New Releases by GEORGE SAUNDERS

Τι κάνει μια αφήγηση ενδιαφέρουσα, ενίοτε και συναρπαστική, αλλά και τι μας λένε κάποια διηγήματα των μεγάλων Ρώσων κλασικών για τον εαυτό μας και για τον κόσμο που μας περιβάλλει; O Τζορτζ Σόντερς, ένας από τους σημαντικότερους σύγχρονους Aμερικανούς πεζογράφους, παραδίδει τα τελευταία είκοσι χρόνια μαθήματα δημιουργικής γραφής στο Syracuse University. Στο Κολυμπώντας στη λιμνούλα υπό βροχήν μοιράζεται μαζί μας κάποιες από αυτές τις παραδόσεις, εμπλουτισμένες από επισημάνσεις και σχόλια φοιτητών του. Τα επτά (σχετικά σύντομα) δοκίμια που συνοδεύουν διηγήματα και νουβέλες των Τσέχοφ, Τουργκένιεφ, Τολστόι και Γκόγκολ αφορούν, προφανώς, όχι μόνον επίδοξους συγγραφείς, αλλά και οποιονδήποτε ενδιαφέρεται για τη λογοτεχνία, και ειδικότερα για το τι είναι αυτό που κάνει τον αναγνώστη να «μην μπορεί να αφήσει από τα χέρια του» ένα βιβλίο. Στο εισαγωγικό κείμενό του ο Σόντερς γράφει: «Θα εμβαθύνουμε σε επτά μικρογραφίες του κόσμου, με μεγάλη φροντίδα χτισμένες, που οι συγγραφείς τους ήθελαν να απαντούν, έστω και έμμεσα, σε κάποια από τα μεγάλα ερωτήματα τα οποία, ακόμα και αν η εποχή μας δεν τα θεωρεί εξίσου σημαντικά, δεν παύουν ωστόσο να αποτελούν τον σκοπό της τέχνης. Πώς πρέπει να ζούμε; Ποιος είναι ο προορισμός μας επί της γης; Τι είναι σημαντικό και τι όχι; Τι είναι αλήθεια και πώς μπορούμε να ξεχωρίζουμε την αλήθεια από το ψέμα; Πώς μπορούμε να μένουμε αδιάφοροι όταν κάποιοι τα έχουν όλα και κάποιοι άλλοι δεν έχουν τίποτα;». Εξετάζοντας τα επτά διηγήματα του βιβλίου εξονυχιστικά αλλά και με τρόπο απόλυτα κατανοητό και προσιτό στον αναγνώστη, ο Σόντερς όχι μόνο υποδεικνύει κάποια κλειδιά και μερικές τεχνικές που κάνουν μια αφήγηση πιο ενδιαφέρουσα, αλλά και «εκπαιδεύει» τον αναγνώστη πώς να απολαμβάνει τις κρυφές αρετές της λογοτεχνικής γραφής. Το Κολυμπώντας στη λιμνούλα υπό βροχήν, πολύτιμο εργαλείο για κάθε φίλο της λογοτεχνίας, φωτίζει καλύτερα τις σχέσεις ανάμεσα στις –ενίοτε όχι προφανείς με την πρώτη ματιά– αρετές ενός έργου μυθοπλασίας και στον αναγνώστη του.

Traditional Chinese edition of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life

Εννέα ιστορίες. Ιστορίες ανθρώπων. Κόρες, μητέρες, εγγόνια, έφηβοι, υπερήλικες· ήρωες άλλοτε δυστοπικοί και μακρινοί και άλλοτε υπερβολικά γνώριμοι μας παρασύρουν στις μικρές και μεγάλες τους ζωές που άλλοτε συνθλίβονται από απόγνωση, καταπίεση και βάναυσο ρεαλισμό και άλλοτε πλημμυρίζουν χαρά, γενναιοδωρία και ελπίδα. Έχοντας αποσπάσει διθυραμβικές κριτικές, ένα Booker και μια θέση στις λίστες των best sellers των NY Times, o δεξιοτέχνης της μικρής φόρμας George Saunders μας παραδίδει μια ανατρεπτική συλλογή αδιαμφισβήτητης μαεστρίας που διερευνά θέματα εξουσίας, ηθικής και δικαιοσύνης και εξετάζει σε συγκινητικό βάθος την ουσία της ανθρώπινης (συν)ύπαρξης. Μια διεισδυτική ματιά στην άβυσσο του αμερικανικού ψυχισμού. Μια γενναία σπουδή στον πολυπρισματικό χαρακτήρα της ανθρώπινης εμπειρίας.

Depois do premiado Lincoln no limbo, o mestre do conto contemporâneo está de volta com uma nova coleção de fantasias sombrias e narrativas cheias de humor e absurdo. Em Dia da libertação, George Saunders volta a empregar seu talento elástico para criar composições ficcionais incomuns. São nove textos de estilo e arranjo variados, que tratam de quem somos nós nesse mundo incompreensível em que vivemos. Tal os personagens deste livro, somos aqueles incapazes de perceber as construções sociais e familiares que nos obrigam a cumprir tarefas que nunca se completam, vivendo numa espécie de atuação permanente para uma suposta audiência que nunca chega. Somos também aqueles que, ao tentar fazer o que é certo, descobrem que a cada ação embrenha-se mais e mais numa cadeia de efeitos que só nos afasta da certeza e da correção. Vivemos num mundo onde as relações estão contaminadas pelo uso inescrupuloso e automatizado da linguagem, em que todos os dias se viola "mais uma norma de decoro" a ponto de não restar "nenhuma forma de indignação". Somos trabalhadores lobotomizados para a satisfação de uma "companhia", escravizados num parque de diversões, ou então temos nossas memórias apagadas e nos tornamos zumbis extremistas. Mas somos também mães e pais de família protetores, com histórias de trabalho, de traição, ganância e ciúmes. Ao percorrermos estes contos, Saunders nos faz sentir um prazer estranho, como o de "um fantoche que, apanhado no chão, desfruta das mãos que repentinamente o manipulam". Um livro desconcertante e libertador. "Num futuro próximo, um avô explica como os americanos perderam suas liberdades por meio de pequenas concessões a um governo autoritário. Pessoas vulneráveis sofrem lavagem cerebral e são reprogramadas como manifestantes políticos. Pobres são escravizados para entreter os ricos e forçados a recriar cenas da história americana. Nestes relatos poderosos e perspicazes, George Saunders evoca uma nação em declínio moral e espiritual, onde atos de bondade cintilam como luzes na escuridão." — Esquire

I "Befrielsedagen" fortsätter novellmästaren George Saunders att utmana och överraska läsaren med sin lekfulla dekonstruktion av värderingar, språk och genre. Det handlar om historieberättande och ansvar, om mod och medmänsklighet, och om det utsiktslösa men ändå nödvändiga motståndet mot makten. När verkligheten alltmer närmar sig dystopin lämnar Saunders berättelser ett djupare avtryck än någonsin. "Språkligt och berättartekniskt är Saunders en fröjd att läsa, och Niclas Nilssons översättning magnifik - ordval, stilnivå, allt sitter. Sammantaget går det inte att kalla Befrielsedagen för något annat än en av årets bästa, mest angelägna böcker." Sydsvenskan "Jag bönfaller er att läsa George Saunders. Han är en av världens skickligaste författare och jag försäkrar er - hans ord älskar er läsning." Norrbottens-Kuriren ”Saunders skriver så det både svänger och viner om texten ... Det hela är gripande utan att vara sentimentalt eller övertydligt, men också en mörbultande skräckfärd. Saunders cyniska och absurda versioner av framtiden känns trots allt som att de kryper allt närmare.” Sveriges Radio "Herregud, så bra han är, Saunders! Äntligen en bok som är angelägen! Och skriven på ett språk som etsar sig in hos läsaren." Västerbottens-Kuriren

Zorro 8 siempre ha sido el soñador de la manada, al que el resto de compañeros miran con desdén y por el que ponen los ojos en blanco. Hasta que un día consigue desarrollar una habilidad única: aprende a hablar «Umano» escuchando las historias que una madre cuenta a sus hijos antes de ir a dormir. El poder del lenguaje alimentará su curiosidad hacia ellos, incluso después de que la construcción de un «Centro Comerzial» cerca de la madriguera ponga en peligro la supervivencia de la manada y Zorro 8 se embarque en un peligroso viaje para salvar a los suyos. Escrita con mucha ternura, humor y una profunda convicción ética, y acompañada de las preciosas ilustraciones de Chelsea Cardinal, Zorro 8 es una carta de amor a los hombres y una llamada de atención a cuidar del medioambiente.

George Saunders is terug, met negen nieuwe verhalen zoals alleen hij die kan schrijven: geestig, vol empathie en buitengewoon origineel. Bevrijdingsdag is een bundel die zijn status als de meester van het korte verhaal meer dan bevestigt. ‘De beste verhalenschrijver van het Engelse taalgebied.’ – TIME ‘Lees het omdat elke nieuwe Saunders gelezen moet worden.’ – De Standaard ‘Deze Amerikaanse schrijver is gek en razend goed. Zijn fantasie kent geen grenzen.’ – NRC *****

Wie funktionieren gute Geschichten, wie schreibt man sie und was erzählen sie uns über unsere Welt: George Saunders führt den Leser durch sieben klassische Kurzgeschichten der russischen Meister Tschechow, Turgenjew, Tolstoi und Gogol, so wie er es zwanzig Jahre lang mit seinen Studenten im Creative-Writing-Programm machte. Und es ist unglaublich, wie unterhaltsam, witzig und erhellend Lernen bei George Saunders ist. Während er uns erklärt, wie Literatur funktioniert, fangen wir an, die Welt mit anderen Augen zu sehen, erkennen, dass gute Literatur moralische und ethische Vorstellungen beeinflussen, ja Leben verändern kann. Die Geschichten sind in voller Länge abgedruckt: Anton Tschechow, Auf dem Wagen, Herzchen, Die Stachelbeeren; Iwan Turgenjew, Die Sänger; Leo Tolstoi, Herr und Knecht, Aljoscha der Topf; Nikolai Gogol, Die Nase.

Bezlitosna diagnoza naszych czasów Eksperymenty na więźniach, skutki wojennej traumy, próba spisania własnej historii. Każdy z bohaterów George’a Saundersa to zwykły-niezwykły człowiek próbujący znaleźć własną drogę w osaczającej, lepkiej rzeczywistości. W 10 grudnia George Saunders pochyla się nad każdym ze swoich bohaterów, by snuć refleksję o słabości i sile, obojętności i zaangażowaniu, beznadziei i zaufaniu w świecie, w którym rządzi konsumpcjonizm, alienacja i zanik wartości. Saunders to niekwestionowany mistrz opowiadania – formy, w której zamyka wszystkie bolączki, rozterki i lęki, towarzyszące na co dzień człowiekowi w XXI wieku. 10 grudnia to jedna z dziesięciu najważniejszych książek dekady w USA, finalistka National Book Awards, Bestseller New York Times’a. George Saunders – jeden z najważniejszych współczesnych pisarzy amerykańskich, porównywany z Raymondem Chandlerem czy Markiem Twainem. Laureat wielu nagród literackich, m.in. Nagrody Bookera.

Porywająca eksplozja wyobraźni autora Lincolna w Bardo Tancerz erotyczny nawiedzany przez ducha zmarłej ze strachu ciotki, podejrzany coach udzielający światłych rad swoim wyznawcom, czy para neandertalczyków, zmuszanych do przejścia na wegetarianizm – na pozór zabawne opowieści pełne są wieloznaczności, niedopowiedzeń i zwrotów akcji. W Sielankach George Saunders pokazuje nam, że świat, w którym żyjemy, jest karykaturą – mogącą śmieszyć, ale budzącą podskórny lęk. Brawurowo łączy drobiazgowy realizm z groteską i niepodrabialnym poczuciem humoru Saunders buduje w mistrzowski sposób obraz człowieka zagubionego w meandrach XXI wieku. To proza hipnotyzująca, wwiercająca się w głąb myśli, niepozwalająca o sobie zapomnieć. Saunders opowiada dokładnie takie historie, jakich dziś potrzebujemy – Thomas Pynchon George Saunders – jeden z najważniejszych współczesnych pisarzy amerykańskich, porównywany z Raymondem Chandlerem czy Markiem Twainem. Laureat wielu nagród literackich, m.in. Nagrody Bookera.

The American Civil Liberties Union partners with award-winning authors Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman in this “forceful, beautifully written” (Associated Press) collection that brings together many of our greatest living writers, each contributing an original piece inspired by a historic ACLU case. On January 19, 1920, a small group of idealists and visionaries, including Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Roger Baldwin, and Crystal Eastman, founded the American Civil Liberties Union. A century after its creation, the ACLU remains the nation’s premier defender of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. In collaboration with the ACLU, authors Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman have curated an anthology of essays “full of struggle, emotion, fear, resilience, hope, and triumph” (Los Angeles Review of Books) about landmark cases in the organization’s one-hundred-year history. Fight of the Century takes you inside the trials and the stories that have shaped modern life. Some of the most prominent cases that the ACLU has been involved in—Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Miranda v. Arizona—need little introduction. Others you may never even have heard of, yet their outcomes quietly defined the world we live in now. Familiar or little-known, each case springs to vivid life in the hands of the acclaimed writers who dive into the history, narrate their personal experiences, and debate the questions at the heart of each issue. Hector Tobar introduces us to Ernesto Miranda, the felon whose wrongful conviction inspired the now-iconic Miranda rights—which the police would later read to the man suspected of killing him. Yaa Gyasi confronts the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, in which the ACLU submitted a friend of- the-court brief questioning why a nation that has sent men to the moon still has public schools so unequal that they may as well be on different planets. True to the ACLU’s spirit of principled dissent, Scott Turow offers a blistering critique of the ACLU’s stance on campaign finance. These powerful stories, along with essays from Neil Gaiman, Meg Wolitzer, Salman Rushdie, Ann Patchett, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Louise Erdrich, George Saunders, and many more, remind us that the issues the ACLU has engaged over the past one hundred years remain as vital as ever today, and that we can never take our liberties for granted. Chabon and Waldman are donating their advance to the ACLU and the contributors are forgoing payment.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves—and our world today. LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Time, San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Town & Country, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Thrillist, BookPage • “[A] worship song to writers and readers.”—Oprah Daily For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.

Trước khi mở cuốn tiểu thuyết đầu tay của George Saunders, hãy dọn sạch khỏi tâm trí tất cả những khái niệm bạn từng biết về tiểu thuyết. Hãy chuẩn bị cho một thứ cấu trúc và giọng kể phi truyền thống, có phần “thể nghiệm”, thường xuyên làm ta mất phương hướng, nhưng sau rốt lại khiến ta vô cùng thỏa mãn. Hãy cởi mở đón nhận, bạn sẽ không những quen với nó, mà còn trọn vẹn tận hưởng cách kể chuyện này. Năm 1862, nước Mỹ bắt đầu những ngày tháng đau đớn, chia rẽ, đẫm máu nhất của cuộc Nội chiến. Giữa bối cảnh u ám đó, Willie, con trai Abraham Lincoln, qua đời vì một cơn bạo bệnh. Báo chí tường thuật lại việc tổng thống đã vài lần quay lại hầm mộ, một mình, để ôm thi hài cậu con trai bé nhỏ. Bắt nguồn từ hạt mầm sự thật nhỏ nhoi đó, Saunders đã dệt nên một câu chuyện đầy cảm xúc về tình cảm gia đình và mất mát, phá vỡ cái khung lịch sử để bước vào địa hạt siêu nhiên vừa khôi hài vừa đáng sợ, khi Willie Lincoln thấy mình ở cõi “trung ấm” - nơi những linh hồn vật vờ không thể siêu thoát vì còn vấn vương cõi trần. Từ đây dồn dập hàng chục những giọng kể muôn dạng - cả sống lẫn chết, lịch sử lẫn hư cấu – để đặt ra một câu hỏi nền tảng bất diệt: Phải sống và yêu ra sao khi biết mọi thứ ta yêu rồi sẽ kết thúc? Lincoln ở cõi trung ấm là một kỳ công đáng kinh ngạc của trí tưởng tượng, một bước tiến táo bạo từ một trong những nhà văn quan trọng và có sức ảnh hưởng bậc nhất của thế hệ ông.

Fuchs 8 war immer schon neugierig und ein bisschen anders als die anderen Füchse seiner Gruppe. So hat er die menschliche Sprache gelernt, weil er sich gern in den Büschen vor den Häusern versteckte und zuhörte, wenn die Menschen ihren Kindern Gutenachtgeschichten vorlasen. Die Macht der Worte und Geschichten befeuert seine Neugier auf diese Wesen, bis Gefahr am Horizont auftaucht: Der Bau eines riesigen Einkaufszentrums zerstört den Wald, in dem die Füchse leben, und sie finden kaum noch Nahrung. Dem stets belächelten Tagträumer Fuchs 8 bleibt nur eines: Er beschließt, seine Fuchsfamilie zu retten, und macht sich auf den Weg zu den Menschen ...

Washington, nuit du 25 février 1862. Dans le paisible cimetière de Oak Hill, non loin de la Maison-Blanche, quelque chose se prépare... Un peu plus tôt ce même jour, on a enterré un petit garçon prénommé Willie, qui n’est autre que le fils du Président des États-Unis. Ce soir-là, Abraham Lincoln, dévasté de chagrin, s’échappe de son bureau pour venir se recueillir en secret sur la sépulture de son enfant. Il croit être seul – il ne l’est pas. Bientôt, des voix se font entendre, et voici que jaillit des caveaux tout un peuple d’âmes errantes, prises au piège entre deux mondes, dans une sorte de purgatoire (le fameux Bardo de la tradition tibétaine). L’arrivée du jeune Willie va déclencher parmi eux un immense charivari – une bataille épique, reflet d’outre-tombe de la guerre de Sécession qui, au même moment, menace de déchirer la nation américaine. Tour à tour inquiétants, hilarants, attendrissants, les spectres surgis de l’imagination de George Saunders nous offrent un spectacle inouï, qui tient de la farce beckettienne autant que de la tragédie shakespearienne. Magistral chef d’orchestre de ce choeur d’ombres baroques, George Saunders s’amuse à dynamiter tous les registres romanesques, pour mieux nous confronter aux plus profonds mystères de notre existence : qu’est-ce que la mort ? qu’est-ce que la vie ? qu’est-ce que l’amour ? et comment vivre, et aimer, quand nous savons que tout est voué au néant ?

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lincoln in the Bardo, a darkly comic short story about the unintended consequences unleashed by our quest to tame the natural world—featuring gorgeous black-and-white illustrations by Chelsea Cardinal. Fox 8 has always been known as the daydreamer in his pack, the one his fellow foxes regard with a knowing snort and a roll of the eyes. That is, until he develops a unique skill: He teaches himself to speak “Yuman” by hiding in the bushes outside a house and listening to children’s bedtime stories. The power of language fuels his abundant curiosity about people—even after “danjer” arrives in the form of a new shopping mall that cuts off his food supply, sending Fox 8 on a harrowing quest to help save his pack. Told with his distinctive blend of humor and pathos, Fox 8 showcases the extraordinary imaginative talents of George Saunders, whom The New York Times called “the writer for our time.”

Washington D.C., år 1862. Medan det amerikanska inbördeskriget härjar i landet ligger Abraham Lincolns elvaårige son Willie svårt sjuk i sin säng i Vita huset. På bara några dagar vinner sjukdomen över pojken och han är förlorad. Tidningarna rapporterar att president Lincoln, utom sig av sorg, upprepade gånger har setts återvända till kryptan på kyrkogården i Georgetown för att hålla sitt älskade barn i famnen. Så långt bekräftar historiska källor skeendet. Men i George Saunders händer bryter sig berättelsen om den sörjande fadern loss från historieböckerna och får eget liv i en kör av filosoferande, självömkande, grälsjuka röster. Den bortgångne Willie Lincoln finner sig fången i det som inom buddismen kallas bardo, övergången mellan liv och död – och han är inte ensam. Kyrkogården vimlar av förorättade, vilsekomna spöken som inte är klara med livet, och som tar alla chanser att göra sina röster hörda. Under en natt fylld av skrönor och dramatik utspelar sig en ödesdiger kamp om Willies själ mellan gravstenarna, och den privata tragedin får oväntade konsekvenser för det stora historiska skeendet. George Saunders första roman är en oförglömlig lek med form och konvenans, där det skrämmande på ett ögonblick kan vändas i burlesk komik och komiken i innerlig människokärlek. Saunders låter levande och döda, historiska och fiktiva röster komma till tals i en kalejdoskopisk skildring av ofantlig kärlek, ofattbar sorg och gränslös vänskap.

Ganhador do prestigioso Man Booker Prize 2017, Lincoln no limbo é uma narrativa original e emocionante. Em 1862, em meio à Guerra Civil Americana, morre, aos onze anos de idade, Willie Lincoln, filho do lendário presidente Abraham Lincoln. A tragédia leva a um luto desesperado o homem que daria fim à escravidão nos Estados Unidos. Eleito um dos melhores livros do século XXI pelo The New York Times. Com a morte do filho ainda na infância, Abraham Lincoln, o presidente mais importante da história da democracia, vê seu mundo desmoronar. Em plena Guerra Civil, Lincoln esquece o país em conflito para lamentar, no limite da loucura, a morte do filho. Noite após noite, dirige-se à capela do cemitério para abraçar o cadáver do jovem Willie. A partir desse acontecimento histórico, o escritor George Saunders rejeita as convenções literárias realistas e compõe uma narrativa passada no além — no limbo do título, ou melhor, no "bardo" do budismo tibetano, o estágio intermediário entre a morte e o renascimento. Lá, acompanhamos a jornada do jovem Willie, incapaz de aceitar que está morto. Um romance surpreendente, que reinventa o gênero de forma radical. Alternando registro metafísico e documentos históricos e sem medo de abraçar o experimentalismo, Saunders coloca em movimento questões existenciais, históricas e políticas e cria uma obra absolutamente única no cenário contemporâneo. "Nunca antes eu havia lido um romance desse jeito, em permanente estado de eletrização, com os olhos marejados e um nó na garganta do começo ao fim. Lincoln no limbo não dá trégua ao encanto do leitor. Uma preciosidade." — Bernardo Carvalho "Um livro que transforma a literatura tal como a conhecemos, que modifica nossa maneira de ler e de escrever. É uma história de fantasmas recontada com brilhantismo, uma narrativa sobre a fragilidade do ser humano e sobre tudo aquilo que está além deste mundo." — Lila Azam Zanganeh

Πώς ζούμε και πώς αγαπάμε, όταν ξέρουμε ότι όλα αυτά που μας νοιάζουν κάποια στιγμή θα πάψουν να υπάρχουν; Φεβρουάριος 1862. Ο Αμερικανικός Εμφύλιος μαίνεται, ενώ ο αγαπημένος εντεκάχρονος γιος του προέδρου Λίνκολν βρίσκεται βαριά άρρωστος και, παρά τις προβλέψεις για ανάρρωση, τελικά πεθαίνει. Στις 22 Φεβρουαρίου του 1862, δύο μέρες μετά τον θάνατό του, ο Γουίλι Λίνκολν κηδεύτηκε σε μαρμάρινη κρύπτη στο κοιμητήριο της Τζόρτζταουν. Εκείνο το βράδυ, ο Αβραάμ Λίνκολν φθάνει μόνος στο νεκροταφείο, θέλοντας να περάσει χρόνο με το άψυχο σώμα του γιου του. Κατά τη διάρκεια της νύχτας, τα φαντάσματα αυτών που έφυγαν πρόσφατα από τη ζωή και αυτών που έχουν πεθάνει, από καιρό, συνυπάρχουν· μια μνημειώδης μάχη πραγματοποιείται για την ψυχή του μικρού Γουίλι. Με έναυσμα αυτό το ιστορικό γεγονός, o George Saunders, αφηγείται μια αξέχαστη καλειδοσκοπική ιστορία για την οικογενειακή αγάπη, την απώλεια, αλλά και τις δυνάμεις του καλού και του κακού.

In februari 1862 wordt de jonge Willie Lincoln bijgezet op een begraafplaats in Washington. Die nacht bezoekt zijn rouwende vader, president Abraham Lincoln, de marmeren crypte. Nog een laatste keer wil hij tijd doorbrengen bij het lichaam van zijn zoon. Op dezelfde begraafplaats waren ook talloze geesten rond, mensen van allerlei allooi, die één ding gemeen hebben: ze kunnen nog geen afscheid van het leven nemen.

They were no ordinary soldiers. Their battlefields were behind enemy lines. They dropped silently from the sky, bringing messages of death and destruction. Lightly armed, unsupported by tanks and heavy artillery, they fought time after time against overwhelming odds—and won. This is the story of Arnhem, Bruneval, the Ardennes, Normandy, the crossing of the Rhine. It is the story of the Red Devils, the most heroic band of daredevils any war has ever produced. This is the story of the Parachute Regiment, of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men, drawn from almost every unit of the British Army, who volunteered to reach the field of battle by a novel and unique method. They were the first to wear the Red Beret, and to earn for themselves the name of the ‘Red Devils’, bestowed upon them in North Africa by an enemy who had good cause to fear their prowess. They were not, however, the only members of the British Army to wear this distinguished headgear. Those who dropped with them belonging to the Royal Engineers, the Royal Artillery, the Royal Corps of Signals, the Royal Army Service Corps and the Royal Army Medical Corps and those who went to battle in gliders also wore it and added lustre to its fame. Their story will, I hope, one day be told, when the facts have been collected and are available.

This is an astonishing, absolutely absorbing account of the accomplishments of those picked men from the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force, who work with U.S. Rangers and others of the United Nations in what is known officially as Combined Operations—or, more popularly, the Commandos. So far as possible, without giving aid to the enemy, it is the complete story of the Commandos since the very beginning of their activities, commencing with the experimental attacks on Norwegian islands, and proceeding with more ambitious attempts on the Continent. In quick succession follow highly dramatic accounts of the assault on southern Italy, the evacuation of Crete, the defeat of the French in Syria, the daring penetration of the enemy’s line in Libya—culminating in the suspenseful stalking of Rommel’s headquarters—the assault on St. Nazaire, the capture of Madagascar, the Dieppe raid, the invasion of North Africa. The book is utterly without heroics, and yet is all heroism. The reader marvels at the terrible efficiency, the terrible simplicity, the terrible courage and the awesome nonchalance of the British Royal Navy and Army and R.A.F. men who participate in these raids. The author has the true narrator’s gift—a style which is direct, authentic, episodic in a high degree, and stirring from beginning to end. The inspiring scenes he describes keep recurring to the reader long after the book has been laid aside.

“I am not worried about the fighting. I know you’re fairly bloody-minded. But I want to speak of discipline during the battle.” “You must get ashore, if you have to swim, and I hope some of you will return as you’ll be very useful for the next show.” The words of a Commando officer to his men before they stormed the beaches of Sicily under heavy machine-gun fire sum up the swashbuckling, devil-may-care spirit of the toughest fighting men produced—the Commandos. For their raids and battles far behind enemy lines in France, North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Burma the men in the Green Beret have become a legend. This book shows how this legend was forged.

”George Saunders har skrivit den bästa boken du kommer att läsa i år”, deklarerade New York Times söndagsmagasin på sin förstasida när Tionde december kom ut i USA. Den djärva rubriken följdes av kritikerhyllningar, topplaceringar på bästsäljarlistorna och litterära utmärkelser som Folio Prize and Story Prize. De tio novellerna i Tionde december beskriver en urflippad men igenkännbar samtid: avtrubbande kontorsmiljöer, statusstress och livscoachplattityder dragna till sin spets. Samtidigt lyfter Saunders moralfilosofiska frågor om civilkurage och ansvar; vid sidan av hans karakteristiska satir och skruvade science fiction-influenser finns ett modigt stråk av medkänsla. Som i novellen ”Ärevarv”, där en tonårskille står vid köksfönstret och ser tjejen i grannhuset bli kidnappad, och kämpar mot instinkten att gå in på sitt rum och låtsas som ingenting. Tionde december är stilistiskt innovativ, originell, smart, svart och rolig – och den förskjuter gränserna för läsarens föreställningsvärld. Efter att i åratal ha varit en hemlig favorit med fans som författarna Zadie Smith och Junot Díaz introduceras nu George Saunders på svenska med boken som blivit hans stora internationella genombrott.