Lincoln in the Bardo Part 1

This week Rhea and Shari begin their deep read of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. It’s a weird one! But so worth the effort, as Rhea and Shari discuss in this first episode. They talk about Saunders’s unorthodox way of telling this story, how the novel reads almost like a play—but then again, doesn’t. They talk about the opportunities and limitations of this odd story-telling style, new ways they are discovering—or may yet discover—on how to participate with the story that other, more traditional narrating styles don’t offer, ghost personalities, and where they think the “water begins to boil.”

Here are links to some of the resources they mentioned in the episode:

• George Saunders at the New Yorker

• What to do with a potentially book-ruining problem, article on Substack (available to free subscribers)

• Story Club with George Saunders (on Substack)

• George Saunders website

The rest of our reading schedule for L in the B:

• Oct 15: pp 89-176

• Oct 22: pp 177-262

• Oct 29: pp 263-343 (end)