One of my January reads came about after I signed up to an online Guardian Book Club with George Saunders. I had not heard of George before signing up for it, but it was a gamble well worth taking. Not only was the book, Lincoln in the Bardo, an interesting (if not strange) read, but George was an amazing character to be the center of attention. He was likeable, interesting, and engaging. I could have listened to him for much longer than we had.
About Lincoln in the Bardo
“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 returned to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy’s body.
From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling, 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.”
My thoughts on the book
Lincoln in the Bardo is one of those books that you can’t possibly get into, understand, and enjoy within the first few chapters. I’ll be honest, I was entirely confused for the first, say third, of the book. Then, suddenly, it clicked. It started to make sense and I started to enjoy it. By the time I finished it, the book probably sits alongside Susannah Clarke’s Piranesi in regards to enjoyability and strangeness.
During the book club talk, George mentioned that there are over 160 unique voices that appear in the story. A feat I imagine wasn’t easy to execute, however, he admitted that he just ‘let them talk’. There is one particular character in the book who did something in his life that wasn’t good but his story is never told – George admits that the character’s story didn’t want to be told.
Overall, Lincoln in the Bardo is an exhilarating read, albeit difficult. I am definitely interested in reading more by George.
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I often give up if I’m not getting the plot. But this sounds well worth a read. Thanks for the review.
It’s definitely worth sticking with it!
thanks so much for this review , i wasin two minds about buying this book myself , but now i know i might struggle a bit with getting though it kind regards Pati Robins @ Style Squeeze blog
It’s definitely worth giving it a shot, and sticking with it if you don’t initially understand what’s happening
Honest review. Sometimes I can get discouraged by books that take a while to get into but it’s surprising that they can be the ones that grip you in the end. If you stick to it that is lol.
Yes, I agree, it’s sticking with it that’s often the problem.
That’s cool that you’ve joined a book club, and this is an interesting sounding book to start off with. Although I struggle if I can’t get into a book in the first few chapters as it doesn’t make me want to rush and read it x
I usually end up enjoying a book more if I find it difficult to get into. 🙂
This sounds like an intriguing read. I love reads that, although sometimes a little difficult to get into, keep you reading and guessing and actually turn out to be quite enjoyable.
Sounds like such an intriguing story, but why was the uptake so slow and confusing?
Lincoln in the Bardo sounds like an interesting book indeed. I hope to get my hands on a copy to see what it is all about and it I would enjoy reading this myself
This post has inspired me to read more books. I think joining a book club is a great idea. I’ll have to ass that to my to-do list