Book Review: Pastoralia by George Saunders

Pastoralia by George Saunders -- Goodreads Page || Powell's || Amazon

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Recommended for: Fans of adult contemporary literature, satire, Groening, or for those who enjoy a little dash of salt in their reading

Book CW: Explicit language, depictions of gore, death, bigotry (ableism, sexism, racist slurs)

Pastoralia collects six of Saunders' short works--including title novella Pastoralia--to portray a cynical American landscape. Swift and evocative, from the religious overtones in Winky to the brutal honesty of Sea Oak to the stumbling growth in The Barber's Unhappiness, Saunders' works form a cohesive collection that weaponizes smart satire to leave readers breathless. A fast and fascinating read, Pastoralia is a must-read for lovers of America's contemporary literature.

I'm not entirely sure why this book made it home with me--other than my heart being much cleverer than my wallet when in bookstores, talking me into questionable-at-the-time purchases--but I'm grateful it did. I've not read Lincoln in the Bardo yet, Saunders' experimental novel that enthralled readers upon its 2017 release, so for any established Saunders fans, please forgive me: this is the first book of his I've had the pleasure to dive into.

The only story I'd read from this collection beforehand was Sea Oak. Nestled comfortably in the middle of this eclectic collection, Sea Oak describes a surprise resurrection gone horrifically wrong. Interestingly, my second read of this story has left a much stronger impression than the first--I expect that as I get older, the weight of the truth that Sea Oak (and some of these other stories) flaunts will only get heavier.

Saunders' satirical gift makes the reader uncomfortably and acutely aware of how honest these stories are. They pull no punches. To call these stories "near-future" is almost insulting to their stinging realism. There's no glamour in this book, but there is a lot of human nature: complete with its flaws, its bruises, and sometimes, its faint flickers of hope. Like most (dare I say, all) collections, there are stories here that hit me harder than others. Winky, Sea Oak, and The Falls left me reeling and thinking about them for hours.

What these stories do well, they do well. However, they don't do much else. The characterizations, narrative voice, and style have limited variation--bringing an element of cohesion, but at the cost of muddling the stories. And while the prose works beautifully for the stories being told, it's not a style that I personally enjoyed. The characters are timid and generally unlikable, and while I enjoy unlikable characters, it does get tedious after six stories and weakens Saunders' already nuanced criticisms of American systems.

However, Pastoralia gets bonus points because the type (at least in the edition I own) is beautiful.

Ultimately, Pastoralia is a fast and powerful read, and I highly recommend it. I'm not sure I'll ever sit down and read it through again, but I'll certainly be thinking about some of these stories for a damn long time.

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