Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

14 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

3.5

It’s hard to rate this one because some parts of it struck me so deeply, while others fell short. Lincoln’s grief was exquisitely portrayed, and though it was devastating, I almost wish I’d seen more of it. Saunders’ take on ghosts is intriguing and manifests in an interesting way. But because of this, the huge cast of characters can make the book confusing and hard to follow at times. I also felt a little uncomfortable with the portrayal of BIPOC characters (though I understand the book is set during the civil war, there were still moments that I felt could’ve been handled differently).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Death, Slavery, Grief, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Racism, Rape, and Child death

Moderate: War, Blood, Pedophilia, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Classism, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia, Drug use, and Excrement

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this weird little book. I know it won’t work for everyone, but somehow it worked for me. I love absurd concepts like this and things that examine life and death and afterlife and the in-between and history, so of course I loved it. If you have similar interests, you may feel the same way. But you also might not, because it’s a very weird book. I love the play-like format and the parts that put together historical documents to recount a moment. I’m so glad I read this book and I’m very glad that i I own it!I loved this weird little book. I know it won’t work for everyone, but somehow it worked for me. I love absurd concepts like this and things that examine life and death and afterlife and the in-between and history, so of course I loved it. If you have similar interests, you may feel the same way. But you also might not, because it’s a very weird book. I love the play-like format and the parts that put together historical documents to recount a moment. I’m so glad I read this book and I’m very glad that I own it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Slavery, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Cursing, Excrement, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Homophobia

helen's review against another edition

4.0

Difficult to categorise novel - part historical fiction (with quotes from real historical sources), part fantasy (the main characters are ghosts who are in denial about being dead) and part morality tale (with the main message being enjoy life while you can because everything dies).

I found it grimly funny and poignant, but got a bit irritated by the layout - there are chapters of dialogue formatted as a play script, interspersed with chapters of quotes from real and imagined historical sources. It made for a quick read, with lots of blank space on the page, but I would have preferred prose.

As well as reading with my eyes I also read with my ears, and I would recommend the latter. The audiobook has 166 different narrators, including nick offerman and david sedaris, who are wonderful.

Content notes:

child death, grief, suicide, slavery, racism, rape, war, death, murder, sexism, injury description, child molestation mention, spiritual possession, description of embalming

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Minor: Death, Child abuse, and War

teanahk's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child death, and Racial slurs

Minor: Rape and Pedophilia

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, War, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Misogyny, Infidelity, Excrement, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia

christynhoover's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

For starters, know what the word "BARDO" means before you begin. It clues you in to WHERE the plot unfolds: a cemetery, but one that is full of deceased characters who are resisting completing their move to the hereafter. 

The format of this book is one,-of-a-kind. Start reading it expecting the UNEXPECTED --and perhaps knowing you may want to start the book over after a few (brief) chapters now that you've got the gist of the style/format. 

That said, I also found it helpful to follow along in a print copy while simultaneously listening to the exquisitely cast audiobook version. What a treat to hear David Sedaris, Susan Sarandon, Nick Offerman, and the author himself (among dozens) read parts!

IF you persevere, the book repays you tremendously, IMO. It touches on  regrets, failings, etc that humans may have at their death and making peace with them in some way. I found it to be tremendously humane and compassionate. 

It also touches on war --specifically EARLY in the US Civil War-- and Lincoln's responsibility for 3,000 lost lives up to that point. So great a loss in comparison to the death of his son Willie.  

And it touches on Lincoln's decision to wallow in depression vs emerge reinvigorated --and to see the war through to it's conclusion.

I found Saunders description (imagined) of Lincoln holding his dead son in his arms to be deeply moving.

Reading interviews of George Saunders speaking about how he came to write the book to be informative and highly worthwhile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Suicide, Child death, Cursing, Medical content, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

laurajones's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Sexual content, Death, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Self harm, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual assault and Classism

Minor: Excrement

kulera's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The premise was interesting, and it had some moments of beauty, but overall it was was slow and arduous to read. Just not my kind of book. Plus the few moments in which women and especially enslaved people were represented were uncomfortable to read. The author did not seem to think critically about the language he (as a non-Black writer) was using.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Child death, Death, Torture, Medical content, Slavery, Rape, Body horror, Grief, Terminal illness, and Violence

shaney_swift's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual content

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

What did I just read…I feel like a had a bad LSD trip 😅

Strange, unique writing style

Clever concept

Quick to read 

I had a hard time following what was happening and there wasn’t really a plot. I wanted to love this and have had it on my TBR forever but it just fell flat. 

I seem to be in the minority of not or seeing the “poetry” or understanding what’s happening half the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Child death, Suicide, Self harm, Blood, and Cursing

Moderate: Rape, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Animal death, War, Body horror, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs