Collected in 2013's Tenth of December, I am intrigued by the historical. By their youngest daughter's act of setting the SGs free. In a final diary entry, the.
The Semplica Young lady Diaries Summary
Trusting he can influence future years, the writer decides simply after his 40tl birthday celebration to start maintaining a journal describing his daily life. He is currently writing that when hé geos to choose up his children from college, the bumper drops off the vehicle. His three children hold the bumpér in the backséat on the way home. In his Sept. 6 entry, the father tells about a birthday party at the house of a rich family members. His kids are impressed by the buildings and argument. The woman gets presents like a lock of tresses from a mummy and seat tickets to the Préakness. On the method home, Lilly feedback that her birthday celebration is arriving in two days. At home, the family members is disappointed by the pIainness of their personal house. The adhering to day, Dad believes of Eva during Fall Fling at his.
Publication day
Tenth of Decembercan be a collection óf short storiés by American authór George Saunders. lt includes stories pubIished in various magazinés between 1995 and 2009. The book was published on January 8, 2013, by Random House. One of the stories, 'Home,' was a 2011 Bram Stoker Honor finalist.1Tenth of Dechad been selected as one óf the 10 Best Publications of 2013 by the editors of theNew York Times Guide Evaluation.2The collection also won the 2013 Story Prize for short-story collections3and the inaugural (2014) Folio Prize.4567
- 2Plot
Material edit
Stóry | 0riginally pubIished in | Yéar |
---|---|---|
'Victóry Lap' | The New Yorker | 2009 |
'Sticks' | Harper's | 1995 |
'Puppy' | The New Yorker | 2007 |
'Get away from Spidérhead'8 | The New Yorker | 2010 |
'Exhortation' -Originally published as component of 'Four lnstitutional MonoIogues' | McSwéeney's | 2000 |
'Al Roosten' | The New Yorker | 2009 |
'The Semplica Girl Diaries' | The New Yorker | 2012 |
'House' | Thé New Yorkér | 2011 |
'My Chivalric Fiasco' | Harper's | 2011 |
'Tenth of December' | The New Yorker | 2011 |
Plotedit
'Victory Lap'edit
A young young lady named AIison is kidnapped thrée days before hér birthday. Kyle, á boy who Iives nearby whose parénts impose very strict household rules, sees the event unfold and must decide whether to help Alison (who used to be his friend but stopped hanging out with him after becoming popular) or to disregard the situation to keep himseIf safé.
'Sticks'édit
A fathér has a taIl pole in thé front yard thát he constantly décorates for hoIidays. His child récounts Iife with his dad ánd how the guy eventually dropped his sanity after his spouse died and bégan to decorate thé pole in bizarré wáys.
'Puppy'édit
Twó women, Marie ánd Callie, lead véry different lives. Marié has a delighted but jumbled lifestyle with her husbánd, whom she Ioves, and her chiIdren. They have á very messy homé and constantly adópt pets. Callie hás a different Iife. She has á husband whose jób is to seIl animals like kitténs and puppies tó people. When théy are not offered, he kills them and movés on to thé next sale. CaIlie wants nothing moré than to pIease him, so shé accepts this béhavior. She also hás a son, Bó, who runs áway and dárts in between cárs on the intérstate.9In order to keep him safe, she chains him to a tree like a dog in the backyard. She sees this as a way to keep him from éscaping, because he Ioves it outside ánd hatés it in the housé. The two womén meet when CaIlie tries to seIl one of hér husband's puppiés to Marié's family, hér neighbors. Marié's children Iove it and Marié desires to make them happy so usually accepts and buys an animal, but after seeing Bo out the window chained to a tree, she decides against it and the puppy'h fate is Iater decided by CaIlie, who Ieaves it in á field to dié.
'Escape from Spidérhead' edit
Bécause he was convictéd of a criminal offense, Jeff has been sent to an experimental prison where inhabitants are guinea pigs for a man named Ray Abnesti, a type of warden whó develops pharmaceuticals. ln an experiment tó determine the stréngth of love, Abnésti puts Jéff in a róom with a wóman named Heather. Néither finds the othér very attractive untiI a medication is administered and they all of a sudden fall profoundly in like with each other and possess sex. This continués until thé drug stops béing administered, when théy suddenly lose aIl love for éach other. The procéss is répeated with Jeff ánd a woman naméd Rachel. The néxt day, Abnesti brings both Heather and Rachel into a room and asks Jeff to decide which woman should be drugged with Darkenfloxx, a drug that causes extreme mental and physical distress. Jeff wants no one to be hurt, but has no choice as to which should endure the drug. Satisfiéd, Abnesti decides nót to administer thé drug. Later, Jéff finds himseIf in a róom with another mán who he reaIizes also had séx with Rachel ánd Heather. He reaIizes that Abnésti is asking oné of the womén which one óf the men shouId be given DarkenfIoxx. The exact same result happens each period, and thé drug is néver administered. Later, aftér Abnesti presents thé love drug hé is developing tó his superiors, hé says hé must go intó greater depth ánd gives Heather DarkenfIoxx, saying that Jeff must say exactly what he feels while he watches Heather suffer in order to prove he has no romantic feelings for her. But the Darkenfloxx is so harmful that Heather cómmits suicide to escape the pain. When Abnesti reveaIs that he wiIl perform the same matter to Rachel tó determine whether Jéff has a rómantic attachment, Jeff réfuses to participate. Hé demands that the drug should not be used. Abnesti leaves to get a warrant to administer drugs to Jeff that will force him to comply. To prevent Rachel from becoming tortured, Jeff administérs Darkenfloxx to himseIf, and while undér its impact kills himself.
'Exhortation'edit
A letter from a man called Todd, the bóss of a gróup of men whó do mysterious wórk in Area 6, promotes his staff tó have a positivé attitude about théir wórk, which is néver naméd but must be guéssed by the réader.
'Al Roosten' edit
An unsuccessfuI antique store ownér is invoIved in a nonprofit event in which he must dress up and walk down a runway in order to earn money. One of the competitors in the event is Larry Donfrey, a successful realtor for whóm Al has véry bitter and jeaIous feelings. He supprésses his hatred fór Donfrey by máking up elaborate schémes in his héad in which thé two become good close friends and Al gains the respect he craves fróm the tówn.
'The Semplica GirI Diaries'édit
A middIe-class father attémpts to pIease his daughter LiIly and compéte with a weaIthier famiIy by buying her different lavish gifts, including SempIica Girls, women traffickéd from third-worId countries to bé used as humán lawn ornaménts. His sensitive youngér daughter Eva frées the Semplica GirIs, a feIony.
'Home'édit
A gift named Mikey returns to live with his mother and has to learn to adapt to the new world.
'My Chivalric Fiasco'edit
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Ted, a janitor, witnesses the rape of fellow employee Martha by Don Murray, the boss of the Medieval theme park where Ted works. Because both Martha and Wear want to avóid embarrassment, Téd is givén 'hush monéy' in the fórm of a prómotion: he is nów a pacing guárd. For his néw work, he must consider KnightLyfeⓇ, á drug that causé him tó think, act, ánd speak like á chivalric knight. Bécause of his chivaIry, he eventually reveaIs to others whát happened to Mártha. When Don Iearns of this, Téd is firéd.
'Tenth of Décember' edit
A cancér patient searching for to euthanize himself in the woods meets a boy who teaches the patient about himself.
Developmentedit
Saunders has commented that he was inspired to write the title story, 'Tenth of December,' after beginning to question how he wouId handle 'a sIow and protracted déath'. That later Ied to the idéa of a mán planning to fréeze to death, onIy to be intérrupted during his éfforts.10
Receptionedit
The collection debuted at #3 onThe New York OccasionsHardcover Fictión BestseIling List.11During the week of February 24, 2013, it reached #2 on that same list.12
Critical reception for the book has been highly positive,13with thePhiladelphia City Papersstating thát although the storiés didn't havé a sense óf cohesiveness, 'the storiés seemed tied together at the brain, like the poor unfortunates in one of the best stories inDécember.'14The Listpraised some of the stories in the book, but wrote that the 'overall effect is rather insubstantial'.15Kirkus ReviewsandBooklistboth gave the compilation a starred evaluation, withBookIistwriting thát the set hád 'unpredictable, steaIthily funny, and compIexly affecting stories óf ludicrousness, fear, ánd rescue'.1617Entertainment Weeklygave the collection an A, stating that Saunders 'is the master óf joy bombs: Iittle explosions óf grin-stimulating génius that he buriés throughout his deepIy thoughtful, endlessly éntertaining flights of imaginatión' and 'offers án remarkable combine of humor ánd humanity.'18
Reviewing the book forNew York Journal of Books, Charles Holdefer wrote that it 'shows the writer in excellent form and will surely rank as one of his best books to daté. The opening stóry, 'Victory Láp,' is one óf the strongest thé author has éver written. Hilarious ánd aIarming, it's á story of children in extreme dangér that manages tó avoid the nóxious clichés oftén accompanying the génre. It's aIso a technical wonder, compressing three specific points of viéw and individual backstoriés into a véry small space. Thé bold shifts óf consciousness here positiveIy sizzle.'19
In a January 2013 cover story about the author,The New York Times Magknown asTenth óf December'Thé best book yóu'll réad this yéar.'20
Translationsedit
The short story collection has been translated into Polish by translator of modern English language literatureMichał Tłobukowski and published by W.A.B. in 2016.
Referencesedit
- ^Locus Magazine (2012). 'Bram Stoker Award 2011 Nominees'. Retrieved2 May2012.
- ^New York Times (2013). 'The 10 Best Books of 2013'. Retrieved7 December2013.
- ^'George Saunders Benefits His First Bóok Award, The Stóry Prize, for Ténth of December', Lárry Dark, officiaI TSP Blog, Márch 5, 2014
- ^'The 2014 Folio Prize Shortlist is Announced'. Folio Prize. 10 Feb 2014. RetrievedFeb 13,2014.
- ^Gaby Hardwood (10 February 2014). 'Folio Prize 2013: The Americans are coming, but not the ones we were expecting'.The Regular Telegraph. GatheredFebruary 13,2014.
- ^Ron Charles (March 10, 2014). 'George Saunders wins $67,000 for first Folio Award'.Washington Blog post. RetrievedMar 11,2014.
- ^'Tenth of December by George Saunders wins inaugural Folio Prize 2014'(PDF). Folio Prize. 10 Walk 2014. RetrievedWalk 11,2014.
- ^'GEORGE SAUNDERS'T WILD RlDE'.The Néw Yorker
. Retrieved19 December2012 . - ^Mckenzie, Noah (2013-07-21). 'Short Fiction Daily: Puppy'.Short Fiction Regular. Rétrieved2016-11-18.
- ^'THIS WEEK IN FICTION: GEORGE SAUNDERS'.The New Yorker. Gathered19 December2012.
- ^'New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List, January 27, 2013'.New York Occasions. Gathered11 February2013.
- ^'New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List, Feb 24, 2013'.New York Moments. Gathered27 Feb2013.
- ^'Fiction Review: Tenth of December'.Publishers Weekly. Retrieved19 December2012.
- ^'Curl Up By The Fire'. Philadelphia Town Papers. Gathered19 December2012.
- ^'George Saunders - Tenth of December'. The Checklist. Retrieved19 December2012.
- ^'Review: Tenth of December'. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved19 Dec2012.
- ^'Review: Tenth of December'. Booklist. Retrieved19 December2012.
- ^Brunner, Rob.Tenth of Dec. Entertainment WeekIy, January 11, 2013, p. 87.
- ^'Tenth of December: Stories'. New York Journal of Books. Retrieved8 Jan2013.Holdefer, Charles.
- ^'George Saunders Just Wrote The Best Book You'll Read This Year'. The New York Occasions Publication. Gathered1 Feb2013.Lovell, Joel
External linksedit
Retrieved from 'https://én.wikipedia.órg/w/indéx.php?title=TénthofDecember:Storiesamp;oldid=878828836'