#Lincoln in the Bardo

[quotespile]

Doubt will fester as long as we live. And when one occasion of doubt has been addressed, another and then another will arise in its place.

George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo

[fenzs-strikes-again]

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2024 📖 no. 003

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

“Two passing temporarinesses developed feelings for one another. Two puffs of smoke became mutually fond. I mistook him for a solidity, and now must pay.”

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

While the exact age of the Great Sand Dunes is unknown, geologists agree that the San Luis Valley’s strong southwesterly winds bear primary responsibility for their initial formation. For untold centuries, prevailing winds have swept loose sand eastward over and across the floor of the valley, piling it near a series of three low passes that form a distinct pocket in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains: Music Pass to the north, Medano Pass in the middle, and Mosca Pass to the south. Funneled into these low passes by the broad flanks of Blanca Peak and the formidable barrier of the high Sangres, the sand-laden wind loses its momentum to friction and turbulence.

No longer capable of carrying its load, the wind continually deposits sand at the foot of the Sangres. This process slowly formed the iconic sand dunes we know today. :: [Robert Scott Horton]

* * * *

“We must see God not as a Him (some linear rewarding fellow) but an IT, a great beast beyond our understanding, who wants something from us, and we must give it, and all we may control is the spirit in which we give it and the ultimate end which the giving serves.” ― George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo

[kvothes]

i don’t think you guys understand how much i think lincoln in the bardo is the funniest book ever. it’s about grief it’s about trauma it’s about hope. it’s about acceptance it’s about race it’s about history. it is narrated by ghosts. it is half made of false citations. there is a character who walks around with a massive permanent erection at all times.

[woundgallery]

from Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders 

[litsnaps]

[monstrousgourmandizingcats]

This, too, is yaoi.

[veryslowreader]

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

High Maintenance: "Steve"

[egoschwank]

al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #1177

first posted in facebook april 8, 2023

abbott handerson thayer -- "my children" (ca. 1910)

"oh take care of all my children don't let them wander and roam take care of all of my children for i don't know when i'm comin' back home" ... kathleen brennan and tom waits

"life became all but unbearable for thayer and his wife during the early 1880s, when two of their small children died unexpectedly, one year apart" ... wikipedia

"when a child is lost there is no end to the self-torment a parent may inflict. when we love, and the object of our love is small, weak, and vulnerable, and has looked to us and us alone for protection; and when such protection, for whatever reason, has failed, what consolation (what justification, what defense) may there possibly be?" ... george saunders

"there are ... no words" ... al janik

[yippeecheapdvds]

This month I read “Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders. Historical Fiction/Magical Realism. Published in 2017.

Extremely weird, Broke my dam heart, Out of this world good, reading this book changed my life.

The story is about the ghosts in the oak hill cemetery, and their reaction to Willie Lincoln’s death and becoming a ghost, as it is very unusual for a child’s spirit to stick around long after death. They need to convince him to move on, or else something extremely bad will happen to him.

The writing style took a while to get used to, but I really enjoyed it. It’s told as if multiple people are telling you a story as it’s playing out. First person present tense with multiple narrators. There are also occasional quotes from real historical accounts to let you know what’s going on with the living.

It’s seriously so good, it’s about death and grief and moving on after loss and how love can transcend death. The themes for my heart so good.

I loved the two main characters, Mr Vollman and Mr Bevins, and poor sweet Willie.

I loved the vauge and surreal character descriptions, and the unique way the Bardo has warped each ghost, like Bevins multiple eyes, arms and noses, or the woman missing her hands and feet, or the guy who would literally become tall as a tree and thin as a pencil when he went on a racist rant. Or Mr Vollman having a caved in head, no clothes and a penis massive enough to trip over…

Oh yah I did not anticipate all the weird sex stuff in here. It was extremely weird but did help to lighten the mood amongst all the talk of death and grief and fates worse than death. The possession stuff was also extremely weird and kinda sexual?? Very weird. The language the ghosts use to talk about their existence as ghosts was also very interesting, the way they refuse to accept their own deaths, down to calling coffins “sick boxes” and living people as “those from the previous place”.

Also I seriously must bring up this extremely cursed quote:

Literally temporary gayness via possession by a homosexual ghost.

Go read Lincoln in the Bardo your life and afterlife literally depend on it. 10/10

[quotespile]

Trap. Horrible trap. At one’s birth it is sprung. Some last day must arrive. When you will need to get out of this body. Bad enough. Then we bring a baby here. The terms of the trap are compounded. That baby also must depart. All pleasures should be tainted by that knowledge. But hopeful dear us, we forget.

George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo

[coffeecupandcorgi]

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Honorable graph from my wrap-up of my five star books this year!

[booksiverecentlyread]

75: Lincoln In The Bardo [2017]

by: George Saunders

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

* * * *

“What I mean to say is, we had been considerable. Had been loved. Not lonely, not lost, not freakish, but wise, each in his or her own way. Our departures caused pain. Those who had loved us sat upon their beds, heads in hand; lowered their faces to tabletops, making animal noises. We had been loved, I say, and remembering us, even many years later, people would smile, briefly gladdened at the memory.” ― George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo

Kali (Joan Archibald), Su One Eye, Palm Springs, CA, 1970