Ever since this book won the Booker Prize in 2017 I have been
confused by its title and had to look up the meaning of ‘bardo’ -
which apparently is a term to describe the transitional state between
life and death in Tibetan tradition. But I couldn’t understand
what that had to do with Lincoln! So, the novel is grounded in the
historical newspaper reporting of President Lincoln visiting the body
of his deceased son while it was temporarily placed in a crypt in
Georgetown. The death of his young son occurred in 1862 during the
American Civil War and it touches on its historical context, although
this is far from historical fiction, more a flight of fancy triggered
by a fact.
I didn’t really
know what to expect from this book, being unfamiliar with Saunders
previous writing – which, as ever, is the joy of reading the
Bookers! I flicked through the hardback copy I had got from the
library and was very confused by the structure of the text –
sometimes just a word or a sentence separated by recurring names in
centred text. Bizarre. After starting reading I realised that the
name represented who was ‘speaking’ or from whose viewpoint the
account originated. In other chapters, text was divided by short
references to texts – with no way of knowing whether these were
authentic quotes from factual accounts or stories – especially
since they often contradicted each other in their observations.
Although unconventional in style with these gaps between text, it was
easy to get the hang of reading the pages and it conveyed an
immediacy and propulsion through the course of the story. Moreover,
it cleverly emphasised the subjective nature of different narratives
that is often forgotten in the quest for ‘truth’ especially in
historical contexts where the most dominant voices or agendas tend to
persistent over time.
The novel is mainly
set in the ‘bardo’, featuring the characters of ghosts from
graves within the cemetery, who don’t or won’t acknowledge that
they are ghosts. They are lingering on Earth for a number of reasons
and the main narrative is scattered by these mini short stories of
their previous lives. The structure is chaotic and yet is coherent
enough to convey great emotions such as the grief experienced by
Lincoln for his child. Through this unusual style of writing, it
encourages the reader to suspend disbelief and I was transported
along into this unworldly existence with a huge varieties of
characters surrounding a very touching portrayal of a grieving
father, who also happens to be President during a pivotal period of
history.
I like this idea of
being struck by an occurrence that actually happened and then using
fiction to flesh out a story which then leads to poignant reflection
on what it means to be alive, exploring death and grief. It was all
a bit random with surreal descriptions transitioning between
realities and varying individual and merging perspectives.
Apparently occurring during the course of one night, its scope was
expansive in terms of spanning broader time-frames and exploring
wide-ranging issues. And yet somehow despite all this seeming
madness - it worked and I found myself caught up in its wild flow.
This book was hugely creative and imaginative, while also being
emotionally affecting and thought-provoking through its
story-telling. It also triggered an almost meta-realisation that
part of being alive is celebrating and exploring the creative world
through unconventional writers such as Saunders – and acted as a
reminder to me that this project of reading the Bookers is an
important one as it encourages me to keep an open mind and to embrace
the unfamiliar.
