BOOKS: The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, George Saunders (2005)

Saunders' little fable is a study in tone, so let me quote the first few paragraphs to give you a sense of it:

It's one thing to be a small country, but the country of Inner Horner was so small only one Inner Hornerite at a time could fit inside, and the other six Inner Hornerites had to wait their turns to live in their own country while standing very timidly in the surrounding country of Outer Horner.

Whenever the Outer Hornerites looked at the hangdog Inner Hornerites crammed into the Short-Term Residency Zone, they felt a little sick, and also very patriotic. Inner Hornerites were pathetic and whiny and grasping, unlike them, the Outer Hornerites, who for many years had been demonstrating their tremendous generosity by allowing the Inner Hornerites to overflow into the Short-Term Residency Zone. Not that the Inner Hornerites appreciated it. No, they never wept with gratitude anymore, only stood very close together, glaring resentfully at the Outer Hornerites, who, having so much room, had no need to stand close together, and in fact could often be seen drinking coffee at the spacious Outer Horner Cafe with their legs thrown out in the aisles, causing the
Inner Hornerites to wonder: Jeez, couldn't those jerks spare us a couple hundred extra spare yards of that vast unlimited country?

For their part, the Outer Hornerites felt that, yes, okay, their country was big, but it wasn't infinitely big, which meant they might someday concievably run out of room. Besides, what if they gave more of their beloved country to Inner Horner and some other crummy little countries came around demanding more of Outer Horner? What would happen to the Outer Horner way of life, which was so comfortable and afforded them such super dignity and required so much space? Well, those Inner Hornerites could take a flying leap if they considered Outer Hornerites selfish, it was pretty nervy to call someone selfish while standing on land they were letting you use for free.

That's the setup, and Saunders quickly sets his plot in motion as Inner Horner suddenly shrinks, becoming so small that none of the Inner Hornerites can fit into it, and since the Short-Term Residency Zone is too small to hold all seven of them, an Inner Hornerite is forced to step outside the Zone into Outer Horner. This is not well received by the Outer Horner Border Guard and Militia, or by Phil, the guy who happens to be sitting at the cafe enjoying his coffee at the moment of the shirinkage.

Phil eventually takes control of the situation, and he is precisely the wrong man for the job. Jingoistic and chauvinistic at his best, Phil also has the unfortunate tendency to literally lose his brain when he gets excited, as it goes sliding off his head (Saunders' characters aren't exactly human).

There's a tricky balancing act happening here. There's just enough bite in those opening paragraphs to keep them from being too precious for words; as the story gets darker and darker, the balance shifts, and the whimsy becomes the counterbalance that keeps the story from getting too dark to bear (it is ultimately, after all, a story about attempted genocide).

Saunders wimps out a bit at the end; there's a literal deus ex machina to provide a happier ending than the preceding events should allow. But aside from the last few pages, this is a marvel of precisely controlled writing, evoking horror and chuckles in equal measure.