Review | Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

ANGELA M.
It’s a beautiful and sad but a strangely told story, and the narrative is different from anything I’ve read … I thought it was a fascinating way to tell the story.

MICHIKO KAKUTANI, THE NEW YORK TIMES
A weird folk art diorama of a cemetery come to life.

GEORGE SAUNDERS, THE GUARDIAN
One of his great strengths is compassion, a quality that infuses his wilder conceits, making them land emotionally in a way that wouldn’t necessarily be true of another ludic postmodernist.

BOOKDRAGON SEAN
Just because something is new it does not necessarily mean it is entertaining to read or accessible for the reading public. I suppose this is the difference between high-brow and low-brow books.

LIZ
I really don’t do well with the avant garde.

BOOKDRAGON SEAN
Critically speaking, Saunders has written something rather special here, though is it actually enjoyable?

---

(OK. That was a lot harder than I thought. Kudos to Saunders for piecing together all those quotes into a cohesive-ish story.)

Lincoln in the Bardo tells the story of Willie Lincoln – the son of Abraham Lincoln – who has recently died, and finds himself in a ghostly in-between state: the bardo. He’s confronted with visits from his father and a hoard of rambling ghosts – each of them eager to tell their stories.

The heart of the story is the bond between a father and son — and, Saunders does this absolutely beautifully. Other themes – like memory, recall, voice, and perspective – are definitely there, but are secondary next to the love/grief of Willie and Lincoln. It leaves a powerful mark.

Bardo is a very interesting book for a number of reasons … with most of the critical interest directed toward its format. It’s written through a series of quotes, letters, notes, and script-esque dialogue … rambling snippets, tangents, and quickly-alternating perspectives. The style is wickedly postmodern. I imagine its the sort of book that my undergrad English profs would go absolutely ga-ga over.

As for me? I own a physical copy of the book, and found it super confusing to read. I opted for the audiobook through my library … which was also hard to follow, — there were times where I was just hearing random words — but I was able to get the gist. Rumour has it, the best strategy is to listen and read at the same time.

My primary critique is that the book rambles in the middle. It feels like Saunders originally wrote Bardo as a short story, then decided that it needed to become a novel – so stretched out the middle with chatter and tangents and distractions and a tacked-on historical/advocacy message. It left me underwhelmed and confused — which was possibly made worse by the fact that I have limited knowledge of American history*, so could have easily missed eggs and plot points.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book. Not happy, for sure — though, it’s obvious that this book isn’t meant to inspire happiness. I wouldn’t call it enjoyable either — it was hard work listening to this audiobook. Emotional? Yes – at times the story is utterly heart-wrenching. Experimental? No doubt. Valuable? Uncertain. There are works out there that raise Bardo’s themes in a more efficient way. (Look, I’m a scientist: clear, dull writing is king.) It likely made a mark in the literary world, though — now that it’s been done — I can’t see many more authors adopting this structure and style.

Maybe a better question: Would I recommend this book? – Depends on the person. I know people who would like a cerebral challenge like this … But if you’re looking for an easy, spooky, Buddhist-informed read, then check out a ghost story like Thin Air instead.

* England –> Tea –> Fighting –> No England –> ? More fighting ?

---

The Details:

• The Book: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
• Published: 2017, Random House
• My Copy: Personal copy / Library audiobook
• Read date: February 3-4, 2019
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• You should read this if you like … eerie books that make you think
• Avoid this if you dislike … postmodernist prose