George Saunders has
received enormous praise for his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. I try
to be wary of over-hyping, but when one of my several trusted friends spoke so
highly of it, I decided to read it. At
first, I felt as if it was another “gimmick” novel, but it turned out to be a
“gimmick” I have never seen. The first,
obvious peculiarity I notice was the structure, but then I became intrigued. The “Bardo” is a Tibetan word for the time
after death and before the soul is “taken away.”
According to
Wikipedia, Saunders is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas,
and children’s books. His writing has
appeared in The New Yorker as well as
other magazines. He was born December 2,
1958 in Amarillo, TX, and he has won a MacArthur Fellowship, as well as several
other awards. He lists his influences as
Kurt Vonnegut, Pynchon, Flannery O’Conner, John Updike, and Steinbeck. He is a professor at Syracuse University.
The story begins
casually enough with a man who marries a woman much younger than himself. On the day after his wedding, he goes to his
office, and while seated at his desk, Saunders writes, “A beam from the ceiling
came down, hitting me just here, as I sat at my desk. And so while our [honeymoon] must be
deferred, while I recovered. Per the
advice of my physician, I took to my-- // A sort of sick box was judged to
be—hans vollman // Efficacious. roger
bevins iii // Efficacious, yes, Thank
you, friend. hans vollman // Always a
pleasure. roger bevins iii” // There I
lay, in my sick-box, feeling foolish, in the parlor, the very parlor through
which we had recently (gleefully, guiltily, her hand in mine) passed en route
to her bedroom. Then the physician
returned, and his assistant carried my sick-box to his sick-cart, and I saw
that—I saw that our plan must be indefinitely delayed” (5). As I am sure you are aware, hans is dead, as
is roger blevins iii. The names appear
on the page as if they are scripts for a film.
The names of hans, roger, and all the inhabitants of the Bardo are all
in lower case with about an 8 point font.
The rest of the novel involves conversations of more than forty deceased
characters.
When willie appears
in the Bardo, the other souls try to reconnect him with his father who pays
daily visits his tomb. They believe that
a connection to Lincoln can save Willie for a life in the Bardo, so he won’t be "taken away. "
Most of the
conversation takes place among, hans, bevins, and the reverend everly
thomas. There are some characters who
provide a tiny dab of humor. The barons
use a stream of obscenities each time they talk, and thankfully, only the first
and last letter of each word appears with a dash between them. Another character, actually corrects the
grammar of the deceased.
Interspersed with
the conversations of the deceased are the italicized thoughts of Abraham
Lincoln as he agonizes over the way the Civil War is being conducted, as well
as the death of his son willie.
The novel has 108
chapters, some with only a single line of text.
Occasionally, Saunders places what appear to be newspaper, magazine
articles, and quotes from works of history regarding Willie’s death and
Lincoln’s presidency. This 343-page
novel can be read in a single sitting.
This interesting
novel, Lincoln in the Bardo by George
Saunders is a novel that will keep you in your chair to find out what happens
next! 5 stars.
--Chiron, 4/2/17
No comments:
Post a Comment