#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZEThe “devastatingly moving” (People) 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 inventedNamed One of Paste’s Best Novels of the Decade • Named One of the Ten … One of Paste’s Best Novels of the Decade • Named One of the Ten Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post, USA Today, and Maureen Corrigan, NPR • One of Time’s Ten Best Novels of the Year • A New York Times Notable Book • One of O: The Oprah Magazine’s Best Books of the Year
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?
“A luminous feat of generosity and humanism.”—Colson Whitehead, The New York Times Book Review
“A masterpiece.”—Zadie Smith
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I usually love any book about President Lincoln and his family but this one just got too weird regarding the spirits that were hanging around. Didn’t enjoy at all reading about the ghost with the eternal tumescence.
Hard to believe I’m giving such a weird quirky book 4 stars but the inventiveness of the author is truly to be applauded. Taking one historical hiccup occuring over a short period of days and turning it into this strange & unpredictable trip was quite unique. Not sure I’ve ever read anything like it!
Let’s just say this: I didn’t even know what “bardo” meant when I picked this book up. But I got it pretty fast. “Original” and “haunting” really define this amazing novel. It was challenging at times, as multiple narrator books can be, and it could even be accused of being derivative, borrowing in its technique from “As I Lay Dying.” But take it in, immerse yourself in its world, and you will not be disappointed. It will move you to tears.
Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook…not only is the cast amazing but it will help you to keep track of the characters. Unfortunately, I am in the minority finding this one to be boring and truly struggled to get through this one.
Wildly imaginative.
Tedious. Not quite the meditative book the title promises, instead a fairly woolly fog of ideas that don’t add up to much entertainment or enlightenment.
While many readers enjoyed this book, I did not. Could not get into the storyline.
While the book wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea (I love horror and history and this book was just outside the realm of both) it was truly well thought out and put together. The development of the characters took a great deal of imagination and planning.
I really like the concept and writing style but often found it difficult to to keep track of which character was speaking.
Saunders weaves a lustrous, heartbreaking tale that pulls you in and holds you throughout.
I thought it was confusing and I lost interest in it.
The story follows me around like a shadow.
A waste of time!
I know it was well reviewed, and I’ve decided I’m just not a fan of magical reality. It has an interesting format.
Heart breaking and original. I thought about this book throughout the day. That’s the sign of a great read. Top of my list.
This book — and frankly anything by the marvelous George Saunders — is unlike anything else you’ll read. The plot summary is available elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the cast of idiosyncratic, moving, sometimes heroic characters in this novel is dizzying. It’s like “The Canterbury Tales” in that each of the people in this graveyard has his or her own story that they can’t wait to convey. And they are all entertaining and/or moving. This book is not for everyone. I’m reluctant to recommend it to my book group because I think for every person who loves it, another will detest it. But I thought it was pure magic.
not like any other book I’ve ever read. haunting.
So well weitten
A significant contribution to American literature. Original in every way.
Hard to read, did not finish this book