The Fairfax Library Book
Discussion Group will meet, Thursday, October 11th at 7 p.m. in the meeting
room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our October book, Lincoln in the
Bardo by George Saunders
Discussion questions, author
interview and reviews are attached.
Here are some links for
additional background and information:
Coming up, we have the
following books to look forward to reading:
Thurs. Nov. 8th The Essex Serpent
by Sarah Perry
Thurs. Dec.
13th The Mothers
by Brit Bennett
Thanks for reading with
us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.
Beth
Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax
Library
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. The presence of a child in the bardo is rare, but what other
things about Willie make him different from the other ghosts?
2. Which of the ghosts’ stories resonated with you the most?
3. How did the style and form of the book enhance or detract from
your experience of the story? What did you think of the author’s decision to
include snippets of real, historical sources among the fictional narration?
4. In what ways do the social structures of this time period
manifest in the bardo? How does Saunders play with and explore historical
attitudes towards race and class throughout the novel?
5. In what ways does Saunders challenge and expand the genre of
historical fiction? Why do you think Lincoln and his legacy remain such popular
subjects in literature today?
6. It is unknown, both to the reader and to the character of the
Reverend Everly Thomas, why he is damned, even though he understands that he is
dead. What do you think is meant by this omission?
7. On page 87, the Reverend Everly Thomas explains the Barons’
existence on either side of the dreaded fence as not about wealth per se, but
about being “wealthy in spirit.” Discuss what this means, and how it relates to
the slaves’ ability to be near the fence while the other ghosts remain unable
to stand such proximity.
8. Roger Bevins says that “all were in sorrow, or had been, or
soon would be.” Vollman responds by saying “It was the nature of things” and
that we are all “suffering, limited beings.” Do you agree?
9. George Saunders has described the question at the core of this
book as, “How do we continue to love in a world in which the objects of our
love are so conditional?” Did you find this to be true, and do you feel like
you came to a deeper understanding of mortality?
10. Towards the end, the ghosts unite in an attempt to “enter”
Lincoln’s mind and stop him from leaving the graveyard. In doing so, they find
themselves transformed from their wretched states, remembering parts of their
lives that had been lost to them since entering the bardo. Discuss the
significance of this transformation.
11. Discuss the final scene, in which Thomas Havens follows
Lincoln out of the graveyard on horseback. What do you think this foreshadows?
