Young Willie Lincoln dies, and his grieving father visits the gravesite, stranding the boy between the worlds of the living and the dead; so it's up to three ghosts, also hanging in limbo, to help the boy through his passage in George Saunders' offbeat literary sensation Lincoln in the Bardo.
Saunders uses an unusual structure for his story--almost like an oral history--with literally hundreds of voices, some historic accounts and others fiction, in a fragmented style. I am guessing its presentation is not for all readers. In its setting and framework it most reminded me of Thorton Wilder's play Our Town, and perhaps because of this I think I enjoyed it the best way possible, as an audiobook.
Lincoln in the Bardo has been billed as the first all-star audiobook, and there is an argument to be made there; voices include Nick Offerman, David Sedaris (a great audiobook reader of his own work), Ben Stiller, Julianne Moore, Rainn Wilson, Susan Sarandon, Don Cheadle, Megan Mullally, Bill Hader, Keegan Michael-Key, and many more.
Saunders' book is challenging in its style and interesting in its ideas. I would recommend the audiobook version experience.
I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.
Saunders uses an unusual structure for his story--almost like an oral history--with literally hundreds of voices, some historic accounts and others fiction, in a fragmented style. I am guessing its presentation is not for all readers. In its setting and framework it most reminded me of Thorton Wilder's play Our Town, and perhaps because of this I think I enjoyed it the best way possible, as an audiobook.
Lincoln in the Bardo has been billed as the first all-star audiobook, and there is an argument to be made there; voices include Nick Offerman, David Sedaris (a great audiobook reader of his own work), Ben Stiller, Julianne Moore, Rainn Wilson, Susan Sarandon, Don Cheadle, Megan Mullally, Bill Hader, Keegan Michael-Key, and many more.
Saunders' book is challenging in its style and interesting in its ideas. I would recommend the audiobook version experience.
I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.
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