Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders

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.