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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I've been reading the stories in this collection over recent months and remain enthralled by Saunders' style and writing, his depth of understanding and the way he flits between genre, wearing tropes like a coat, in the service of a deeper theme. There's a lot to like and sometimes the slightest story has the most power. I particularly enjoyed Sparrow and My House.
"It was always falling down around you, everything has always been falling down around us.”
I’ll never not be a fan of George Saunders’ prose. It’s wholly unique, sharp and a pleasure to read in any story. Unfortunately, for me, it was the best part of Liberation Day. Objectively all of the stories are brilliant. Insightful, deftly manoeuvring between dark humour and pathos, but they didn’t grab me. Maybe my expectations were too high after Tenth of December, which blew me away with its fresh and riveting stories. These newest ones paled a bit in comparison.
I’ll never not be a fan of George Saunders’ prose. It’s wholly unique, sharp and a pleasure to read in any story. Unfortunately, for me, it was the best part of Liberation Day. Objectively all of the stories are brilliant. Insightful, deftly manoeuvring between dark humour and pathos, but they didn’t grab me. Maybe my expectations were too high after Tenth of December, which blew me away with its fresh and riveting stories. These newest ones paled a bit in comparison.
I'm not even going to quote the well-known phrase because I disagree with it so much, but George Saunders had to come along and prove me wrong. Despite the cover of 'Liberation Day' being straight up Windows 98' uggo disgusting Microsoft paint-looking awful, the book is another stroke of brilliance. I just can't let go of how much I hate the sterilized look of the cover. Early on I took the book jacket and hid it behind my other books. I'm considering throwing it in the trash, but that feels wrong. Maybe I'll turn it into some art piece collage with other book jackets I don't like. Anyway, the jacket was affecting my enjoyment so I took it off. The plain white was fine with me.
Now that I've rid myself of that stored up bile, I have to say that George Saunders is the greatest. His ability to draw me into a story about a character whom I couldn't care less about even if I knew them in real life is astounding. Best exemplified in the story 'A Thing At Work', I would say he constructs characters well, but there are no signs of construction whatsoever. There is no seam, no stitches, no screws, no Made in China stickers. It's as though he has found real living people and driven a tap with an electric pump into their skulls and just pours their inner soul onto the page. And I tell you from experience, this liquid soul is incredibly sticky and explains why I couldn't take my eyes off the story until I finished it. Good grief.
The story 'The Mom of Bold Action' was more than just wonderful, I feel I've taken a crucial lesson from the story. The ending, taking place entirely in the mind and heart of the mother as she sits in her car, was moving. I've grown up in a world with great books, great movies, and great adaptations of books into movies. To me the mediums are very similar, but Saunders writes fiction that is anti-cinema. The beauty is not only in the unfilmable hearts and thoughts of the characters, but also in his sentence craft. You can adapt his stories into film, but you can't adapt the art. That will remain forever on the page.
'Ghoul' was probably the highlight of the book for me. Saunders returned to much-trodden ground to source that faithful well of his: theme parks. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I could read about Saunders's theme parks until the end of time. What is that magic? Why did it make him famous and why is he still able to do it with such originality and ease? I take back what I said in the previous paragraph. Saunders can be adapted, just not into film. I want to see a theme park called Saunders Pages where we can visit these horrible places. Mark that down as an excellent business idea.
Reading the first five or so pages of 'Elliot Spencer' felt like rubbing my bare eyeballs on asphalt, but once you get over the shock of his use of language it becomes an interesting take on protesting or crisis acting or something. It actually felt slightly derivative of the previous story 'Liberation Day' (which gives the book its title), but I didn't particularly love either of them anyway. Maybe they exist in the same story world. Whatever, it doesn't matter.
While all of them had their charm, the ones that stick after having finished are 'The Mom of Bold Action', 'A Thing At Work', and 'Ghoul'. These were too good, Saunders has to be cheating. I foresee a doping scandal in his future.
Now that I've rid myself of that stored up bile, I have to say that George Saunders is the greatest. His ability to draw me into a story about a character whom I couldn't care less about even if I knew them in real life is astounding. Best exemplified in the story 'A Thing At Work', I would say he constructs characters well, but there are no signs of construction whatsoever. There is no seam, no stitches, no screws, no Made in China stickers. It's as though he has found real living people and driven a tap with an electric pump into their skulls and just pours their inner soul onto the page. And I tell you from experience, this liquid soul is incredibly sticky and explains why I couldn't take my eyes off the story until I finished it. Good grief.
The story 'The Mom of Bold Action' was more than just wonderful, I feel I've taken a crucial lesson from the story. The ending, taking place entirely in the mind and heart of the mother as she sits in her car, was moving. I've grown up in a world with great books, great movies, and great adaptations of books into movies. To me the mediums are very similar, but Saunders writes fiction that is anti-cinema. The beauty is not only in the unfilmable hearts and thoughts of the characters, but also in his sentence craft. You can adapt his stories into film, but you can't adapt the art. That will remain forever on the page.
'Ghoul' was probably the highlight of the book for me. Saunders returned to much-trodden ground to source that faithful well of his: theme parks. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I could read about Saunders's theme parks until the end of time. What is that magic? Why did it make him famous and why is he still able to do it with such originality and ease? I take back what I said in the previous paragraph. Saunders can be adapted, just not into film. I want to see a theme park called Saunders Pages where we can visit these horrible places. Mark that down as an excellent business idea.
Reading the first five or so pages of 'Elliot Spencer' felt like rubbing my bare eyeballs on asphalt, but once you get over the shock of his use of language it becomes an interesting take on protesting or crisis acting or something. It actually felt slightly derivative of the previous story 'Liberation Day' (which gives the book its title), but I didn't particularly love either of them anyway. Maybe they exist in the same story world. Whatever, it doesn't matter.
While all of them had their charm, the ones that stick after having finished are 'The Mom of Bold Action', 'A Thing At Work', and 'Ghoul'. These were too good, Saunders has to be cheating. I foresee a doping scandal in his future.
This feels like an uneven collection. "Love Letter" and "My House" were stellar. The "Mom of Bold Action" was good. "Liberation Day", "Ghoul", and "Elliot Spencer" seemed too similar, another riff on the same brutal theme.
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Not Saunders' best collection, but my favorites here are so strong. "Liberation Day," "Ghoul," and "Elliott Spencer" showcase what he does best IMO: creating absurd, heightened worlds that are so close to our own that you can't help but ponder the slippery slope that could so easily lead there. Is it a metaphor, or is it a dystopia? Both, I think. "A Thing at Work" and "Mother's Day" are great examples of another thing that Saunders does so well: revealing more about his characters through their thoughts about others, rather than through their own actions or dialogue. I read the physical version first and listened to the audiobook about two months later. The audio readings (performed by the author and celebs such as Tina Fey, Michael McKean, and others) really added to my enjoyment.
Enjoying this collection but definitely not my favorite by Saunders. The first story is the best one.
I have no idea what these stories were about. I couldn't follow the plot in any but A Thing at Work, and that one didn't seem to have a point. I generally enjoy short stories but these just left me baffled and feeling clueless.
Oh look, George Saunders came up with even more baroque ways for his characters to be enslaved. Recommended only if you like staring into the void and having it speak to you in the voice of a dozen Hal Incandenza sock puppets.