You could argue that Lincoln in the Bardo is a metafictional novel, examining the narratives and dialogues that make up that ambiguous thing we call ‘History’. The monologues (and dialogues) are from the spirits who dwell in a transitional realm-a ‘bardo’, in the Tibetan tradition-who absolutely refuse to admit that they are dead (they call their tombs ‘sick-boxes’). The reverend everly thomas Random House | 2017 | 368 pp Hats, laughter, crude jests, the sound of fart-noises made by mouths, from on high: these were the harbingers of the approach of the Three Bachelors.
The second sort of fragments, the ‘monologues’, are – well:Īnd there came down upon us a rain of hats. In “Lincoln,” by David Herbert Donald, account of a soldier. Not only is the ugliest man I ever saw, but the most uncouth and gawky in his manners and appearance. Sandburg, account of Colonel Theodore Lyman. In “The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln,” by Frederick Hill Meserve and Carl The ugliest man I have ever put my eyes on. His self-possession – aplomb, as the French call it – was extraordinary.Īnd this section below, discussing Lincoln’s aesthetic appeal or lack thereof: He was the sort of child people imagine their children will be, before they have children. In “Tad Lincoln’s Father,” by Julia Taft Bayne. Willie Lincoln was the most lovable boy I ever knew, bright, sensible, sweet-tempered and gentle-mannered. Take the building blocks of description that create the portrait of Willie Lincoln, for instance: They set the scene and tone of the epoch, building narrative but also questioning narrative. The ‘samples’ are extracts from varied historical books and other sources, judiciously juxtaposed. This, above the poignant story, is what makes the novel truly remarkable. Before picking it up, I’d assumed that the novel’s force stemmed from its subject matter: Abraham Lincoln! The heart-rendering death of his beloved son! What curious pleasure, then, to discover that the novel’s constructed of fragments-George Saunders defines them as ‘a series of monologues’ and ‘samples’ in an interview with Granta Magazine. Lincoln in the Bardo is delightfully weird.
Lincoln in the Bardo b y George Saunders - Alexandra d’Abbadie The wildness logo, a stylised W that looks like two upside-down mountain peaks.
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