Open Books West Loop Book Club discussion

Greetings book clubbers, our last meeting set a record for attendance with eighteen attendees. We welcomed first timers: Sam, Ela, Elora and E. Plus the return of MaryAnn after a long hiatus. Our moderator Tammy did a great job preparing for the meeting and keeping the discussion on track throughout. Compliments to everyone for being respectful of each other during our spirited and free flowing discussion. We ended right on time although I suspect we could have kept going.
Unanimity does not typify our group’s position on books. George Saunder’s Lincoln in the Bardo was no exception. The story takes place in the “bardo”, a term Saunder’s borrowed from Buddhism for what might be called “justafterlife”. At the center is the ghost of Willie Lincoln, son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, who died at age 11 of typhoid fever during the second year of the Civil War. The dead boy’s spirit wants to stay in the cemetery for the sake of his father’s visits. The entire novel takes place over a single night and does not leave the graveyard. The ghosts narrate most of the novel.
Tammy’s exit poll elicited a myriad of comments pro and con: Starting from the highpoints, “really excellent” per Elora. Also E, albeit not being a fan of contemporary literature, “loved it”. “The writing was beautiful” so Ela would recommend it. Rachel was “surprised” in a positive way.
We drifted down from these lofty comments to Craig’s “not disappointed”. Mary Lou “did not love it and would not recommend it”. Julie “liked” the story but could have done without the vulgarity of the ghosts. Nick would recommend the book but the “multi-voice format was annoying”. Sam concurred with Nick and others in disliking the multi-voice concept.
I felt the secondary sources cited throughout the novel added considerably to the backdrop of the civil war setting. I was disappointed to learn from Ela that the excerpts from historical accounts of the civil war were fabricated.
The slide in the polling headed lower with Mary’s [just] “ok”. I’ve arbitrarily parked Megan and Carole’s feelings of indifference in the middle of the spectrum but perhaps indifference is more scathing than disliking the book. However, Carole did love the writing. Although I’m paraphrasing perhaps Carl’s “stuck in the elevator [could be] the only thing worse than reading the book” put us in uncharted waters for negative polling.
MaryAnn did not like the book. This sentiment was seconded by Tricia. She cited several reasons throughout our discussions but the most salient point being, “how can you write a civil war book but not discuss race?”
Tammy, a devotee of Saunder’s short stories, would not recommend her book selection.
Listening, participating and taking notes is challenging. We covered so much literary ground in our conversations my notes do not do justice to the ongoing commentary. The following paragraphs although semi-accurate sadly do not adequately reflect the breath and scope of our lively discussion.
Tammy kicked off the discussion with a quote on cemeteries. Is the cemetery the focal point of the book or is it the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and his son Willie. Tricia felt the cemetery setting was almost too much in your face. Seemingly a cemetery would be historically focused but the setting of the hospital yard (cemetery) is filled with ghosts who live in the present. Loitering long after death reliving and retelling the same stories of regret of failing to live out their desires while alive. E found the setting comfortable for the ghosts. It saved them from judgment. Doomed to a Ground Hogs Day existence they still formed a community of their own. Mary Lou also felt the hospital yard was a comfortable setting.
Elora disagreed and found the cemetery negative. “There was a denial of mourning”. Tricia felt it was “not a positive community…not a happy place when reliving regrets every day”.
The ghosts rush about a great deal, detonating “matterlightblooming” explosions whenever one accepts death and shoots off to wherever. Craig felt this end is a release for them.
The humanizing of Lincoln was another topic of discussion. One hundred fifty two years after his death we still revere Lincoln both as a man and the President. Biographies, memorials, movies, statutes continue to remind us of his greatness. Compared to other presidents he is in the pantheon of great leaders. As a counter-point to this present day sentiment Saunder’s novel humanized Lincoln, first as a grieving father who mourns the loss of his young son. He rides alone to the graveyard to caress the head of his lifeless boy. As the ghosts of Bevins and Vollman pass through the president’s body we hear Lincoln wrestling with his faith, struggling to maintain his composure against the grief and the torrent of criticism from a nation shocked by the carnage of war.
In February of 1862 the Union army captured Fort Donelson although the victory came at a high price of 15,000 casualties which shocked both the north and the south. This battle foreshadows massive casualties for the rest of the war. While in the cemetery the president realizes that his own grief has already been endured by thousands of fathers and mothers across the country. Lincoln comes to realize late in the novel that “the swiftest halt to the war (therefore the greatest mercy) might be the bloodiest”. It’s moral reckoning that in waging the war he must kill more efficiently. This epiphany also serves to humanize him.
We talked extensively about the novel’s ending. We did reach a consensus – although for different reasons – Lincoln in the Bardo had a disappointing ending. E provided our group a synopsis of several chapters that would have sufficed as a logical end point. Several attendees felt as a short story writer Saunder’s was uncertain how to close out his first full length novel. Craig and others felt Saunders “shoe-horned” the ending but it did not work.
Another point about the ending was Saunder’s changing the rules regarding the ghosts at the very end of his novel. It seemed ok for the ghosts to enter the living and sense the person’s thoughts but not transmit ideas. This transgression occurred when the ghost of the slave Havens entered Lincoln attempting to induce the President “to do something for us” for the cause for the emancipation. This is not consistent with the earlier chapters. Is Havens escaping inside Lincoln? Is it a symbolic gesture of the living and dead moving together or was it just a final throw in?