Literature

Lincoln in the Bardo    by George Saunders                               Random House Publishing 2017 368 pages

Beset by tragedy, Lincoln nonetheless, became a revered President. At a young age, he lost his mother, then his older sister who, after their mother’s death raised him. Marrying Mary Todd, Lincoln went on the father 4 sons: Robert, Edward, William “Willie” and Thomas. Edward died in 1850, aged four years, of tuberculosis, Willie, died in 1862, aged 11 years of a fever and Thomas, died in 1871, aged 18. Lincoln in the Bardo relates the story of Lincoln’s grief at losing his son Willie and of Willie’s time, after his death, in the bardo.

And what a story. According to Buddhist beliefs, the bardo is a transitional place/time between life and rebirth. Following his death, Willie is placed in a crypt which his father, Lincoln, visits regularly, to cry and hold him.  His grief is palpable.

Willie is bewildered finding himself a spectre, dead but still part of this world, albeit a bizarre world of spirits who, like himself, are dead in the eyes of the world. The only child in this spectral community, Willie is surrounded by spirits (who died as adults) who socialize, commiserate, bicker and quarrel with one another. Willie is caught in a struggle between two groups of spirits, one of whom wants him to remain in the bardo, the other, who want him to transition to the afterlife.

As Willie, by times terrified or curious, becomes a part of this community, he is introduced to the other spirits, their lives and the deeds for which they must atone and do penance.

 

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