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Webster's dictionary defines "author" as "the writer of a literary work (such as a book)." I suppose that is why you can find several books made by George Saunders, who is a fairly recent author. I also happen to think those books are extremely good and he has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary authors. Saunders recently came out with his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, which I am just now learning won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. Before that, he had written a novella (CivilWarLand in Bad Decline) and a bunch of short stories, many of which appeared in literary magazines and then also are available in short story collections. A few random thoughts of mine about Saunders' writing style and themes: He creates very convincing near-futures. Often with just a few sentences, he gives us a glimpse into a fascinating and frighteningly believable future that I can imagine happening in a few years. Many of his stories take place in some kind of technological (but not glamorously so), consumerism-focused, slightly dystopic world. He's funny! In like a casual yet poignant Vonnegut kind of way. He finds really interesting ways to say things. "Treasure it [a thought or idea] around for a while" is a really neat phrase that I like a lot. He often writes in vernacular from the perspective of the character, often specifically in a computery shorthand kind of way, using lots of abbrevs etc. Also sometimes his narrrative changes as the character's ability to process it does, especially when pharmaceuticals are involved (e.g. a character takes a drug that lets them describe things very eloquently, and suddenly not only the character's speech but also the narrative is extremely flowery). He has a major preoccupation with pharmaceuticals, particularly psychiatric ones, and his stories are often in a setting where psych meds are totally routine. They are sometimes the focus of a story, as in Escape from Spiderhead, one of my favorite short stories by him. He has an interesting take on  ghosts. Ghosts show up in at least 3 works off the top of my head: CivilWarLand, Lincoln in the Bardo, and CommComm. They are presented in a sort of odd, funny way like it's hardly noteworthy that there are ghosts there.He is good at straightforward but effective criticisms of society, consumerism, the complicity of people in the bad things that happen in the world combined with their powerlessness as individuals to do much about. it, etc. Brad Carrigan, American basically slaps you in the face with it, but its obviousness doesn't detract at all from its quality. Also shout out to the recommendation thread, who originally pointed me in Saunders' direction. I was asking for authors that I should check out as someone who likes Vonnegut a lot, and Saunders was good advice. If you like Vonnegut, check out Saunders! That's all for the OP, I'll save specific discussions of works for the rest of the thread. Please spoiler anything that should be spoilered.
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Jan 29, 2018 19:33
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 09:16 |
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You've convinced me to never read George Saunders, OP
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Jan 30, 2018 00:00
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Tough but fair
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Jan 30, 2018 00:08
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I have been meaning to read Lincoln in the Bardo for the last couple months but it sounds like one of those books I won't really "get" so I've put it off. He sounds like a good author from what you describe so will give it a whirl.
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Jan 30, 2018 00:20
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Enfys posted:I have been meaning to read Lincoln in the Bardo for the last couple months but it sounds like one of those books I won't really "get" so I've put it off. He sounds like a good author from what you describe so will give it a whirl. It's a really enjoyable read at the very least, and quicker than it looks as it's written almost like a play so there aren't so many words per page on average. If you're not sure, check out some of his short stories! I think a few are available for free legally online. Like escape from spiderhead is on the new yorker's website.
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Jan 30, 2018 00:26
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George Saunders is really good. My favorite of his stories is "Semplica Girl Diaries," which is very funny. Most of my favorite Saunders stories deal, in one way or another, with conceptions of childhood and the way those conceptions are structured by economic and technological concerns, but really he is the rare author where I have never read anything by him that I didn't enjoy and think was worthwhile. The Lincoln in the Bardo audiobook is also top notch.
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Jan 30, 2018 00:39
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Semplica Girl Diaries is a really interesting one. It's very funny, entertaining, and a joy to read, but I have to say when I first finished it, I had enjoyed the read but I was also perplexed and not sure what to make of it. This was like a year or more ago. Suddenly last week (Saunders was on my mind because of Lincoln in the Bardo), I randomly thought about it and it made a lot more sense. I now feel like it's all about conspicuous consumption and the modern exploitation of people and land in far-away places (sweatshops, etc). Here it is taken to an absurd degree because the sweatshop workers are literally chained together and displayed in your yard for your amusement (and neighborhood showoffery). It has many hallmarks of the sweatshop sort of issue, replacing Semplica Girls with whatever cheap consumer good you can think of: It begins with a mild but not ill-natured jealousy towards a rich neighbor who has some Semplica Girls on display, which inspires the dad to feel like it's only the right thing to do to provide the same comforts to his own daughter. Keeping up with the Joneses and all that, but we really see it from the perspective of a truly loving parent who wants a happy daughter. The main family isn't doing great by their domestic standards, but they can still (barely) afford to have Semplica Girls (in this case, literal slaves; in the IRL case, luxurious (by global standards) consumer goods made by practically-slaves far away). And yet, sympathy towards the comparatively modest lifestyle and stretched-thin wealth of the main family is not misplaced. Here is IMO the strongest one, and one that hit home for me because I get this argument every time I speak out against sweatshops. "At least it's better than what they had before!" which isn't untrue but also doesn't make it okay to treat people like poo poo. We are told that the Semplica Girls come from rough lives and that becoming chained together in a vain display for American families is, in fact, an excellent way out of their horrid backgrounds for themselves and their families, and thus we should think it's a good thing, maybe. If you attempt to sympathize with the sweatshop workers and take action against the system that keeps them trapped, as the daughter does, you will be crushed by the state (freeing Semplica Girls is described as a high crime that merits much investigation and punishment). In retrospect, even if it's my own personal interpretation, it seems obvious enough to me that I almost feel embarrassed for not having settled on it sooner.
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Jan 30, 2018 01:39
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lincoln in the bardo is enjoyable, but I can’t shake the feeling of him going all "what if I wrote the novel as a play but with Harward citation instead". that said I enjoy having several separate POVs constructing the narrative
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Jan 30, 2018 20:46
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I finally got around to reading Lincoln in the Bardo, or rather listening to it. The audiobook production is fantastic - there are so many different actors for all of the voices, and it works so well given all the different POVs and the narrative style. It took me a little bit to get into it, and at first I just had no idea what was going on and thought it was bizarre. Saunders does an amazing job of constructing the narrative in such a way that you can quickly start putting the pieces together and figuring out what's going on even though it's such an unusual style. I know this thread didn't get much traction, but I'm really glad you made it because it finally spurred me to try Lincoln in the Bardo. I am going to look for his stories now as I loved it so much.
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Mar 24, 2018 13:04
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I'm glad of it! A few neat aesthetic things that stuck with me from Lincoln in the Bardo: Vollman (I think) interrupting people to say "sick box/form/home" when they're searching for the word corpse/coffin/mausoleum Vollman's friend, the other main guy (the names are escaping me), launching into a fugue state of listing beautiful sensations from life, and Vollman having to snap him out of it. "Friend... you're doing it again" made me laugh out loud. But the images themselves are really lovely prose too. The chapters stitched together from quotes from historical texts were a little tough at first but i came to appreciate them. A few times, Saunders works some humor in there by placing multiple sources disagreeing with each other right next to each other. Reading it like prose in my head had the effect of sounding like someone's opinion changing in real time: it was great... well, not great so much as good. Actually it really was quite bad, when you think about it. I'm curious now, in the audiobook, do they read the citations for those? Do they read the character names?
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Mar 24, 2018 13:31
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Yes, the citations are read. There is an overall narrator who reads the chapter headings and the citations, and then there is a huge cast for the other characters. Nick Offerman is fantastic as Vollman. I think the narration of the citations added to my initial confusion, but once I started to get the hang of the story it flowed really well and worked because there were different people for each character. I think I will pick up the book as well to read to see what it's like in text format, but I would recommend the audiobook. It's a top notch production, and I think experiencing it orally definitely adds something. There were so many amazing and beautiful passages (another reason I want to pick up the book to read again). There were parts near the end that almost made me a little teary, especially when Lincoln passes through Bevins and Vollman and when Bevins is just on the verge of disappearing. The way Bevins described life and death, the everything and the nothingness of existence, was stunning. I think it says a lot about Saunders that he can change the narration so much depending on how the characters change (Bevins becoming far more flowery and passionate as he is carried away), as you mentioned in the OP. There were also bits that would make me laugh out loud and parts that were just heart-breaking (I loved the two guys stuck together because they continually flattered each other). I also thought it was fascinating how cleverly Saunders showed the widely varying opinions on Lincoln and his actions/behaviour at the time. That in particular, but the book as a whole, really seemed to emphasise how nothing is black and white; there are so many different ways to interpret everything. The characters coming to terms with their own actions and the consequences of them was also really well done. I can't remember the name of the couple, but that scene where the wife finally admits what terrible parents they were before disappearing, and her husband still protesting but being unwilling to remain without her, was really well done. A really small bit that stuck out to me was when the previously mute mulatto girl said she was sorry that she would be leaving just as she had regained her voice. As a whole, the way the issues haunting the different characters showed in their forms or behaviours was brilliantly done - the mother with the three floating balls of her daughters, the slave whose hands had been worked to stubs, Vollman's giant member, etc. Another passage that really stuck out was when the slave who insists he was treated well talks about the precious moments where he could do as he wished (unless someone asked him to do something during his rare "free time" anyway) and realising that some men have entire lifetimes of being able to do as they please. I've been thinking about this book all day now and know it will be one of those that I periodically think about for a long time to come. I am definitely going to look for Saunders' other work as well.
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Mar 24, 2018 22:40
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alnilam posted:I'm curious now, in the audiobook, do they read the citations for those? Do they read the character names? They read every. Single. Op Cit. They do not read the character names. With 120 characters, it can get a tad confusing sometimes but you pick it up pretty quickly through context. The main characters have very distinct voices/actors so it's not too tough. Not that you could have more distinct differences in tone than Offerman and Sedaris, obviously.
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Mar 25, 2018 23:03
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