Literary Award Winners Fiction Book Club discussion

Please comment here on 'Lincoln in the Bardo' by George Saunders, 2017 winner of the Booker Prize.

A highly original novel. There is little plot and character development. Lots of characters who are dead but don't believe they are talk about the bad things they have done. With this is an interesting historical portrayal of one night in the life of Abraham Lincoln and his 13 year old son who dies of typhoid that night. A lot of the novel is written in the form of a play.

I found listening to the audiobook whilst turning the pages of my book helpful in comprehending and appreciating this novel. (I first read this book in 2017).

I read this one several years ago and found it perplexing. I thought the bits of historical texts were distracting. I am not sure what they were supposed to add. Lincoln's grief came through well. But all the dead folks made my head spin. I don't think I am smart enough for this one.

This is probably the most unusual book I've ever read. I started out hating it and was going to abandon it, but I googled the plot summary and kept on reading. So glad I did! Would rate this a 4.5* read.

Yes, there were many narrators, but most of them were unimportant and it was easy to keep track of the few main narrators.

I found it interesting that the novel included numerous citations by public figures and personal associates of Abraham Lincoln.

For reference I liked "The Book Thief" and the "Lovely Bones" -- there's some similarities amongst these novels.

Thanks for your comments Mary. I am glad you enjoyed the novel. This book did not resonate with me as much as it has for many other readers. I prefer his short story collections, in particular, ‘Tenth of December’ and ‘Pastoralia’.

‘The Book Thief’ and ‘The Lovely Bones’ are very good, easy to read novels.