Dawn Kelly answers “I really tried, but istening to this book...”

Cate Poe asked this question about Lincoln in the Bardo:

I really tried, but istening to this book is impossible. I want to appreciate the voices, the story, but I can't get past the format. Like wading through footnotes. Is it possible to ignore the format when you READ it? About to throw in the towel and get a refund.

Dawn Kelly imho, The dreamlike, disconnected. format supports the theme of the book. I read the print version and am rereading it again. Since it takes the reade…moreimho, The dreamlike, disconnected. format supports the theme of the book. I read the print version and am rereading it again. Since it takes the reader into the Bardo- (or purgatory, or a ghostlike intermediate state) the format supports that. In this place, souls have a partial consciousness, they are fixed on - stuck on- clinging to; temporary, partial or illusionary aspects of life. I think that's why the voices are brief- like our impressions, feelings and thoughts are also brief, and repetitive, like our ordinary (monkey mind) consciousness seems to be. These are souls caught in the Bardo- distracted, arguing, small, trying to figure things out.- misled by sense impressions- or passion or whatever they are clinging to and stewing over. The reason their names are all in lower case is, I think, to emphasize that names are transitory, artificial, unimportant in the life of the immortal soul. The spaces on the page reflect to me - silence of the grave, searching of the mind. The loose, brief dialog is representative of what out ordinary consciousness is like- flitting from thought to thought... an unsettled state, particularly for the souls trapped there. The historic footnotes perhaps offer the compare and contrast with life; the actual historical notes are similarly caught up on partial, conditional aspects of life- opinions, incomplete ideas, sense impressions. The living are caught up in thinking that is small and biased, and particularly when they set it down in a "story", it seems artificial, partial; instead of being a direct experience. Just my take, for what it's worth. (less)

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Lincoln in the Bardo

by George Saunders

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