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A very unusually laid out novel that doesn't FEEL like a novel. In the Q&A with the publisher in the back of the book (which I highly recommend reading) George and the publisher describe this book perfectly: it's not quite your typical work of historical fiction. It is laid out more like a play and reads like a piece of Greek oral storytelling.
The book revolves around the death of Willie Lincoln, and is told from the perspectives of various ghosts lingering in the same cemetery Willie has been ...more
The book revolves around the death of Willie Lincoln, and is told from the perspectives of various ghosts lingering in the same cemetery Willie has been ...more
Unbelievably brilliant. Warning to friends: I will be talking about this book for at least the next six months.
It took 3 chapters for me to figure out what I was reading, but once I did, my head was simply spinning with Saunders' writing style, research and storytelling.
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As an author, I don't wish to eschew experimentation in writing fiction. Though my own work is generally more linear and less avant-garde, I won't dismiss the concept of playing with plot, wording, format and so on in "novels."
That being said, I have not come across much experimental fiction I enjoy as a reader, and this book didn't break the pattern.
It just gave me a headache. If you have kids, you know how they sometimes play chef, and make you a heaping sandwich with a little bit of everythin ...more
That being said, I have not come across much experimental fiction I enjoy as a reader, and this book didn't break the pattern.
It just gave me a headache. If you have kids, you know how they sometimes play chef, and make you a heaping sandwich with a little bit of everythin ...more
This book has been buzzed about for months, received rave reviews, and was much loved by people whose opinions I respect. It is indeed imaginative and very different from most things I read or have ever read. Does that make it the masterpiece people are calling it? I don't know. I liked it. The writing is --- no question --- quite beautiful and brilliant and ingenious and poetic and dramatic and often riveting. The plot is to do with Lincoln's son Willie, who stays in limbo with other souls refu
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I started to listen to Lincoln in the Bardo several weeks ago but decided that I wasn't in the mood and needed something lighter. This time when I listened to it, I made a point to give it my full attention to better track the various actors/characters and focus on their words. This book is not for everyone; if I had finished it last month, my rating would have been much lower.
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I never found this funny as other reviewers have noted. I did find it sad and a compelling piece telling of one night during the Lincoln administration that changed the course of history. The audio version of this book can be confusing with all of the different narrators but it adds something to the work that the print doesn't have especially during the quoted chapters. A technique which I loved and thought could not have been a better choice.
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Jul 06, 2016
Em
marked it as to-read
Jan 09, 2017
Jess
marked it as to-read
Jan 27, 2017
Stephanie Curran
marked it as to-read
Mar 05, 2017
Mary Anne
marked it as to-read
Jun 13, 2017
Marian
marked it as to-read
Nov 07, 2017
Renee Rousseau
marked it as to-read
Apr 08, 2018
Rebecca
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Jul 30, 2018
Consuelo Culver
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
personal-development,
historical-fiction
Sep 30, 2019
Alyssa Poulin
marked it as to-read
Feb 18, 2021
Laila
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