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The New Yorker, the premier destination for short stories, has given lovers of the form a great summer gift through opening up the archives of ninety years of short stories by posting every week more of the best of their stories. I am not yet sure exactly how this will work but yesterday I was able to read a short story by Roberto Bolano, "Clara" and today I read my first work by George Saunders.
"Jon" is a dystopia whose great great grandfather is Aldous Huxley. It opens in some sort of youth education center where children are encouraged to fondle their own sexual organs as much as they like. We don't learn what has happened to the old world but there are refrences to MTV, mom baking an apple pie, Lysol and such so we know it is set in America. The center seems designed to produce happy workers.
Girls and boys live in proximity in units separated by Velcro. One night our central character slips into the container of the girl next door and she ends up pregnant. At first he fears he will be in trouble but the pregnancy seems welcomed by the authorities. They get a joint dwelling.
Part of the fun of this story is trying to figure what is really going on, filtered through the brainwashed perceptions of the young narrator.
I greatly enjoyed this story and will, I hope, read many more stories by George Saunders.
newyorker.com
Mel
1 comment:
I would recommend just about everything written by Saunders. His short story 'Red Bow' and the novella 'The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil' are potent political commentaries on our troubled times.
His latest short story collection 'Tenth of December' is the best I have read in the last few years.
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