Lincoln in the Bardo is a story that you chew on. You can't just sip it and multitask and hope to passively absorb it. You have to pay attention and actively read (or listen, in my case). But it's so rewarding when you finish it, and worth the extra mental effort.
And there's the Reverend Everly Thomas, who has "eyebrows arched high...hair sticking straight up...mouth in a perfect O of terror." But despite his surprising appearance, he speaks with "the utmost calmness and good sense." If you're wondering why the Reverend hasn't managed to move on, his story delves into the judgement phase of death that we don't see with the others (and which was executed unnervingly in the audiobook).
And there's Mrs. Blass, once wealthy, but in death smaller than a baby, who gnaws at rocks and twigs, gathering and zealously defending them, counting and recounting her possessions, always short a few things.
What the book reveals, that I won't, is each of their backstories - how they died and why they are stuck in the cemetery. Saunders makes each ghost unique and strange with paralleles between their lives and afterlives that are both compelling and at times, unclear.
What is clear, however, is that everyone is "stuck" in a way in the cemetery. Bound to the bardo. But there are ways to leave. In fact, a lot of the newly dead briefly come to the cemetery but quickly move on. But for those who don't, occasionally they are visited by sinister creatures, who come in a form most tempting to each individual and compel as many as they can to leave. Those who do, disappear with a lightning crack.
Another thing that is revealed is that the bardo is not a space for children. So when Willie shows up, the others become concerned after he lingers longer than he should. They don't want him to end up like Elise, the 14 year-old girl who ended up staying...
But there is something about Willie's father, who visits, and mourns, and holds Willie in death. Everyone sees something about him that makes them believe they can use him to help Willie leave.
There is so much to unpack in this book, which is strange, funny, and haunting all at once. You'll think about your life and death and everything in between. I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil some of the other themes that are explored in this book, mainly those having to do with why the ghosts won't leave the Bardo and the toll that staying takes on them.
A note about the format of this book: I listened to the audiobook and found myself scratching my head. There are so many characters who just...speak. Meaning, one person talks, then another, and there isn't any narration or even mention of "this person said..." or "replied this other person..." And there were a lot of characters, so I kept getting lost in terms of who was who.
So I was really curious about what the hardcopy text actually looked like. And when I saw the formatting, it all came together. Here's an example:
Efficacious
roger bevins iii
Yes, efficacious, thank you friend
hans vollman
So each character speaks and you know who it is by seeing their name below what is spoken. But that is lost in the audiobook. Although, the audiobook was great in that each character was a separate voice actor. So hearing Nick Offerman (as Hans Vollman) talk about pooping in his sickbox in the first chapter was a very rewarding experience, but also very confusing, because I had no idea what he was talking about.
The book is also written in alternating chapters. One is in the cemetery with the ghosts. The next is a series of citations, some real, some not, that gives context to the events leading to Willie's death. The citation chapters are also strange to hear via audiobook and might be a reason to pick up the actual book instead.
In the end, I listened to the last part of the book using both the audio and hard copy versions and felt like I got more out of it that way. I even went back and reread certain parts, which made more sense after I realized what was going on.
But whatever your medium, give it a try. This is a book unlike any other you've read. And it's worth the effort.