you’re the 2nd person to mention it today and I just read it online..and..WOW! Very Orwellian, and unfortunately too close to home in it’s possibility rating.
Yes. George Saunders is one of my most favorite writers of all time, so I was really excited to see a new story by him. I liked the story a lot, but I wasn’t feeling the voice he used for the narrator. Or I liked the voice in general, but I didn’t quite buy it as a teenager. He’s used a similar voice in the past for adults (I don’t have his books in front of me, but I want to say the narrator in Winky and the sisters in Sea Oak, maybe?) and it was a tighter fit there.
Also, I felt he sort of flogged his point about people having their emotions fed to them by TV instead of being legitimately felt and experienced by the individual. I don’t think he needed to beat it down quite as thoroughly as he did.
But even so, great story. I love that he is intensely interested in social groups and businesses that sell the human experience to humans. He is building an excellent excellent body of work. I hope he puts out a novel at some point.
My mailman finally relinqued my New Yorker. I really liked the story, although I agree that the point with all the LI’s etc was said a few too many times. It reminded me of this book I read as a youngster, This Time of Darkness. It’s a book for mid-grade kids, but I recently re-read and was surprised at much I still liked it. It had a lot of the same elements–the kids plugged in to “learning terminals” and were fed bs through them. No product placement (other than society) though. Classic 80’s book.
Anyway, I liked the story but I am not much of a literary critic. Next time we chat I can stop talking about boys for 2 minutes and we can talk about the things we read in the New Yorker.
you’re the 2nd person to mention it today and I just read it online..and..WOW! Very Orwellian, and unfortunately too close to home in it’s possibility rating.
We’re not too far off today, are we?
Goddamit my NYer always comes like 2 weeks late. And my Victoria’s secret catalogues don’t come at all. I hate my mailman.
Katie: It is a little Orwellian…I loved it, especially the grammar and syntax errors, which it took me a minute to get passed.
Lina: You must read it as soon as it arrives!
It reminds me a bit of a book that I read years and years ago by Ayn Rand– “Anthem”. So hard to put down the magazine once I started reading it.
Finally got around to the Saunders story, and it was amazing.
Great story! What a trip! Anyone want to spend plenty of time dissecting this story? I’ve been thinking about it ever since I read it, and re-read it.
Maud, it does remind one of Anthem - read that ages ago.
Yes. George Saunders is one of my most favorite writers of all time, so I was really excited to see a new story by him. I liked the story a lot, but I wasn’t feeling the voice he used for the narrator. Or I liked the voice in general, but I didn’t quite buy it as a teenager. He’s used a similar voice in the past for adults (I don’t have his books in front of me, but I want to say the narrator in Winky and the sisters in Sea Oak, maybe?) and it was a tighter fit there.
Also, I felt he sort of flogged his point about people having their emotions fed to them by TV instead of being legitimately felt and experienced by the individual. I don’t think he needed to beat it down quite as thoroughly as he did.
But even so, great story. I love that he is intensely interested in social groups and businesses that sell the human experience to humans. He is building an excellent excellent body of work. I hope he puts out a novel at some point.
My mailman finally relinqued my New Yorker. I really liked the story, although I agree that the point with all the LI’s etc was said a few too many times. It reminded me of this book I read as a youngster, This Time of Darkness. It’s a book for mid-grade kids, but I recently re-read and was surprised at much I still liked it. It had a lot of the same elements–the kids plugged in to “learning terminals” and were fed bs through them. No product placement (other than society) though. Classic 80’s book.
Anyway, I liked the story but I am not much of a literary critic. Next time we chat I can stop talking about boys for 2 minutes and we can talk about the things we read in the New Yorker.
xox
lina