As in also 'touch', and 'taste', and 'smell', and 'hear' the stage setting which 'Lincoln in the Bardo' starts, unfolds and closes out on?
I'm waiting for folks to realise that George's lauded stringing together of escalatory vignettes is a novel to read or have read aloud; is yes the stuff from which fine operatic librettos may be written matched to fine musical compositions and sung; but is also, notwithstanding winning 'The Booker' in 2017, an epic poem which packs the same visionary tour-de-force impact as William Blake in his finest writings delivers?
Just a couple of passing thoughts that have occurred to me on the back of your wonder at 'seeing' the setting of Bardo in Hyper-Super-Dooper-HD... just what camera technology was George pointing, framing and snapping with?
"No Sallie! Surely not? The Latest Polaroid Snapster? Wow... where can I go get one by yesterday?"
". . . telling someone’s story is an act of love, and that the love comes in the form of the small details that otherwise would be lost to time . . . "
These words brought me to tears today. There is so much love in the act of sharing, and in the act of listening as well. I'm working at being better at both.
Thank you for taking us along on your journey, George, and for always sharing so much of your own story with us . . .
I’ve been meaning to share this for a while now, and this post seems like the perfect wobbly bridge to do so. There is something truly inspiring about the story and the language of ”Bardo”. I remember reading the first pages and feeling an irresistible urge to run to my laptop and write my own stuff. Not sure if you take this as a compliment, but the book continued to sling from my hands many times throughout the story. Only a couple of stories have done so ’fore or since, but never have they induced quite a similar jolt of inspiration. It’s been long overdue, so thank you, George!
Ps. The book is in surprisingly healthy condition considering the abuse inflicted on it by its erratic owner.
Great photos---lovely trip & congrats, George! Sorry I couldn't join you. I've been in DC a long time & the Jefferson Bldg is by far my favorite place (the reception rooms at the State Dept & the top floor of the Treasury Bldg, glamorous as they are, are close seconds but neither quite imparts LoC's majesty. Even the White House seems only so-so comparatively.) I've spent many wonderful hours in that reading room & once landed a gig with the special events division, which was a joy. So glad your trip here was filled with not only the honor but the reward of visiting once again Oak Hill, the place so dear to you. And can't say enough good things about Politics & Prose--best bookstore ever. Congrats again, George!
Love Politics and Prose! And of course, Comet Ping Pong for a quick bite before a reading.... I used to have a card for the reading room, too, Roseanne. I bet we sat near one another at some point without knowing it! That building is heaven on earth. Just gorgeous.
Never been to D.C., so the only picture I have of Oak Hill is the one you gave me in Lincoln in the Bardo. Besides the crypt being on a hill, it looks eerily similar to what I had in mind.
What a great trip! Thank you for sharing so much of it with us. I am impressed with everyone you mentioned, and also very much by these many synchronicities.
Beautiful photos—I especially liked the Jefferson Building balcony.
"As happens whenever I hear a beautiful talk by a writer, it made me proud to be a writer myself, and made me want to rush back home and get started again."
I also hope she publishes this! It's worth noting that the work which most strongly invoked this feeling, for me, was A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.
GS - so sorry to have missed you. I’m a DC resident but as McFate would have it, on the day, I was in Woods Hole on Cape Cod for my daughter’s wedding. If I’d been here I would have been at the event and in that long line waiting to have a book signed. I remember making a pilgrimage to Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown after reading Bardo a number of years back. I had no guide so I stumbled around for an hour or so until I found the crypt.
Anyway, sorry to have missed saying “Hey” in person. (You were put up at the Hay Adam’s? Aren’t we fancy. One of the best views of DC from the roof.
Thanks you so very much for all those pictures, and the wonderful captions that went with them. I think we're all flattered that you would share the whole experience of this trip with us in such a personal way.
GS! Thank you for sharing the joys and the wonders you encountered in DC. How wonderful for a reader of L in the B to see your photos of the setting of your novel. As I listened the audiobook, my imagination saw all the architecture in a grey haze, as if the ghosts lived in a realm that was as insubstantial as they were. I get it, now: the dead souls rise and fall among the persistent grass and the stalwart stones. And the living humans walk those paths remembering their dead.
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your trip in pictures. It’s wonderful to see the setting for so many of the scenes you wrote. And that key. How must that have felt to hold in your hand? If objects have an ability to hold an emotional charge, I can imagine that key holds a pretty strong one.
There's something in your trip narrative and photos that reveals beautifully just how special this trip to DC and the honor were. I can (I think) see it in your eyes. I hope the memory brings you joy for years.
When I was a student, then employee, at UVA back in the 70s and early 80s, I got up to DC frequently. Less buzzy than it is now, I have many wonderful memories--Georgetown, first visit to Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, seeing a show in Ford Theater, the Wright Bros plane, Library of Congress, and being on the Plaza the night of the Bicentennial fireworks display. But I've never been to Oak Hill Cemetery, and I like cemeteries.
But this is Your Moment, not mine, and I want to offer my humble appreciation for your humility and humanity. Cheers!
What a treat, George. Congratulations on your award too. So well deserved! Thanks so much for the photos. It’s like “I know what you did this summer” ... on your summer vacation! Bravo! Oh and so excited about the opera!
I’ve loved D.C. since I worked there in 1976. All the Bicentennial festivities were going on, and I was a young man taking advantage of it. It wasn’t full advantage because I was only 20 and I was single and I had my head up my ass. But I was suitably curious and properly reverential. And my older sister lived on The Hill so I had a guide.
It's so changed, sorry to say. Back then you could pretty much go in & out of wherever and as you pleased, as I'm sure you must recall. I was dating someone who worked in the White House then & we'd meet up after work for dinner & the guard--nominal, to put it mildly!, basically a guy in a blue uniform sitting on a stool--would just smile as I waltzed into the OEOB like I owned the joint. Them days is gone! January 6th of course had a lot to do with it, but long before then the part of PA Ave in front of the White House was closed to traffic as was the Ellipse. No more just showing up for the lighting of the Christmas tree, or going over to the Marine barracks for a concert, or to lunch at the officers' club at Ft. McNair (where the conspirators involved in Lincoln's assassination were hanged---chilling to see that spot). Much of the best parts of the city, our city, are now jersey-walled or stanchioned and of course metal detectors everywhere. It could be really dispiriting--it could be, but it's still a great place.
Yes, I have been many times since (including the Colbert/Stewart extravaganza), and each time it gets a bit more some-other-country-ish. I suppose we who love it just have to double-down on the love and civility.
I had a lot more hair, and it was much longer, and that child then was the furthest thing from my mind. I was only “accidentally” on the East Coast, but I made the most of it for as long as I could. I think you bought me a cappuccino and suggested we go check out R. Buckminster Fuller at World Game up in Phillie…
Wonderful to see the places we've "seen" in Bardo.
I was thinking the same thing! Great photo journey.
Agree, the photos brought the scenes back to mind in a wonderful way.
I was amazed at how similar – almost exact – the photos were to the images suggested to my mind by Bardo. Somebody must have been writing well...
I am now rereading Bardo. So rich in its people, living and dead.
And more than just 'see' Sallie?
As in also 'touch', and 'taste', and 'smell', and 'hear' the stage setting which 'Lincoln in the Bardo' starts, unfolds and closes out on?
I'm waiting for folks to realise that George's lauded stringing together of escalatory vignettes is a novel to read or have read aloud; is yes the stuff from which fine operatic librettos may be written matched to fine musical compositions and sung; but is also, notwithstanding winning 'The Booker' in 2017, an epic poem which packs the same visionary tour-de-force impact as William Blake in his finest writings delivers?
Just a couple of passing thoughts that have occurred to me on the back of your wonder at 'seeing' the setting of Bardo in Hyper-Super-Dooper-HD... just what camera technology was George pointing, framing and snapping with?
"No Sallie! Surely not? The Latest Polaroid Snapster? Wow... where can I go get one by yesterday?"
Glad you're home George, and most sincere Congratulations on such Eminent Recognition.
It feels such a privilege to be in your company at "Story Club." Thank you for all you do.
". . . telling someone’s story is an act of love, and that the love comes in the form of the small details that otherwise would be lost to time . . . "
These words brought me to tears today. There is so much love in the act of sharing, and in the act of listening as well. I'm working at being better at both.
Thank you for taking us along on your journey, George, and for always sharing so much of your own story with us . . .
I’ve been meaning to share this for a while now, and this post seems like the perfect wobbly bridge to do so. There is something truly inspiring about the story and the language of ”Bardo”. I remember reading the first pages and feeling an irresistible urge to run to my laptop and write my own stuff. Not sure if you take this as a compliment, but the book continued to sling from my hands many times throughout the story. Only a couple of stories have done so ’fore or since, but never have they induced quite a similar jolt of inspiration. It’s been long overdue, so thank you, George!
Ps. The book is in surprisingly healthy condition considering the abuse inflicted on it by its erratic owner.
What a fabulous tale of inspiration!
Great photos---lovely trip & congrats, George! Sorry I couldn't join you. I've been in DC a long time & the Jefferson Bldg is by far my favorite place (the reception rooms at the State Dept & the top floor of the Treasury Bldg, glamorous as they are, are close seconds but neither quite imparts LoC's majesty. Even the White House seems only so-so comparatively.) I've spent many wonderful hours in that reading room & once landed a gig with the special events division, which was a joy. So glad your trip here was filled with not only the honor but the reward of visiting once again Oak Hill, the place so dear to you. And can't say enough good things about Politics & Prose--best bookstore ever. Congrats again, George!
Love Politics and Prose! And of course, Comet Ping Pong for a quick bite before a reading.... I used to have a card for the reading room, too, Roseanne. I bet we sat near one another at some point without knowing it! That building is heaven on earth. Just gorgeous.
Never been to D.C., so the only picture I have of Oak Hill is the one you gave me in Lincoln in the Bardo. Besides the crypt being on a hill, it looks eerily similar to what I had in mind.
Looking forward to Sunday!
What a great trip! Thank you for sharing so much of it with us. I am impressed with everyone you mentioned, and also very much by these many synchronicities.
Beautiful photos—I especially liked the Jefferson Building balcony.
"As happens whenever I hear a beautiful talk by a writer, it made me proud to be a writer myself, and made me want to rush back home and get started again."
I also hope she publishes this! It's worth noting that the work which most strongly invoked this feeling, for me, was A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.
I'm swimming in the rain with you..That's alive to me^^^^
Yes💞 I was struck by her generosity to Faulkner. I need to read her books🌷
GS - so sorry to have missed you. I’m a DC resident but as McFate would have it, on the day, I was in Woods Hole on Cape Cod for my daughter’s wedding. If I’d been here I would have been at the event and in that long line waiting to have a book signed. I remember making a pilgrimage to Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown after reading Bardo a number of years back. I had no guide so I stumbled around for an hour or so until I found the crypt.
Anyway, sorry to have missed saying “Hey” in person. (You were put up at the Hay Adam’s? Aren’t we fancy. One of the best views of DC from the roof.
Congratulations on your daughter's wedding!
Thanks mg
Thanks you so very much for all those pictures, and the wonderful captions that went with them. I think we're all flattered that you would share the whole experience of this trip with us in such a personal way.
GS! Thank you for sharing the joys and the wonders you encountered in DC. How wonderful for a reader of L in the B to see your photos of the setting of your novel. As I listened the audiobook, my imagination saw all the architecture in a grey haze, as if the ghosts lived in a realm that was as insubstantial as they were. I get it, now: the dead souls rise and fall among the persistent grass and the stalwart stones. And the living humans walk those paths remembering their dead.
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your trip in pictures. It’s wonderful to see the setting for so many of the scenes you wrote. And that key. How must that have felt to hold in your hand? If objects have an ability to hold an emotional charge, I can imagine that key holds a pretty strong one.
There's something in your trip narrative and photos that reveals beautifully just how special this trip to DC and the honor were. I can (I think) see it in your eyes. I hope the memory brings you joy for years.
When I was a student, then employee, at UVA back in the 70s and early 80s, I got up to DC frequently. Less buzzy than it is now, I have many wonderful memories--Georgetown, first visit to Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, seeing a show in Ford Theater, the Wright Bros plane, Library of Congress, and being on the Plaza the night of the Bicentennial fireworks display. But I've never been to Oak Hill Cemetery, and I like cemeteries.
But this is Your Moment, not mine, and I want to offer my humble appreciation for your humility and humanity. Cheers!
These photos from you today brought me back to the magic of Lincoln In The Bardo. Thanks for your way of showing up for us!
What a treat, George. Congratulations on your award too. So well deserved! Thanks so much for the photos. It’s like “I know what you did this summer” ... on your summer vacation! Bravo! Oh and so excited about the opera!
Right! Hope some of us can make it to experience it!!
I’ve loved D.C. since I worked there in 1976. All the Bicentennial festivities were going on, and I was a young man taking advantage of it. It wasn’t full advantage because I was only 20 and I was single and I had my head up my ass. But I was suitably curious and properly reverential. And my older sister lived on The Hill so I had a guide.
Thanks for the travelogue and the memories.
I was in DC in July 1976 also, Andy. I walked all around the city, soaking it in as much as I was able.
It's so changed, sorry to say. Back then you could pretty much go in & out of wherever and as you pleased, as I'm sure you must recall. I was dating someone who worked in the White House then & we'd meet up after work for dinner & the guard--nominal, to put it mildly!, basically a guy in a blue uniform sitting on a stool--would just smile as I waltzed into the OEOB like I owned the joint. Them days is gone! January 6th of course had a lot to do with it, but long before then the part of PA Ave in front of the White House was closed to traffic as was the Ellipse. No more just showing up for the lighting of the Christmas tree, or going over to the Marine barracks for a concert, or to lunch at the officers' club at Ft. McNair (where the conspirators involved in Lincoln's assassination were hanged---chilling to see that spot). Much of the best parts of the city, our city, are now jersey-walled or stanchioned and of course metal detectors everywhere. It could be really dispiriting--it could be, but it's still a great place.
Maybe it will change back, or forward, someday….
Yes, I have been many times since (including the Colbert/Stewart extravaganza), and each time it gets a bit more some-other-country-ish. I suppose we who love it just have to double-down on the love and civility.
Very cool! Yes, I remember seeing you there among the July 4th throng. You look the same except you didn’t have a child on your shoulders.
I had a lot more hair, and it was much longer, and that child then was the furthest thing from my mind. I was only “accidentally” on the East Coast, but I made the most of it for as long as I could. I think you bought me a cappuccino and suggested we go check out R. Buckminster Fuller at World Game up in Phillie…
Nailed it.
That entire summer was a verb.
That's a funny line. Consider it stolen!
the verb to be^^
I was there too..just up the road at Uv.of Maryland^^
So much history, so wonderful. Went there on a school trip years ago - will never forget it. I’ve got to go back now, older, to appreciate it fully.
Full circle!
Where did you work?
Russell Senate Office Building. Though “work” is too grandiose a term for what an intern did.
Let us not quibble! Work is work!