Review of Vigil By George Saunders
Climate Fiction meets buddhist philosophy
When Vigil begins, we meet the young, resolute spirit, Jill “Doll” Blaine, as she descends from the heavens. Her goal is simple; provide comfort to the dying in their last moments, and her latest “charge” (ethereal speak for client) is KJ Boone, a former oil tycoon. A man who even on his deathbed, manages to find ways to berate and harass anyone he deems inferior. At one point Boone leaves his wife in tears at his bedside and she exclaims “I finally understand how his employees feel”. But as much as Jill abhors this petulant little man, she takes her job as a spirit seriously, and is determined to provide him comfort in his final moments.
Initially we learn little of Jill, we’re only told that she was a devoted wife that died young. So young that she never had the opportunity to define her purpose, or experience life’s wonders. Yet as dispiriting as this is, she’s managed to find peace by settling into a fatalist philosophy. Her life and all the lives after her …
