November 2019 Bookclub News

George Saunders....... and......

Dear Bookclub,

George Saunders - who is this man, creator of "Lincoln in the Bardo"? Of course he graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in exploration geophysics. That explains not a bit, except that his path as a writer is as unusual as his work. Here in his own very entertaining words:

http://www.georgesaundersbooks.com/about

....Abe......a little resemblance?

Having a most pleasant lunch at Cafe Luna, sitting outside around a polished tree slice table, we were endeared to Lincoln's compassion. The deep pain sets the stage for the his visits to the Bardo and those scenes, seemed to be most easily read and understood. Then came the ugly, the difficult, and the very, very strange. Some of us stopped enjoying, stopped reading. I have a tendency to want to read without much prior investigation so as to have my own experience; that experience is what I love about reading. Pushing through the ugly, difficult and strange led me to the ideas of judgement, birthright and a fantasy of long-dead spirits passing through Lincoln resulting in his refreshed view of the elements of the Civil War. I liked that experience even if I made it up and it was not what Saunders intended.  Now, digging around, enjoying a multitude of internet mishmash, a little clarity has emerged.

From Thomas Mallon's piece, "George Saunders Gets Inside Lincoln's Head" from The New Yorker, February 5, 2017:

"But he also elects to venture into Lincoln’s awareness and perceptions, and, when he does, it’s an all-in enterprise, a physical incursion undertaken not only to extract characterizing thoughts but also to influence them. After Lincoln says, hesitantly, of Willie’s remains, “Absent that spark, this, this lying here, is merely—,” the inserted shade of Hans Vollman orders, “Think it. Go ahead. Allow yourself to think that word.” A tremendous struggle for Willie, one with effects worthy of a Tim Burton movie, still lies ahead—“demonic beings” will soon trap him inside a stubborn carapace—but when his father lets go, accepts the boy’s death and helps to usher his spirit to a real afterlife, the consequences are world-shaping. Vollman and Roger Bevins perceive a Lincoln who now fully understands and embraces suffering, and feels a new bloody-minded determination to win the war."

Full article:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/13/george-saunders-gets-inside-lincolns-head


Just for fun, here's a review from the Irish Times:

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/lincoln-in-the-bardo-review-george-saunders-man-booker-prize-winner-1.2989866


And finally, we need some pictures!

Please read this interesting link from " Abraham Lincoln Online"on the death and funeral of Willie Lincoln:
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/education/williedeath.htm

The receiving vault (foreground) and the tomb (background)

1865 newspaper illustration of Lincoln burial

Abraham Lincoln's tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in July 2005.

Mary Todd Lincoln, three of their four sons, including William, and Abraham Lincoln are all laid to rest in this tomb.

Moving on...
Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read prompted the all-too-familiar struggle to choose one with the longing to read them all:

"In Extremis" Lindsey Hilsum *chosen
"Rules of Civility" Amor Towles
"This Tender Land" William Kent Krugger
"Indianapolis" Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic
"The Dutch House" Ann Patchett


Up next:

Festive reading,
LK