Tenth Of December By: George Saunders
By: Clarissa Sauter
George Saunders has become "mainstream" with "Tenth of December". The collection of stories is highly politicized yet deeply personal, including a story about a futuristic society where girls are hung as lawn decorations, and another in which a veteran returns and finds his sister with a man much richer than their family.
The stories are full of tragedy and at first glance seem depressing, but they are infused with a dark humor that portrays a ridiculous, if not delusional, America. A good example of this is found in the story "Victory Lap". Here, a fourteen-year-old girl is abducted in front of a neighbor of a similar age. The kidnapper thinks, "In Bible days a king might go through a field and go: That one. And she would be brought unto him . . . . Was she, that first night, digging it? Probably not. Was she shaking like a leaf? Didn't matter." (page 18)
In "Escape from Spiderhead", a drug test subject is emotionally manipulated and grows suicidal, while in "My Chivalric Fiasco", a woman working at a medieval theme park is raped by her boss. A male employee secretly witnesses the aftermath, and is given KnightLyfe, a drug that makes him speak and act knightly.
It is this mixture of horror and absurdity that makes "Tenth of December" such an interesting read - to laugh or not to laugh?
The stories are full of tragedy and at first glance seem depressing, but they are infused with a dark humor that portrays a ridiculous, if not delusional, America. A good example of this is found in the story "Victory Lap". Here, a fourteen-year-old girl is abducted in front of a neighbor of a similar age. The kidnapper thinks, "In Bible days a king might go through a field and go: That one. And she would be brought unto him . . . . Was she, that first night, digging it? Probably not. Was she shaking like a leaf? Didn't matter." (page 18)
In "Escape from Spiderhead", a drug test subject is emotionally manipulated and grows suicidal, while in "My Chivalric Fiasco", a woman working at a medieval theme park is raped by her boss. A male employee secretly witnesses the aftermath, and is given KnightLyfe, a drug that makes him speak and act knightly.
It is this mixture of horror and absurdity that makes "Tenth of December" such an interesting read - to laugh or not to laugh?