Bronze Anthology Book Review

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017)

ISBN: 9780812995343

Overview
The winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize and a highly acclaimed book, which was supposedly about the death of President Lincoln’s son, Willie, and his proceeding time in the bardo – a transitional state, like purgatory, according to Tibetan Buddhism.

In Three Words

Nothing…

Confusion…

Hodgepodge

Overall Thoughts
By the fifth chapter, there should be some understanding of the plot or characters, but there was none. There was a hodgepodge of short statements that was supposed to come together into a meaningful story, but there was none. Perhaps those statements would eventually get there, but time is fleeting, life is short, and I would rather be folding laundry.

Our Bronze Star Rating

It is a good read for anyone that enjoys a book best characterized as being an avant-garde ‘kaleidoscope, (and) theatrical panorama of voices – living and dead, historical and invested.’ It is not a good read for anyone that expects a book to have a story instead of random, disconnected statements. Overall, it is a single bronze star read, because I did not and could not read past the first five chapters despite two failed attempts.