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cryingalot49's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
cinnamonmarti's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
This collection of short stories is compelling and well-crafted, maybe too convoluted or frustrating at times. The author has a very distinctive voice, but the change of writing style between one tale and the other was disorienting to me. Especially when you add in the multiple POVs and stream of consciousness.
I was especially captivated by Escape from Spiderhead, The Semplica Girl Diaries and My Chivalric Fiasco. The recurring theme of helping a stranger really struck a cord in me, even if most of these stories were so bleak.
I was especially captivated by Escape from Spiderhead, The Semplica Girl Diaries and My Chivalric Fiasco. The recurring theme of helping a stranger really struck a cord in me, even if most of these stories were so bleak.
awwcripes's review against another edition
3.0
DNF---Maybe just not the right time to plow through two short story collections. Machine of Death much more engaging right now. Had to force myself to pick this up each time; putting back on shelf until for now.
Edit 10/20/14
Finished. Not too bad. I really don't like short stories so why do I keep trying.
Edit 10/20/14
Finished. Not too bad. I really don't like short stories so why do I keep trying.
beckylbrydon's review against another edition
5.0
I read this after a housemate recommended it, having read it for an essay, during a discussion on the relationship of post-human depictions in fiction and dystopian settings. In Escape from Spiderhead , criminals have the opportunity to serve their sentences by opting to be experiment subjects. This takes place in the form of various drugs pumped into their circulation, for which they have to acknowledge. These drugs include being able to make users much more eloquent in their speech, of lowering inhibitions, of creating and removing emotions. The short story focuses on Jeff as he reluctantly takes part in a new experiment, the testing of a new drug combination that can incite deep romantic love followed by completely removing it and returning the users to ‘baseline’, as if they had never been in love at all. The experiment is designed and carried out by Abnesti as he seeks to prove that the “love” the participants feel is truly temporary, going so far as threatening and giving a drug which fills users with overwhelming despair.
Through Jeff’s eyes and experiences, Escape from Spiderhead acts as an examination of morals and ethics. Abnesti portrays a utilitarianism view of their experiment, choosing to focus on the end goal of “most amount of benefit for the most people”, while Jeff portrays the deontological view as the unwilling volunteer of “is what is happening/about to happen right?” In a situation that almost emulates the boat scene from The Dark Knight in which the Joker plays his social experiment, the two views and the values each person puts on human life, no matter the history, are tested through how and why they react the way they do. In doing so, Escape from Spiderhead also forces the reader to confront where they lay the responsibilities of their actions; do we take it on ourselves even if someone else is pulling our strings, or do we put it on someone/something else as we pull the strings of others.
A beautifully disturbing short story, which gives the reader so much to think about while truly making us sympathetic for Jeff. In particular, the ending monologue by Jeff leaves the reader reeling as in his own personal eloquence he examines the decisions he has made as well as those of his fellow criminals, and where he finally receives the unspoken wish that is an undercurrent in his narration - freedom.
Through Jeff’s eyes and experiences, Escape from Spiderhead acts as an examination of morals and ethics. Abnesti portrays a utilitarianism view of their experiment, choosing to focus on the end goal of “most amount of benefit for the most people”, while Jeff portrays the deontological view as the unwilling volunteer of “is what is happening/about to happen right?” In a situation that almost emulates the boat scene from The Dark Knight in which the Joker plays his social experiment, the two views and the values each person puts on human life, no matter the history, are tested through how and why they react the way they do. In doing so, Escape from Spiderhead also forces the reader to confront where they lay the responsibilities of their actions; do we take it on ourselves even if someone else is pulling our strings, or do we put it on someone/something else as we pull the strings of others.
A beautifully disturbing short story, which gives the reader so much to think about while truly making us sympathetic for Jeff. In particular, the ending monologue by Jeff leaves the reader reeling as in his own personal eloquence he examines the decisions he has made as well as those of his fellow criminals, and where he finally receives the unspoken wish that is an undercurrent in his narration - freedom.
mrs_bonaventure's review against another edition
3.0
I found this both deeply moving in places and at the same time, quite disturbing. I guess it’s meant to be, it’s certainly provocative and made me think .. but the dystopian tone kept getting to me. Death is very close in all the stories.
timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing. Disturbing. The voices and ideas in each of these stories were so impressively crafted and will stay with me, but I'm glad they were short stories because each was really quite uncomfortable in its own way.
annalisenak97's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am not usually a short story fan, but every one of these stories shocked me with how delightful, unsettling, strange, and joyful it was. A big theme in this collection was the beauty and strangeness of the mundane world, the simplicity and tragic drama of each moment. I just don't even know what else to say, Saunders' writing is so surprising, and I shouldn't be surprised by that! Never underestimate George Saunders is the moral of the story.
calih's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0