," at that pivotal moment where humans step up and choose to help each other so vital in Tenth of December and Saunders' earlier works, an intense pettiness wins out: Debi returns fuming to her home, and Alma dies on the sidewalk. In this world, you can believe in something better, but it's a dangerous and futile game (and let's be honest, you probably won't do anything to begin with). It's a striking and oppressively consistent tonal shift, and I can't be sure what to make of it.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars. I read about half of these in the New Yorker already (sorry everyone else, but he's the only fiction I ever read in the New Yorker), and they were even better on rereading, except for Grandpa's letter, which was even worse. Grandpa's letter just keeps aging worse and worse. Everything else: it just keeps getting better! I'd love to teach "Sparrow" in my 10th grade class.
There are repeated writing tropes that he’s used often in past stories, impossibly odd workplace situations chief among them. And it’s weird that he has two different stories in here about people with stilted narration because they sold themselves to get their mind wiped.
But “My House” is a hell of a six pages to finish on. Bravo.
But “My House” is a hell of a six pages to finish on. Bravo.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Great collection, not my favourite of his works but a few gems in there!