Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Tenth of December: Stories

Cover image for Tenth of December : storiesTenth of December: Stories
by George Saunders
Random House, 2013. 251 pages. Fiction.

Tenth of December is a glittering collection of borderline absurdest stories that feel almost like a new breed of post modern fairy tales. The stories deal with modern themes of consumerism, capitalism, environmentalism, and others, through primarily domestic situations set slightly in the future. Saunders' style of writing is at first somewhat disorienting using truncated grammar (one story is completely void of definite articles like "the"), and starting most stories in the middle of an unfamiliar situation that the reader slowly comes to understand as they struggle through. But the payoff is worth is. The stories are biting, funny, heartbreaking, and pose interesting and difficult moral, philosophical questions about modern life. His style won't be for everyone, but if you enjoy modern, literary reads, this might be up your alley. ZB

No comments: