By I took only two English classes in college (unfortunately), but both of them assigned stories by George Saunders, and thus began my interest in his work. This was the third (?) story collection I read of his, and I enjoyed it very much.
About the Book
Title: Liberation Day
Author: George Saunders
Published: 2022
Genre: short stories, fiction, literary fiction
My Rating: 4/5 stars
My Thoughts
“Liberation Day” — 5/5
The titular story, “Liberation Day”, was honestly amazing. I feel like when picking up a short story by George Saunders there is at least a 60% chance of the plot revolving around some lobotomized humans being used as accessories, but I felt that this one was the best one.
Jeremy felt very real, and the situations were viscerally uncomfortable. It felt like how I would imagine it would feel to be an AI if AI were sentient. A conscious being, yet constructed for and controlled by humans.
The Battle of Little Bighorn sections were also crazy well-written—I could understand why the audience was enthralled by the performance of the Speakers. “Adult son Mike” was great and the plot was bizarre but yet still picture-able. The last line is a banger too.
“The Mom of Bold Action” — 3/5
This one just reminded me of what it feels like trying to resist doing OCD compulsions
“Love Letter” — 3/5
Felt a bit resistance-lib-y and heavy-handed, but I really liked the epistolary framing and the scene with the cop.
“Good lord, his stupidity and bulk there in the darkness, the metallic clanking from his belt area, the palpable certainty he seemed to feel regarding his cause, a cause I cannot begin, even at this late date, to get my head around, or view from within, so to speak.
I do not want you anywhere near, or under the sway of, that sort of person, ever.”
“A Thing At Work” — 2/5
Honestly, I did not really care about the work drama of these aging ladies
“Sparrow” — 2/5
This one I genuinely had to flip back to in order to remember anything about it.
“Ghoul” — 4/5
At first, I didn’t like this one because it was so damn bizarre, but it started to grow on me, and honestly ended up sticking with me for a while because of how viscerally disturbing the concept was.
“Mother’s Day” — 2/5
This one reminded me of “A Thing At Work” in that it centered around the beef between these two ladies, neither of whom I felt a particular attachment to.
“Elliott Spencer” — 4/5
The most similar to “Liberation Day” in terms of theme and plot. This one had a more experimental writing style in the attempt to mimic the narrator’s lack of vocabulary due to having his brain wiped, which definitely contributed to the surrealist feeling. Makes you think a lot about nature vs. nurture and all that good stuff.
“My House” — 3/5
This story felt markedly different from the others in the collection, and while I found it intriguing, I felt that something was missing.
Have you read Liberation Day by George Saunders, or any of the individual stories in this collection? If so, what did you think? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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