February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy's body. From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins a story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, …
February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy's body. From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins a story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state -- called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo -- a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.
The nation has started to realize it is going to be involved in a protracted, violent conflict as the fighting has intensified. As this is going on, Willie, the president's adored eleven-year-old son, is critically ill and resting upstairs in the White House. Willie passes away in a few days, defying expectations that he will recover, and is buried in a Georgetown cemetery. The president remarks at the time, "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth." "God has called him home." I also review this book on other book publishing platforms too.
I've seen some folks claim this book felt like reading (or listening to) a school stage play, and while I find that comparison unkind, I can't deny there's a grain of truth to it. I'm inclined to say there's something rather Beckett-ish about it (though maybe there's a better comparison; I'm not well versed in live theater), but in my most recent relisten, I found that an endearing trait. The purple-ish prose of our myriad narrators works well if you imagine them as actors on a stage, speaking to the audience while the actions they describe are performed behind them. The ethereal (ha) quality of their descriptions, and even of the historical interludes (and isn't it telling that their perceptions of reality are no less varied than those of the ghosts) works so well as 'detached' narrators.
All in all, I loved this reread, and look forward to enticing my …
I've seen some folks claim this book felt like reading (or listening to) a school stage play, and while I find that comparison unkind, I can't deny there's a grain of truth to it. I'm inclined to say there's something rather Beckett-ish about it (though maybe there's a better comparison; I'm not well versed in live theater), but in my most recent relisten, I found that an endearing trait. The purple-ish prose of our myriad narrators works well if you imagine them as actors on a stage, speaking to the audience while the actions they describe are performed behind them. The ethereal (ha) quality of their descriptions, and even of the historical interludes (and isn't it telling that their perceptions of reality are no less varied than those of the ghosts) works so well as 'detached' narrators.
All in all, I loved this reread, and look forward to enticing my friends to join me in yet another.
Review of 'Lincoln in the Bardo: WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Notes:
- the eponymous Lincoln is not President Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America, but his son, William Wallace 'Willy' Lincoln, who died of typhoid fever on February 20, 1862, aged 11. - In some schools of Buddhism, bardo or antarābhava is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth.
Grief makes the best of us act in the strangest of ways. When young Willy fell ill and subsequently passed away due to typhoid, a deep change was wrought in his father, President 'Abe' Lincoln, and we thought he would never be the same again.
In "Free Willy", by Peter Beckett
"Do you believe in life after death?", my son asked me. "Will Willy Lincoln go to Heaven?" To these questions, I have no answer, being of a rather stolid disposition towards these matters. Oh, I go to church, same as everybody …
Notes:
- the eponymous Lincoln is not President Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America, but his son, William Wallace 'Willy' Lincoln, who died of typhoid fever on February 20, 1862, aged 11. - In some schools of Buddhism, bardo or antarābhava is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth.
Grief makes the best of us act in the strangest of ways. When young Willy fell ill and subsequently passed away due to typhoid, a deep change was wrought in his father, President 'Abe' Lincoln, and we thought he would never be the same again.
In "Free Willy", by Peter Beckett
"Do you believe in life after death?", my son asked me. "Will Willy Lincoln go to Heaven?" To these questions, I have no answer, being of a rather stolid disposition towards these matters. Oh, I go to church, same as everybody else, but that is as far as I go.
In "Some things you cannot answer", by Marie Louis
Why not a half-way house, innit? S'long as you're dead, why choose either Heaven or Hell? S'not as if you is being pulled to either - you go as you like, and if neither is fer you, you square yerself and say, "right, well, I'll be hangin' here fer as long as I needs to make up me mind."
In "Graveyard Shift: Philosophical ramblings of a Former Alcoholic", by L.S. Chutzpah
This was a difficult book to get through, not least because of literature of the kind mentioned above (all citations mentioned in this review are fictitious), which put me in mind of academic papers and work, but because the story was a confused mess of different narratives and viewpoints, which coddywompled towards a vague ending. The three stars are for the writing itself, but all said and done, I did not enjoy the story, and the enjoyment of any book is, to my mind at least, paramount.
I mean, I'm sure this is a lovely book, but as an audiobooks it falls through entirely. From the very beginning, and therefore hardly a spoiler, the author uses a lot of citations from period writings, and this probably meshes beautifully when written. In the audiobook, it's jarring and disorienting whenever these come up, because you're unsure of who's talking, where it comes in the sequence of events, and how long these continue for. Like is the person who's talking now someone in the plot, or a reference for mood-building? The published splurged on great voice actors, but it doesn't save this from being a terrible audiobook (but at least not because of the voice actors).
It’s weird how ghost stories can be so hit-or-miss. Why did [b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531295292l/2213661.SY75.jpg|2219449] work for me but not this one, despite so many similar elements (child in graveyard, protective ghosts, themes of compassion and reflection)? Part of it is the narrative style, which I found tedious; but I think what annoyed me most is the triteness of the backdrop. The ghosts here are uninteresting extensions of their mortal selves, with the same appetites and moods despite not having bodies or pulses or vagus nerves or any of the countless physical aspects of consciousness. The gimmick is (very minor spoiler) that they’re in denial about being dead, and once they accept their death, poof, they disappear, presumably moving on to some ultimate celestial reward... but nope, that just seems silly to me. It smacks of wishful thinking, the same sort of dullness that makes …
It’s weird how ghost stories can be so hit-or-miss. Why did [b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531295292l/2213661.SY75.jpg|2219449] work for me but not this one, despite so many similar elements (child in graveyard, protective ghosts, themes of compassion and reflection)? Part of it is the narrative style, which I found tedious; but I think what annoyed me most is the triteness of the backdrop. The ghosts here are uninteresting extensions of their mortal selves, with the same appetites and moods despite not having bodies or pulses or vagus nerves or any of the countless physical aspects of consciousness. The gimmick is (very minor spoiler) that they’re in denial about being dead, and once they accept their death, poof, they disappear, presumably moving on to some ultimate celestial reward... but nope, that just seems silly to me. It smacks of wishful thinking, the same sort of dullness that makes some people believe in heaven and afterlife. And the obvious problem with the poof thing, of course, is: WTF? Just how many stages are there? Is it just turtles all the way down? The question of consciousness is a truly mind-boggling one; this sort of treatment is unsatisfying.
The second half is better than the first. There were parts I loved, in particular, the way Saunders depicts Lincoln’s grief over his son’s death and over the senseless suffering of war, ... oof. Unique and effective. The contrasting descriptions of his “ugliness.” I find myself with a much greater appreciation for Lincoln as a person and as President.
read this for a seminar about the Booker Prize, and while it was one of the more readable winners, the story itself is only okay although Saunders does some interesting things pertaining to form and the concept of liminality. if you're looking for a captivating tale about life, death, and whatever is in-between, i'd go somewhere else. the white americans in my seminar seemed to really love this book though, so perhaps if you find yourself identifying with that general profile you might really enjoy it.
4 stars for the text only. The most important thing I can say about this book is DO NOT LISTEN TO IT AS AN AUDIOBOOK. It’s written in the style of a play, with quotes, but the audiobook narrators read every speaker’s name, with every single line, and it’s impossible to listen to. The text, however, is incredibly creative in both structure and plot. It kept taking surprising turns as it wove together historical facts with a magical ghost story, while imparting important knowledge about what it means to be human.
An outstanding work and, perhaps, my favorite of the year thus far. Listening to this through Audible made the experience absolutely incredible, emotional, and deep. Audible hired around 166 voice actors to turn this work of experimental fiction into something akin to a play. Highly recommended for those willing to try something a little different. Also, I would say if you enjoyed "Stranger Things" on Netflix you would probably love this book because, in some sense, the "Bardo" functions in ways similar to the "Upside Down" in that both are superimposed on familiar landscapes and interestingly intertwined and yet mostly separated from our world.
I enjoyed the hell out of this book. I quite enjoy saying that a book was unlike any other book I've read, and it never gets old, and this was one such.
There are 5 bardos in Tibetan buddhism, and this book deals with the immediate aftermath of death, the leftover consciousness that ties someone to the earth. The focus is Lincoln's 10 year old beloved son Willie, who died in the first years of the civil war. It is primarily narrated by 2 ghosts, one who commited suicide as a teenager after being scorned by his gay lover, and the other a middle-aged man married to a young woman and killed before he could consummate (leaving him with a permanent and hilarious raging boner in the afterlife). The life stories and regrets of the ghosts are interspersed with non-fiction snippets about Lincoln. An amazing book about mortality and grief, full of gorgeous passages that I want to read over and over again.
An ingenious and deeply moving philosophical fantasy reminiscent of the Spoon River Anthology and centered around one of America's great characters, Abraham Lincoln.
Review of 'Lincoln in the Bardo: WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
George Saunders’ long awaited debut novel has been surrounded by hype, and winning the Man Booker prize only helped to launch this book. Saunders is probably best known for his short stories that often share a vibe similar to the television show Black Mirror. I even called his last collection Tenth of December “contemporary witty, with an element of darkness”. Even comparing it to two other great collections that were released about the same time, Black Vodka by Deborah Levy and Revenge by Yōko Ogawa. Lincoln in the Bardo tells the story of Abraham Lincoln in 1862. The Civil War has been raging for almost a year while the President’s eleven year old son lies in bed gravely ill. Despite the predictions of a full recovery, Willie dies and his body is laid to read in a Georgetown cemetery.
Blending historical data collected while researching this novel, George Saunders blends …
George Saunders’ long awaited debut novel has been surrounded by hype, and winning the Man Booker prize only helped to launch this book. Saunders is probably best known for his short stories that often share a vibe similar to the television show Black Mirror. I even called his last collection Tenth of December “contemporary witty, with an element of darkness”. Even comparing it to two other great collections that were released about the same time, Black Vodka by Deborah Levy and Revenge by Yōko Ogawa. Lincoln in the Bardo tells the story of Abraham Lincoln in 1862. The Civil War has been raging for almost a year while the President’s eleven year old son lies in bed gravely ill. Despite the predictions of a full recovery, Willie dies and his body is laid to read in a Georgetown cemetery.
Blending historical data collected while researching this novel, George Saunders blends in a narrative of the afterlife and grief. While the title suggest that Willie Lincoln is in the bardo, the narrative seems to fit more with purgatory. In some schools of Buddhism, bardo is known as the state of existence between death and rebirth, while purgatory is a state of purification before heading to heaven. This distinction is interesting as the characters in this limbo often are unwilling to let go of their physical remains and complete their journey into the afterlife. These characters are often faced with deformities representative of their mortal failures. Saunders does consider himself a student of Nyingma Buddhism but my understanding of theology is primarily Christian, so I tend to interpret the writing with that thought in mind.
The other part of this novel is set around the President and his family as they grieve the loss of Willie. It is here we see a lot of the historical documentation come into play. This includes excerpts from newspapers and biographies. This serves to drive the narrative of grief but also highlights the inconsistencies found in history. What made this book so appealing was the confliction in Abraham Lincoln. While grieving the loss of his own son, he was still responsible for the loss of so many others because of the Civil War. While the American Civil war may have led to many good things, the effects of war were truly felt throughout Lincoln in the Bardo.
The novel is told through different speeches; a narrative that closely resembles a play. This is what makes the audiobook such an alluring option. The publisher put a lot of effort in producing, with a cast of 166 voice actors, including Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Rainn Wilson, Susan Sarandon and George Saunders. I was worried that between the narrative style and the large cast, this would be too much of a gimmick but I think Saunders and the audiobook production managed to never go overboard. However I can understand why this would not work for some readers.
The end result of Lincoln in the Bardo was a dark comedy, ghost story and while I was a little worried (because of all the hype) I am glad my book club made me read this novel. At the moment I prefer George Saunders’ short stories but I can only compare Lincoln in the Bardo with Tenth of December. It does make me curious to try CivilWarLand in Bad Decline or Pastoralia. I know in the future Saunders will continue to be surrounded by hype but I am still interested to see what is next for this author.
