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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
There's a constant experimentalism in the work of Saunders that sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. In this collection of short stories there is one example of each. "Mother's Day" seems to me to be a masterpiece. The mother in question lives in the middle of familial disaster and is constantly feuding with another woman about the man in the piece. Her Mother's Day celebration is a complete mess. But it's the inner monologue structure and the woman's language that put this story (dare I say this?) almost on a par with the last pages of Ulysses. Written out of enormous sympathy for the difficulties that a woman faces (although we will have to ask our female comrades if this is right - where are the female critics of Saunders?) the narrative almost breaks down at times, just as the woman herself is almost in a state of breakdown. There is an intensity to this story that is completely out of the ordinary. But in another story "Elliott Spencer", I don't think the experimentalism works too well. You can see what Saunders is trying to do: to describe the world as it might seem from inside the mind of a man who is under heavy medication and is being psychologically mistreated by "the System" because of his past as a former wino who lived under the bridge and is now being "rehabilitated" and put to work in some inexplicable, incomprehensible task involving violence. The reader doesn't understand what's going on, and that's the intention because neither does Elliott himself. Saunders does this by breaking up the text into disjointed parts, as a cascade of fleeting broken fragments , the remaining bits of something that once held together. I'm not sure if this works or not but even if it doesn't, there's a profound human feeling in the story - a deeply sympathetic intention to speak up for those who have been dealt a very bad hand in the poker game of life and can't speak for themselves. Underneath the brilliant dialogue and often hilariously funny play with language, is a mind that cares deeply about the sufferings of very ordinary people. Each story in this collection is a discovery.
3.5 but on the higher end. George Saunders has a way of connecting with the reader even in his most contrite of stories.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At this point I will read anything this man writes. 4.5
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was one of the few short story collections that really worked for me!! the audiobook version was excellent, I loved that there were different narrators for each story. the stories are all very different, ranging from sci-fi-esque dystopian futures (and presents) to stories more true to our real life, but the most compelling thing was that almost every story was actually somewhere in the middle. Saunders draws out the absurdity of humanity in these stories about class, wealth, and power. the crux of all these stories is the truly delusional justifications people will give for exploiting and dehumanizing each other. really excellent.
3/9 short stories qualify for the highest praise given to this book but the rest.. forgettable
The problem with Black Mirror is its premises are almost always better than its full episodes. In its heyday, Black Mirror often received praise as a great predictor of the upcoming future or reflection of current events but modern! When in reality, the show offered lazy and empty cynicism which punched holes into life without offering a worthy solution, much less a vision of a future worth living in.
Short stories can often suffer from a similar ailment.
This isn't to say this collection resembles Black Mirror and its assortment of warts. But outside of my two favorite stories from this collection (The Mom of Bold Action and Love Letter), Saunders' latest is a far cry from his pre-novel works. The missteps in these stories are largely attributable to three things: the impossibly high standard Saunders has set for himself through previous collections, his scholarly work on the form, and rehashed premises from previous stories.
I still liked them! It's an embarrassment of riches to receive new stories from Saunders be it through the New Yorker or a collection such as this. I guess, I was just left wanting more, which might be unfair considering the breadth and thoroughness evident in these stories.
Short stories can often suffer from a similar ailment.
This isn't to say this collection resembles Black Mirror and its assortment of warts. But outside of my two favorite stories from this collection (The Mom of Bold Action and Love Letter), Saunders' latest is a far cry from his pre-novel works. The missteps in these stories are largely attributable to three things: the impossibly high standard Saunders has set for himself through previous collections, his scholarly work on the form, and rehashed premises from previous stories.
I still liked them! It's an embarrassment of riches to receive new stories from Saunders be it through the New Yorker or a collection such as this. I guess, I was just left wanting more, which might be unfair considering the breadth and thoroughness evident in these stories.