Book Review - Lincoln in the bardo - George Sanders
This is one of those rare times when I’m sitting down to compose a book review and I’m not sure what to write. It’s been a week since I finished ‘Lincoln in the bardo’ but my thoughts about it still haven’t settled. What I do know is that it was very inventive and like nothing I have read in a long time
Bardo, from my understanding, is a transitional place between life and death, and it’s where the characters in this book find themselves. There are three main voices: Vollman, Bevins, and a Reverend who narrate most of the ‘action.’ The main thing to know about the voices in the book are they come from people who don’t know they are dead.
Or rather, don’t accept they are dead. They are disembodied, trapped at the momment of their death, refusing to accept it and move on. I found the cacophony of voices to be somewhat dizzying at times, as they interrupted and talked over each other. There’s almost a dreamlike quality to some of the narratives.
The ‘Lincoln’ of the title is Willie Lincoln, recently deceased son of Abraham Lincoln. Some of the scenes where he is visiting his son are incredibly touching, with the president refusing to accept death, visiting the crypt at night to mourn his son.
The backdrop to the story is told with snippets from historical texts, some of which include letters. We learn more about the war, about loss and the grief felt by Lincoln. It feels like such an unusual way to tell a story but it works, and the amount of research from George Sanders is incredible.
The narrative style means this book certainly won’t be for everyone. The prose is not written in a conventional style and takes a bit of getting used to. But I’d recommend preserving and I’m glad I did.
Reading ‘Lincoln in the bardo’ is an experience and you just have to give yourself up to it. It’s lyrical and funny at times, and a moving account of grief and loss, and about moving on. I think I wanted to like this book more than I did, because I had heard so much about it after it won the booker in 2017, but I don’t think I quite ‘got’ it. But an interesting read nonetheless.
Book review - Lincoln in the bardo by George Sanders
353 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2017