Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Date listened: April 4 to 6, 2017
Sister Read Review by Norma and Brenda
We both listened to the audio version of LINCOLN IN THE BARDO by GEORGE SANDERS and found it to be quite the entertaining, compelling, and unique listening experience. It’s a performance with a 166-person full cast with actors, musicians, and a number of Saunders’ family, friends, and members of his publishing team.
To name a few:
Nick Offerman
David Sedaris
Ben Stiller
Julianne Moore
Susan Sarandon
Megan Mullally
This story does take a little bit of work and having some background information on the story, how it is written, and how the audio version is performed will make the story less confusing. The payoff is worth it!
Norma’s thoughts: Normally I go into a book completely blind but under Brenda’s suggestion I did not do that this time. Although, I still found it a little confusing and was lost at times, it did make it a little better knowing what to expect. We suggest not going into this one blind as a little bit of the books knowledge will make this a better read. This time around for our “Sister Read” Brenda enjoyed this book a little bit more than I did.
LINCOLN IN THE BARDO is not your typical story it is confusing and complicated but yet it is a simple story about family, loss, duty, acceptance, understanding, and perseverance in the face of excruciating circumstances. Voices of the ghosts talk on top of each other creating a colourful mixture of the different characters perspectives while in the “Bardo”. (Definition: a state of existence between death and rebirth, varying in length according to a person’s conduct in life and manner of, or age at, death.)
We both listened to the audiobook and followed along with the Ebook and this really enhanced the experience and also made it less confusing.
Penny For Our Thoughts 