Pastoralia: Stories by George Saunders
2001
Weight:6.7 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library
I bought this while I was in college and studying Creative Writing. I had read some amazing individual Saunder's stories. Unfortunately, as per usual, this book got lost in the stacks and stacks of books I was collecting faster than I could read them. It was not my favorite collection, but it had its stronger points. The first story (and books namesake) about people living in pods in what is essentially a drive thru museum/constant reenactment clearly had eyes into the future. There is so much there about being an employee in a larger company--a cog in a wheel--and about being monitored and observed (or at least available to be observed) all the time. A society always pushing for the next odd thing and a consistent unhappiness with that odd thing.
The last story "The Falls" might have been my favorite. An anxious overthinker is lost in his thoughts when he finds himself in the position of seeing two human beings about to die. Is he a hero? A coward? Something in between?
2001
Weight:6.7 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library
I bought this while I was in college and studying Creative Writing. I had read some amazing individual Saunder's stories. Unfortunately, as per usual, this book got lost in the stacks and stacks of books I was collecting faster than I could read them. It was not my favorite collection, but it had its stronger points. The first story (and books namesake) about people living in pods in what is essentially a drive thru museum/constant reenactment clearly had eyes into the future. There is so much there about being an employee in a larger company--a cog in a wheel--and about being monitored and observed (or at least available to be observed) all the time. A society always pushing for the next odd thing and a consistent unhappiness with that odd thing.
The last story "The Falls" might have been my favorite. An anxious overthinker is lost in his thoughts when he finds himself in the position of seeing two human beings about to die. Is he a hero? A coward? Something in between?
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