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Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders
2017 · Literary fiction
How it reads
Lincoln in the Bardo is literary fiction (experimental historical literary fiction, specifically), and its dominant mood is melancholy. It's quietly sad, wistful and reflective. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.
It's set in a small town setting, in the historical past, told through letters, documents or mixed forms. Its central concerns are loss and grief, family and war. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something melancholy
- you want something to chew on
- you want a complete story in one book
Maybe not if…
- you need something funny or hopeful
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- literary fiction
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- established
- Setting: place
- small town
- Setting: time
- historical
- Mood / feeling
- melancholy
- Pace
- moderate
- Tone / weight
- heavy and literary
- Length
- medium
- Narrative style
- letters, documents or mixed forms
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- well known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- loss and grief, family, war
- Ending style
- bittersweet
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
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- The GulfRachel CochranShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, bittersweet ending
- The Gap of TimeJeanette WintersonShares: literary fiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
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