Vigil
By George Saunders ★★★★★★★★½☆ 8.5/10 ""I scanned for doubts regarding things he had done ir keft undone; things he might have said but had not; mistakes to which he had not yet fully admitted, any of which might keep him from attaining th..."
By George Saunders
★★★★★★★★½☆ 8.5/10
174 pages
What’s it about?
J.K. Boone was a powerful man in the oil industry. But J.K. Boone is on his deathbed, and not everyone is happy with the way he lived his life. Jill "Doll" Blaine has found herself at his bedside in order to comfort him and ease him into the afterlife. She has done this many times, but J.K. Boone may be her toughest assignment yet.
What did it make me think about?
The mystery of that space between life and death.
Should I read it?
I guess George Saunders is an author you either love or avoid. I found "Lincoln in the Bardo" to be such a different reading experience- but I really appreciated it by the end. This novel was much the same. I found that if I just kept reading and let the story just wash over me, it was a much better reading experience. This short book has some really unique characters who are all heading for a reckoning. Doesn't that make for an interesting story? So many great questions to be asked after reading this book. How much choice do we have in our actions? "Who else would you have been but exactly who you are? I said. Did you, in the womb, construct yourself? All your life you believed yourself to be making choices, but what looked like choices were severely delimited in advance by your mind, body, and disposition thrust upon you that the whole game amounted to a sort of lavish jailing." Hmmmm... so many thoughts in this book that could be debated. Luckily, I am discussing this with some really thoughtful readers in a couple of weeks, and I am sure I will glean much more from that discussion. So much to think about in these short 174 pages... I liked this book much more than I thought I would. I encourage you all to read this one, and then make sure to talk about it.
A passage I marked
"Within him abided a formidable stubbornness. A steady flow of satisfaction, even triumph, coursed through him, regarding all he had managed to do, see, cause, and create, especially given his humble origins.
I scanned for doubts regarding things he had done or left undone; things he might have said but had not; mistakes to which he had not yet fully admitted, any of which might keep him from attaining that state of total peace so to be desired at this juncture.
And found nothing or nearly nothing.
He was as sure of himself as ever a charge of mine had been."
