Strange, fascinating, moving, disturbing, challenging, poignant, and human. Oh, so very human.

This is a book that delves deep into the human condition and the particular human penchant for storytelling. It presents a myriad cast of characters, each obsessed with his or her own story. With telling it to others. And to living it out, over and over. They are stuck in their stories. Limited by them. Blinded by them. Stories of regret, sorrow, and unfinished lives. Unhappy stories.

Altogether, the chorus of voices communicates the complexities, the at times confusing paradoxical intricacies, of humanness. Though it can be a painful struggle at times to wade through the requisite suffering, there is balancing hope, joy, and compassion as a reward.

The audio production is laudable and impressive.

I really thought I was going to love this book and it just let me down. Maybe my expectations were too high but I was so not into it that I abandoned the read half way through.

The audiobook version is wonderful with a full cast of 166 different narrators, although it takes a little while to get used to the footnotes.

The undead in the Bardo tell their stories as Willie Lincoln arrives - they do not know they are dead and they are afraid of the transition to eternity. Their story is interlaced with real and fictional quotes of the times - the tragedy of the civil war, of Willie's death and Lincoln's grief. And a philosophy of life that drives the story.

I had heard a lot about this book and it was also recommended to me by a friend who works in the world of movies, so I had high expectations (not for the rave reviews, though, I have learnt to be cautious with them, but for my friend's opinion). It is an "experimental novel" due to the particular narrative style. Young Will, one of Lincoln's sons, dies and is temporarily brought to a cemetery in Georgetown. Here his father, unable to let him go, visits him and holds his corpse (true story). This is the main plot, but it gets more interesting, because the story is mostly told by several ghosts, who inhabit the cemetery and do their best to convince Will's spirit to leave and reach the other side, the proper place for him. Lincoln's love and desperation keep Will anchored to the wrong dimension, the cemetery, and the other specters tell us their stories while slowly helping the boy to move on. As I said before, the narrative style is unusual. Different ghosts pronounce parts of the same sentence, as if they were different voices of the same mind. The graphic reminded me of a play, because the names of the characters appear near what they say. I have to admit, it was a bit tiring, because of course I am used to a more flowing narrative and there are 166 characters here, but the final impression was that of a chorus, like in the Greek tragedies. Although I personally would not define this book one of the best that I have read, it is certainly very original and moving. Bardo is an intermediate space between death and rebirth in Buddhism, somehow like the Catholic Purgatory but with much less pain, it seems, from where the dead observe the living. If you have seen the play "Kodachrome" by Adam Szymkowicz you get an idea. Although there is lot of pain and loss, as well as regret, in the book, the final message is one of hope. Life doesn't end with death and the people we love are never really lost. It's not an easy book to read, but a sort of challenge, not only of our skills as readers but also as human beings.

This was a clever novel, nicely put together from letters and histories about Lincoln of the time, interwoven with the voices of the dead who refuse to accept death. It all takes place in the cemetery where Lincoln's child, Will, is taken to be interred. I didn't quite get the metaphor of the ghosts, during reading, but I figure now they represent the aspect of our culture that denies death so strenuously that it impairs their ability to live.

If you like Lincoln in the Bardo, try Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters and Our Town by Thornton Wilder. They all provide perspectives on life, for the living, by those who have passed. Enjoy your days, moment by moment. Do not dwell upon them but do take time to reflect now and then.

I enjoyed the book, but not as much as other works by this author--hard to follow. The ghosts denying death reminded me of many people who deny the obvious.,

Oddly composed of snippets of this and that, but I'm still at the beginning and a bit derailed by the over-the-top lavish state banquet, with all the exquisite confections and entrees, on the same night that Willie dies.

Later: Those who speak are in neither heaven nor hell, but caught by their own unsettled minds where their remains are buried. Stubbornly self-engrossed and unresolved, they find Lincoln's presence a very welcome respite. But demons dwell there too. A compelling work that still stays in my mind.

Kris--PR Library

As Salieri said of Mozart's music in the film Amadeus "This was something entirely new."

Every now and then, a piece of art emerges that forces to rethink how we define that particular genre. Picasso, Pollock, Manet, Seurat, all put forth paintings in styles previously unknown, e e Cummings caused us to view poetry in a new way, and as Salieri observed, Mozart gave us music that was entirely new.

With this book, George Saunders has expanded our definition of what constitutes a novel, a fictional work of literature. It is difficult to find our way at times in this book, but that is noone' s fault. We are breaking new ground and that is an effort that goes slowly. The writing, if odd, is beautifully crafted. The ideas of the aftetlife, if unusual, are beautifully described. And the grief of Mr. Lincoln for his dead son is so raw and immediate, you feel as though you should turn away from witnessing such an intimate moment.

This book is the heir to Master's Spoon River Anthology, itself a groundbreaking play. If that work appealed to you at all, give this one a go and bring an open mind. I am guessing that you, like me, will never define the novel in quite the same way after reading this book.