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A review by chickadee
Debriefing: Collected Stories by Susan Sontag
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
Rating right down the middle; some stories are worth the time and others aren't. Highlights: Pilgrimage, The Dummy, Debriefing. Lowlights: Project for a Trip to China, Unguided Tour, Baby.
Both the foreword to this book and all of its press coverage take pains to note that Sontag was not a dedicated short story writer. This should be taken as a word of caution by lovers of the form. It is apparent that Sontag used short stories as a last resort to explore narratives and concepts she couldn't wrangle into essays, books, or plays.
Some stories felt cumbersome, overly expansive in scope, and clumsily experimental. Others, particularly those that bear some marks of autobiography, are more successful, perhaps because closer to the heart.
There are some frustrating attempts at cultural criticism and satire, where potentially rich topics are touched on but not fully examined. Project for a Trip to China's narrator regards China through an Orientalist lens, rebuking it as a land of backwards tradition but lusting after it as an opportunity for adventure and self-actualization. Sontag leaves this lens un-interrogated, laying out the framework for a potential dismantlement of colonialist thought and desire, but stopping short.
This collection happened to be my first encounter with Sontag and it's clear that I'll need to look elsewhere to experience her at her best. However, she shone through in some beautiful images and punchy lines and is most impactful when she is most introspective. Would recommend for those willing to cherry pick the best pieces and for those who are already fond of Sontag's other work and curious about her take on the short story.
Both the foreword to this book and all of its press coverage take pains to note that Sontag was not a dedicated short story writer. This should be taken as a word of caution by lovers of the form. It is apparent that Sontag used short stories as a last resort to explore narratives and concepts she couldn't wrangle into essays, books, or plays.
Some stories felt cumbersome, overly expansive in scope, and clumsily experimental. Others, particularly those that bear some marks of autobiography, are more successful, perhaps because closer to the heart.
There are some frustrating attempts at cultural criticism and satire, where potentially rich topics are touched on but not fully examined. Project for a Trip to China's narrator regards China through an Orientalist lens, rebuking it as a land of backwards tradition but lusting after it as an opportunity for adventure and self-actualization. Sontag leaves this lens un-interrogated, laying out the framework for a potential dismantlement of colonialist thought and desire, but stopping short.
This collection happened to be my first encounter with Sontag and it's clear that I'll need to look elsewhere to experience her at her best. However, she shone through in some beautiful images and punchy lines and is most impactful when she is most introspective. Would recommend for those willing to cherry pick the best pieces and for those who are already fond of Sontag's other work and curious about her take on the short story.