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Saturday, October 28, 2017

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Well, it has happened once again.  The book that won the Booker Prize is just really not my favorite one of the nominees.  The thing that I love is that many more of the long listed books are available to read before the prize is announced, and so I can more or less have an opinion ahead of time (although even now, I have had the experience of having read all the short listed books except for the one that won).
This year is no exception.  This book is very innovative, amongst a genre of books that seems to be popular with this prize.  It is a story told not just with prose written by the author, but also with quotes that are relevant to the story and which revolved around Abraham Lincoln and the death of his son William.  In addition to that tale, there is a fictionalized story that revolves around death, the meaning of death, and what the logistics of death are, for both those who die and those who are left behind.  It is interesting and well worth reading and thinking about.  Just not my pick to win.

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