Reviews with content warning for Rape - Lincoln in the Bardo

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Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

32 reviews

jenpurlteach's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I listened to this one as full cast audio book—I think 166 different people did voices. Amazing and entertaining, done by professional actors and even family members of the author. Such an interesting concept, a story about the in-between of life and true eternity. As an audio for me, I was often confused, but as I heard more of the story, many things became clear, so don’t quit too soon if you are inclined to. I really enjoyed the first hand accounts about the Lincoln family and the Civil War. I’m assuming those were factual— cited as they were within the story—but just listening to the words being performed (loved those parts) left me wondering at times if they were real people’s observations. One thing I didn’t enjoy was the more graphic sexual aspects. I do realize that for a couple of the characters you couldn’t understand them without the background of sexual abuse, but there were parts that seemed unnecessary (just my own opinion!). Over all, though, really interesting and strange and thoughtful tale about all kinds of people in and around Washington D.C. during the time of Willie Lincoln’s death.

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phoevincent's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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teaxmillions's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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anxious_brown_girl's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

It took a bit to get used to the format of the book, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. The pace was great and the mix of historical accounts versus fiction was great.

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drossg's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-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

4.0

George Saunders is my favorite author. Once you get the hang of the format it reads quickly. If empathy annoys you you may not like it, but that’s Saunders (thankfully, he doesn’t ask us to empathize with everybody)

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audreybethc's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

A raunchy ghost story about American history that is also, somehow, one of the more moving things I’ve ever read.

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megshrews's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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chalkletters's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective sad 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? No

2.75

Lincoln in the Bardo is one of those books that's been on my radar for a long time, but I don't really know why. I knew nothing about it, except the name, so had no strong feelings either way when it was the only book nominated for January's book club. I know very little about Abraham Lincoln, so much so that I initially assumed the first section of the book was about Lincoln, when it very definitely wasn't. So at least Lincoln in the Bardo would be an opportunity to learn some (fictionalised) history.

George Saunders composes his story from snippets of text supposed to be drawn from and attributed to actual historical documents. Many, if not most, of these are completely fictional, but the attributions get repetitive fairy fast, as well as breaking the flow of the story. If you skip over these, it's difficult to distinguish which character is which, so each reader will need to decide for themselves which is more important. (The story is still enjoyable, even without a crystal clear understanding of who does what in every moment.)

Despite the title, neither Abraham nor Willie Lincoln is really the main character. Instead, the story focuses on the Bardo itself, and the personalities which have haunted it for many years after their lives ended. While that might sound difficult to relate to for readers who, inevitably, have no yet come to the end of their life, George Saunders manages to build in many fears and themes which are just as applicable outside the Bardo. The focus on community and giving back to others instead of focusing completely on the self is particularly well done. (Lincoln in the Bardo would make an interesting companion piece to the musical In the Heights.)

I'm not sure I'll read Lincoln in the Bardo a second time, especially as I usually reread things via audiobook and I suspect the attributions would become extremely annoying extremely fast in that medium.

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lizziaha's review against another edition

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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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kananineko's review against another edition

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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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