soon; shortly
Tenth of December
by
George Saunders
June 28, 2017 - June 28, 2017
(fiction)
Saunders, G. (2012). Tenth of December. Random House Trade Paperbacks.
p.209
anon »
p.33
fey »
(adjective) fated to die; doomed / (adjective) ma…
p.240
Had he been crying just now?
I think crying is…
p.218
Yes, Suzanne said. We also have a pool. You shoul…
p.211
At this time, Don Murray himself didst step Forwa…
p.204
So Ted, Don Murray said. Last night you witnessed…
p.199
I was on a like shame slide. You know what I mean…
3
Victory Lap
ditzy dancer girl is abducted by a man who fancies himself a king; neighbourhood boy with helicopter parents accidentally sees but is torn over whether to intervene or just stay out of it as his parents would want. he ends up intervening. kind of meh. the abduction angle was a bit of a surprise, and the boy's backstory is funny (if sad), but otherwise somewhat forgettable
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3
Victory Lap
ditzy dancer girl is abducted by a man who fancies himself a king; neighbourhood boy with helicopter parents accidentally sees but is torn over whether to intervene or just stay out of it as his parents would want. he ends up intervening. kind of meh. the abduction angle was a bit of a surprise, and the boy's backstory is funny (if sad), but otherwise somewhat forgettable
0 / 129
Sticks
dad dresses up a pole. he dies. the end
0 / 0
31
Puppy
two mothers, one selling the other a puppy. one is trying to escape the shadow of her own neglectful parents; the other is trying to take care of a difficult son (whom she has chained up in her yard to keep him safe). first one sees the chained boy and projects her own childhood onto him and decides not to buy the puppy. the other has to kill the puppy (reasons unclear; financial?)
1
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0
31
Puppy
two mothers, one selling the other a puppy. one is trying to escape the shadow of her own neglectful parents; the other is trying to take care of a difficult son (whom she has chained up in her yard to keep him safe). first one sees the chained boy and projects her own childhood onto him and decides not to buy the puppy. the other has to kill the puppy (reasons unclear; financial?)
1 / 0
45
Escape from Spiderhead
first-person narrator who committed a crime and now he's in some facility where he's been experimented on. there's a drug that mimics falling in love & another that makes you fall out of love. to confirm that it's working, the experimentors have a drug that mimics depression; that goes horribly wrong when one female subject kills herself. to prevent another female subject from doing the same, MC takes the depression drug (Darkenfloxx™) and kills himself. very Good Old Neon
0
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2
45
Escape from Spiderhead
first-person narrator who committed a crime and now he's in some facility where he's been experimented on. there's a drug that mimics falling in love & another that makes you fall out of love. to confirm that it's working, the experimentors have a drug that mimics depression; that goes horribly wrong when one female subject kills herself. to prevent another female subject from doing the same, MC takes the depression drug (Darkenfloxx™) and kills himself. very Good Old Neon
0 / 2
83
Exhortation
a story told by means of a short workplace memo exhorting workers to work harder, with more details revealed as the memo goes on. the context is unclear--it's some sort of workplace with an unpleasant job (maybe torture or killing is involved), where one employee named Todd set a record previously but is now in the midst of depression. i love the narrative technique & the narrator's way of writing (even if he is not the most sympathetic character at first, he grows on you)
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0
83
Exhortation
a story told by means of a short workplace memo exhorting workers to work harder, with more details revealed as the memo goes on. the context is unclear--it's some sort of workplace with an unpleasant job (maybe torture or killing is involved), where one employee named Todd set a record previously but is now in the midst of depression. i love the narrative technique & the narrator's way of writing (even if he is not the most sympathetic character at first, he grows on you)
0 / 0
91
Al Roosten
this was incredibly sad. third-person, MC is this old man with suppressed homosexual tendencies and a pretty sad life. very vivid imagination though--he fantasises about people liking him, etc. also he hates homeless people despite wishing people were more charitable towards him. reminds me of camus' the mute (section 205). also reminds me a bit of myself when i was younger? kind of disturbing to realise
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1
91
Al Roosten
this was incredibly sad. third-person, MC is this old man with suppressed homosexual tendencies and a pretty sad life. very vivid imagination though--he fantasises about people liking him, etc. also he hates homeless people despite wishing people were more charitable towards him. reminds me of camus' the mute (section 205). also reminds me a bit of myself when i was younger? kind of disturbing to realise
0 / 1
109
The Semplica Girl Diaries
I really liked this one. I glossed over the whole SG thing initially, so when I finally realised what they were (basically, immigrant women who hang as garden ornaments) it was quite shocking. told through the (hastily-written) diaries of a first-person narrator, which is actually quite a cool narrative technique that i kind of want to use somewhere (for DFW story?). there's a lot to unpack here about wealth and class.
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15
109
The Semplica Girl Diaries
I really liked this one. I glossed over the whole SG thing initially, so when I finally realised what they were (basically, immigrant women who hang as garden ornaments) it was quite shocking. told through the (hastily-written) diaries of a first-person narrator, which is actually quite a cool narrative technique that i kind of want to use somewhere (for DFW story?). there's a lot to unpack here about wealth and class.
0 / 15
169
Home
haunting first-person narrative about an american veteran who comes home from the war (Iraq? Afghanistan? idk) to find that his mother is as self-absorbed and financially carelessly as ever (similar to Mary Karr's mother actually lol), his wife has re-married, his sister is married to a rich man and is now acting differently. seems like he's planning to shoot his wife+kids as revenge, but his family tries to intervene. ends on an uncertain note
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2
169
Home
haunting first-person narrative about an american veteran who comes home from the war (Iraq? Afghanistan? idk) to find that his mother is as self-absorbed and financially carelessly as ever (similar to Mary Karr's mother actually lol), his wife has re-married, his sister is married to a rich man and is now acting differently. seems like he's planning to shoot his wife+kids as revenge, but his family tries to intervene. ends on an uncertain note
0 / 2
203
My Chivalric Fiasco
first-person narrator works at some medieval reenactment place, sees what seems to be the aftermath of his boss sexually assaulting a coworker; boss tries to cover it up by paying her off & promoting them both; MC becomes a knight and takes a drug that makes him speak as a knight would, then decides to announce the truth to everyone, which of course gets him fired and ruins the woman's life in the process. the knight-speak part was funny, but the story didn't feel super substantially. mostly gimmicky
1
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2
203
My Chivalric Fiasco
first-person narrator works at some medieval reenactment place, sees what seems to be the aftermath of his boss sexually assaulting a coworker; boss tries to cover it up by paying her off & promoting them both; MC becomes a knight and takes a drug that makes him speak as a knight would, then decides to announce the truth to everyone, which of course gets him fired and ruins the woman's life in the process. the knight-speak part was funny, but the story didn't feel super substantially. mostly gimmicky
1 / 2
215
Tenth of December
i didn't really like this one tbh. old man who has brain cancer (?) decides to kill himself by freezing to death in the woods; some kid who lives in his own fantasies tries to bring his coat, then falls in the lake; old man has to save the kid but of course, it turns out, the kid has saved him
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2
215
Tenth of December
i didn't really like this one tbh. old man who has brain cancer (?) decides to kill himself by freezing to death in the woods; some kid who lives in his own fantasies tries to bring his coat, then falls in the lake; old man has to save the kid but of course, it turns out, the kid has saved him
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