George Saunders

A Novel

Lincoln in the Bardo

roman

Lincoln i bardo

Abraham Lincoln’s thoughts kneeling beside his dead child. (Fictional)

Zeke Taylor

I was in error when I saw him as fixed and stable and thought I would have him forever. He was never fixed, nor stable, but always just a passing, temporary energy-burst. I had reason to know this. Had he not looked this way at birth, that way at four, another way at seven, been made entirely anew at nine? He had never stayed the same, even instant to instant. He came out of nothingness, took form, was loved, was always bound to return to nothingness. Only I did not think it would be so soon. Or that he would precede us. Two passing temporarinesses developed feelings for one another. Two puffs of smoke became mutually fond. I mistook him for a solidity, and now must pay. I am not stable and Mary not stable and the very buildings and monuments here not stable and the greater city not stable and the wide world not stable. All alter, are altering, in every instant.

cedar winslow

"The American Civil War rages while President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body. From this seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of realism, entering a thrilling, supernatural domain both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself trapped in a transitional realm - called, in Tibetan tradition, the bardo - and as ghosts mingle, squabble, gripe, and commiserate, and stony tendrils creep towards the boy, a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul." -- Back cover.

I might've read it too quickly. But the form makes it very fast-pacey. Really unusual, not fully satisfying, yet anything that is engaging with death so much is attractive to me. When is the death important? How entirely swallowed are we?

Dora Tominic

Disclaimer: this is not a review.

I might've read it too quickly. But the form makes it very fast-pacey. Really unusual, not fully satisfying, yet anything that is engaging with death so much is attractive to me. When is the death important? How entirely swallowed are we?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The long-awaited first novel from the author of Tenth of December: a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented 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 an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, 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. Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end? Praise for Lincoln in the Bardo "A luminous feat of generosity and humanism."--Colson Whitehead, The New York Times Book Review "A masterpiece."--Zadie Smith "Ingenious . . . Saunders--well on his way toward becoming a twenty-first-century Twain--crafts an American patchwork of love and loss, giving shape to our foundational sorrows."--Vogue "Saunders is the most humane American writer working today."--Harper's Magazine "The novel beats with a present-day urgency--a nation at war with itself, the unbearable grief of a father who has lost a child, and a howling congregation of ghosts, as divided in death as in life, unwilling to move on."--Vanity Fair "A brilliant, Buddhist reimagining of an American story of great loss and great love."--Elle "Wildly imaginative"--Marie Claire "Mesmerizing . . . Dantesque . . . A haunting American ballad."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Exhilarating . . . Ruthless and relentless in its evocation not only of Lincoln and his quandary, but also of the tenuous existential state shared by all of us." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "It's unlike anything you've ever read, except that the grotesque humor, pathos, and, ultimately, human kindness at its core mark it as a work that could come only from Saunders."--The National

Totally funny and heart wrenching. Exactly what I want in a book. Has some incredible lines that I’m not sure I’ll ever forget. At least one. 

Gabe Cortez

Bonkers and great. George Saunders has a truly original imagination. I love him!  

Sarah Christine Gill

Tijdens de Amerikaanse Burgeroorlog sterft President Lincolns favoriete zoontje Willie en komt in een soort limbo terecht waar vele andere geesten ronddolen. In een collage van korte passages komen deze geesten aan het woord, afgewisseld met citaten van Burgeroorlog- en Lincoln-kenners, echte en fictieve.

So many ghost penises so little time. Books that are told strangely are cool and this is one of them, I get why this got so popular. Probably would have liked it more if it hadn’t been a required reading for a college class a few years ago.

Eli Alvah Huckabee

A indelible creative work that seems to want stay with me 

Adam Scharf

Chris Dailey

Fanciful and morbid story with a novel approach to storytelling it mainly covers a single night in a Georgetown cemetery following the death of Abraham Lincoln's youngest son, Willie. The graveyard is full of spirits that refuse to pass into the next life and delude themselves into believing that they are merely in a "sick-form". Surprised that the newly arrived Willie is sticking around and even more shocked by his father's visit, the extensive cast wade in and out of center stage sharing their final moments and airing their many grievances. The prose is shot in epitaph-esque bursts that are often less than a few lines which provides multiple and often contradictory perspectives. Emotional and irreverent, it's a surprisingly gripping read that is strongest when it makes you ponder the big questions.

Andrew Reeves

A strange structure, but very enjoyable. Unique concept and well executed.

Ryan Mateyk

It was fine. I loved the chapters with the historical quotes from a variety of sources, and most of the dialogue between Vollman, Bevins and the Reverend, but honestly.... didn't really know what was happening majority of the time.

A strange, imaginative, and touching story told in a way that reminds me how much fiction can do.

elizabeth

Bella Baxter

I knew there was a reason why I started reading and then stopped and then didn’t pick it back up again until I picked it for this reading challenge.

I knew there was a reason why I unsubbed from the author’s Substack.

Literary fiction tries too hard to be something, I tell you. When I thought it was over, somehow there was even more. 

It would have been nice if it was actually about Lincoln in the bardo and not everybody else in the bardo, I think.

Some language choices were made…”beautiful raped mulatto”? Yikes.

Truly unique and cool concept. But it didn’t pull me as much as I thought. Perhaps it was the wrong book at the wrong time for me. 

Ali Angco

I will only recommend this novel with the caveat that the person I’m recommending it to listen to it on audiobook. 

Ally Perkins

george saunders set my bar for short stories and now, he's raised my bar for novels too. there are few writers who can weave humor and sorrow as well as him. the form—it truly is experimental—may not work for everyone but personally, i loooved it.

alice

Vladimir

Wynter

What are the chances I'd read two books in a row, which would rely solely on dialogue and personal monologues, the first one being Sleeping Giants? Unlike Sleeping Giants, however, the format works wonderfully to set up the atmosphere, as well as develop endearing characters. Abraham Lincoln's beloved son Willie dies of typhoid, and after the funeral his father visits the crypt unwilling to let go. In the dead of the night ghostly forms of those stuck in bardo (a Buddhist term for the state between life and death) watch over him in his grief and tell each other of their own lives. I recommend following along with a written text while listening to the audiobook to make more sense of the numerous cast of characters. An experimental kind of narrative might confuse at first, but do try to stick with it for at least a quarter of the book, because at that point things just click together.

Faith Ho 

this was quite a fascinating book. i was exceedingly confused when i first opened it (i was afraid it had been misprinted) and it took me at least fifteen pages to figure out what the story was talking about. but no matter - it was well worth it. 

this novel’s form of writing is very unlike the usual prose format; i shall attempt to describe it (likely unsuccessfully). almost every different paragraph is from a different perspective, with the resulting effect that of a cacaphony of multiple voices that bleed into one another on a single page. most chapters follow the perspectives of these three “ghosts” in the graveyard, with the frequent insertion of other voices and perspectives. each of these are written in a distinctive voice and style, and though i don’t know the slightest thing about speech mannerisms during the american civil war, i felt like i was transported back through the perfect cadence of that time period. and in doing so, it explores tensions implicit even among the dead, like racism and segregation. 

this is one novel, but it contained a the multiplicity of (explicit or implicit) voices, immersing me in stories dense and rich and complex. the story may feel meandering at first - centered around this event of lincoln visiting his dead son’s grave, but encompassing the stories of the nation, of this death, of all the different lives and deaths - but in the end, it goes back to a dramatic and touching exploration of what life and death is.

Amy Thibodeau

There were some beautiful, soulful pieces in this book. But overall, I found that the structure and style of the narrative pulled me out of the world of the story. I love George Saunders but this felt more like an experiment than a work written for readers to immerse themselves in a story.

Ryan LaFerney

Lincoln in the Bardo is an odd book. Stylistically, the book is a work of art. It reads like a play and a collage of historical articles. George Saunders’s much-awaited first novel is certainly like a weird folk art diorama of a cemetery come to life as the New York Times put it. The dreamlike flow of Lincoln in the Bardo made the reading of it a little like taking some mildly hallucinogenic substance. But the story is a bit of a mess. But, perhaps that's the point? Life is a bit of a mess.

The characters, spirits suspended in the Bardo ( an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between death and rebirth in Tibetan Buddhism) reside between “that” [this] world and their ultimate fate, spar with one another restlessly. A grieving and guilt-ridden Abraham Lincoln cannot bear to see his dear little son Willie, dead from typhoid fever, put away in the “sick box,” as the ghosts term coffins and sepulchers. He visits the cemetery alone, twice after his son’s interment in a temporary mausoleum, to commune with him, even going so far as to remove the lid of his coffin and holding the dead boy in his gangly arms. The boy’s spirit looks on and even enters his father’s body — He is not the only spirit to do so in the book. The community of souls in the Oak Hill Cemetery — and some from “outside the fence” — agitate to be freed from this waiting room between Earthly life and the next phase - the stage of rebirth. And while Lincoln in the Bardo features a wide cast of characters - the community of souls - it is the grief of Abraham Lincoln that anchors this book.

The supernatural chatter of our wide cast of characters can grow tedious at times — the novel could have used some editing — but their voices gain emotional momentum as the book progresses. And they lend the story a choral dimension that turns Lincoln’s personal grief into a meditation on the losses suffered by the nation during the Civil War, and the more universal heartbreak that is part of the human condition. Yet, all too often the vignettes are miniatures of the cruel, satirical stories that have won Saunders fans, and, as mentioned, several are poignant, but they don’t have much connection to Willie’s story. Because of this, the souls of the cemetery and the various stories connected to them often overshadow the crux of what makes this novel work: the pain of Abraham Lincoln's grief and his son trying to connect with him beyond the grave. You see it is Lincoln's very grief that is keeping Willie stuck in the Bardo. And Willie isn't ready to accept death.

Lincoln in the Bardo is an experimental novel that won the Man Booker prize in 2017. Its experimental nature is commendable but doesn't always work. The interplay of the frustrated few main spirits and the larger population resembled a stage script without stage directions (which was often frustrating); the dialogue is inventive, by turns poignant, tragic, eerie, bawdy, and mordantly funny. However, it often overshadows the main story. Excerpts from actual news stories, letters, and Lincoln biographies interweave with the spirits’ “lines,” lending authenticity to the historical context, that of the Civil War. However, some of these are also fabricated. The point is Saunders wants us to consider what is real and not real, what is truth, and what is fictional. 

I found this book to be a poignant, sometimes funny, frustrating mess, sadistic (Saunders has a bad habit of describing cruel situations and graphic scenes), and often, too damn sentimental. Saunders isn't necessarily interested in history. He could care less that Lincoln's secret cause of emancipation wasn't really a personal emotion or conviction, but one more of policy and keeping the union intact. He wants you to think the Lincoln mind-melded with African-American spirits.

Great works of art are often controversial, imperfect, challenging specimens of ingenuity. This book is a demanding work of art, one with a unique yet frustrating voice. I'm glad to have read it but I'm not sure I want to revisit it.

*I recommend listening to the audiobook. Saunders friend Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) agreed early in the production process of the audiobook to take a role, as did Offerman's wife, Megan Mullally. The two then recruited Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Rainn Wilson, and Susan Sarandon. Non-celebrities with parts include Saunders's wife, his children, and various of his friends. Other notable narrators include David Sedaris, Carrie Brownstein, Lena Dunham, Keegan-Michael Key, Miranda July, Ben Stiller, Bradley Whitford, Bill Hader, Mary Karr, Jeffrey Tambor, Kat Dennings, Jeff Tweedy, and Patrick Wilson.

Jacqui Siroia

A fascinating work of fiction based on President Lincoln’s visits to his son’s grave after his untimely death. We meet many characters who protect Willie in The Bardo, all full of personality, despite being ghosts and lifeless. The story seems straightforward enough but the style Saunders uses makes it confusing to follow. Perspectives are constantly changing and inconsistent. Poetic in places it didn’t need to be.

Siya S

DNF at 35% 

As a Man Booker fangirl I never learn.

I never learn that the shortlisted books could be a little bit challenging and too Avant-Garde for my taste. I mean, some of them are incredible, but most? Exactly like Lincoln in the Bardo here - a complete waste of time. 

I hate books that left me question my intelligence. With 166 narrators chimed in on a somewhat-inside jokes I kept losing track about, this book was a complete disaster for my sanity. I found myself skimmed through most parts simply because I had no friggin idea what the hell was going on. I wouldn’t argue that the writing was intriguing and beautifully poignant, but nope that didn’t help much. 

The absurdity of it all reminds me of the work of a Hungarian writer, Laszlo Krasnahorkai (whose works are like coming out to a village bonfire but there is no fire and the villagers have no idea why they are even outside). I wish I could write something substantial and monumental out of Saunders’ work, but hell, life is too short to find the meaning of anything at all, especially this.

Lincoln no Bardo é o primeiro romance de George Saunders. Nestas páginas, o autor revela-nos o seu trabalho mais original, transcendente e comovedor. A acção desenrola-se num cemitério e, durante apenas uma noite, a história é-nos narrada por um coro de vozes, que fazem deste livro uma experiência impar que apenas George Saunders nos conseguiria dar. Ousado na estrutura, generoso e profundamente interessado nos sentimentos, Lincoln no Bardo é uma prova de que a ficção pode falar sobre as coisas que realmente nos interessam. Saunders inventou uma nova forma narrativa, caledoscópica e teatral, entoada ao som de diferentes vozes, de modo a fazer-nos uma pergunta profunda e intemporal: como podemos viver e amar sabendo que tudo o que amamos tem um fim?

Lincoln no Bardo

Nelson Zagalo

Lembro-me de quando "Lincoln no Bardo" (2017) saiu, da comoção da crítica e do público, seguida de múltiplos prémios, mas só agora que o li me apercebi totalmente da motivação do uso da expressão Bardo. O meu primeiro contacto com a definição tinha sido exatamente por via do budismo do Tibete, no qual o conceito se define como espaço-tempo que intermedeia a morte e o renascimento. Contudo esta definição do termo é menos comum no ocidente, onde o bardo define também os contadores de histórias medievais — sendo um epíteto muito associado hoje a Shakespeare —, principais responsáveis pelas histórias que se contavam, nomeadamente das façanhas de reis e nobres, criadores da cultura que preservaria momentos e pessoas para a eternidade. Assim, enquanto fui contactando com o livro fui-me sempre movendo entre ambas as definições, apesar de ir lendo que se tratava de uma história passada num cemitério, lia também que era onde os fantasmas contavam as suas histórias. Quando agora resolvi entrar no livro e parei para ler um pouco sobre o mesmo, percebi que era concretamente do bardo tibetano que se falava, dito pelo próprio autor que utilizou tudo aquilo que condicionou o enterro do filho de Lincoln como motivo para o seu enredo no além. Contudo, e talvez contaminado por tudo isto que disse, ao chegar ao final do livro fiquei honestamente em dúvida. Sim, estamos naquele momento após a morte, em que os fantasmas/almas/pessoas aguardam pelo que há-de vir, que cada autor/pensador vai definindo em função da influência religiosa — do bardo ao purgatório, passando pelo limbo — mas na verdade, o que temos neste livro são histórias, histórias de vidas simples e de presidentes quase-reis. Saunders não só "foi" ao Bardo pescar essas histórias, como se transformou ele próprio no Bardo que nos relata e regista para todo o sempre.

[Ler com imagens no blog: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...]

Entrando no livro, aconselho previamente o visionamento de “Lincoln” (2012), um filme muito acessível sobre os momentos marcantes da presidência de Abraham Lincoln, em que Steven Spielberg explica porque este 16º presidente se tornou num dos três mais influentes da história dos EUA. Para além disso, interessa saber que um, dos três de quatro dos seus filhos que morreram, tendo morrido em 1962, em plena Guerra Civil americana, ficou temporariamente num cemitério em Washington até ser trasladado com o pai em 1965 para a morada final no Illinois. Saunders aproveita este hiato tornado acontecimento, com tudo aquilo que historicamente o circundou, para produzir a sua ficção.

[imagem]
Daniel Day-Lewis como Abraham Lincoln no filme "Lincoln" (2012) de Steven Spielberg

“Lincoln no Bardo” poderia assim ser mais um livro de ficção-histórica, ainda que original pela componente fortemente fantasiosa, ao utilizar o pós-morte para dar conta dos efeitos e impactos da História, mas é mais do que isso. Porque se tudo isto que até aqui relatei parece original, dá apenas conta do contexto daquilo que é a verdadeira originalidade da obra. Saunders queria mais, não fosse ele reconhecido pela sua veia mais cómico-sarcástica, por isso além das vozes dos mortos, resolveu ir buscar vozes reais de registos deixados por múltiplas pessoas que viveram os dias que cercaram o dia retratado no livro. Deste modo, temos além da ficção, registos reais transcritos com aspas — de diários, cartas, registos estatais, livros, jornais, etc. — que Saunders entremeia num relato único. É uma escrita imensamente comum no meio académico — a narração do investigador intermediada com as citações de múltiplos outros autores em debate —, mas imensamente estranha em romance, mesmo histórico.

[imagem]
Lincoln lendo para o seu filho mais novo, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln

Contudo se o ponto de partida (o bardo) e a estrutura (intermediação entre ficção e registos escritos reais) eram já caso para oferecer o rótulo de originalidade, o que realmente faz do livro uma obra original é a inovação de Saunders, ao transformar a forma para nos dar a sentir diferentemente. Ele faz isso exatamente através do cruzamento entre o real e o ficcional, nomeadamente entre as vozes/pensamentos/corpos dos mortos e dos vivos. O presidente Lincoln é dado a ver e a sentir como em nenhuma outra obra antes, tal como aquilo que sente um pai quando perde um filho, e um filho que parte e deixa o pai para trás. Claro que o momento é per se imensamente melodramático, mas o relato de Saunders está longe da lamechice, antes cruza habilmente humor e melancolia, como tão raras vezes se pôde já ver. Porque é de verdade histórica que se trata, de humanos que existiram, mas é de muitos outros que sendo meras invenções em busca da consciência do estado em que se encontram, servem de veículos, de autênticos condutores, entre mundos, pessoas e sentires.

[imagem]
"Lincoln in the Bardo: 360 VR Video" (2017) The New York Times

Notas finais. Além do Man Booker, o livro foi adaptado a audiolivro tendo sido utilizadas vozes de 160 atores para dar conta da imensidade humana que atravessa o livro, tendo sido um excerto adaptado para uma instalação do New York Times, que pode ser experienciado em parte no Youtube 360º.

Dweedle 

I listened to this book and it was great as an extended radio drama. There isn’t much of a plot, but lots of musing on death. The fear of death, the necessity of it, what happens once we go. The writing here is beautiful. I found myself relishing the language of more than one monologue.

The speculative historical fiction really comes together at the end. Lincoln was an interesting choice through which to analyze death.

The extraordinary first novel by the bestselling, Folio Prize-winning, National Book Award-shortlisted George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven year old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War. The American Civil War rages while President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body. From this seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of realism, entering a thrilling, supernatural domain both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself trapped in a transitional realm – called, in Tibetan tradition, the bardo – and as ghosts mingle, squabble, gripe and commiserate, and stony tendrils creep towards the boy, a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul. Unfolding over a single night, Lincoln in the Bardo is written with George Saunders' inimitable humour, pathos and grace. Here he invents an exhilarating new form, and is confirmed as one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Deploying a theatrical, kaleidoscopic panoply of voices – living and dead, historical and fictional – Lincoln in the Bardo poses a timeless question: how do we live and love when we know that everything we hold dear must end?

Sian Wadey

An interesting concept! I'm all for trying new structures in novels and this worked to a point. I liked the sections where the author used different quotes to describe Lincoln and the night that Willie died, showing us that everything is subjective and should be taken with a pinch of salt. 
It was beautifully written and the idea that we see all of our forms, before we died and what we could have become was poignant. 
My two issues were that the name of the ghost should have been before the narration and there were far too many characters. I lost interest several times and forgot who was who!! If it has just been Bevins, Hollman and Reverend Thomas it would have been much easier to follow and more interesting!!

Lincoln in the Bardo A Novel

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