My rating: 3 of 5 stars
One of the great tragedies to happen in the midst of the tragedy that was the U.S. Civil War was the death of Pres. Abraham Lincoln's young son Willie in early 1862. Distraught, Pres. Lincoln visits the grave of his son several times in the dead of night not long after the body is interred. Using this, George Saunders spins a ghost story about love and loss and how hard it is for both the living and the dead to move on.
Before you dive into this novel, it is important to note that Mr. Saunders does not follow the typical grammar conventions. For nearly every line of dialogue, rather than the typical "[dialogue]," said Mr. Smith you would find in a typical novel, Mr. Saunders uses citation, almost like what you would see at the end of a block quote in a non-fiction work of history or an academic paper. I found this to be both helpful and confusing. It was helpful because Mr. Saunders uses a large number of characters to narrate throughout, so the citation at the end of each bit of dialogue helped me to keep track of who was speaking at any given time. Mr. Saunders also does quote several memoirs and history books about Lincoln during this time, so the citations helped ground this work of historical fiction in some reality. However, because Mr. Saunders could move rapidly between different characters, this method of narrating could get confusing at times, especially when the action begins to really pick up at the climax.
I used the phrase "ghost story" at the top because the main cast of characters is entirely dead, though many of them either don't know it or refuse to believe it for reasons you have to read the book to understand. The way that the dead interact with the living, or attempt to, is fascinating, though it is unclear how much influence the netherworld has on the living in this book. If anything, the living seems to have a far greater influence on the dead in Saunders' telling. And yet, both sides are trying to figure out how to move on, or whether or not they want to. It's an interesting mediation on loss and grief.
There is much to like and even love in this book. The picture of Lincoln as a man is one of the best I have read outside of my typical history books. For fans of literary fiction, historical fiction, and Abraham Lincoln, I would recommend this read be put on your list.
Before you dive into this novel, it is important to note that Mr. Saunders does not follow the typical grammar conventions. For nearly every line of dialogue, rather than the typical "[dialogue]," said Mr. Smith you would find in a typical novel, Mr. Saunders uses citation, almost like what you would see at the end of a block quote in a non-fiction work of history or an academic paper. I found this to be both helpful and confusing. It was helpful because Mr. Saunders uses a large number of characters to narrate throughout, so the citation at the end of each bit of dialogue helped me to keep track of who was speaking at any given time. Mr. Saunders also does quote several memoirs and history books about Lincoln during this time, so the citations helped ground this work of historical fiction in some reality. However, because Mr. Saunders could move rapidly between different characters, this method of narrating could get confusing at times, especially when the action begins to really pick up at the climax.
I used the phrase "ghost story" at the top because the main cast of characters is entirely dead, though many of them either don't know it or refuse to believe it for reasons you have to read the book to understand. The way that the dead interact with the living, or attempt to, is fascinating, though it is unclear how much influence the netherworld has on the living in this book. If anything, the living seems to have a far greater influence on the dead in Saunders' telling. And yet, both sides are trying to figure out how to move on, or whether or not they want to. It's an interesting mediation on loss and grief.
There is much to like and even love in this book. The picture of Lincoln as a man is one of the best I have read outside of my typical history books. For fans of literary fiction, historical fiction, and Abraham Lincoln, I would recommend this read be put on your list.
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