Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders and Feet of Clay by Sir Terry Pratchett.
The Nightingale has been given a 4.8 rating by 35,000 Amazon reviewers. I hated it. The voice is supposedly that of a French woman born in the 1920's, who behaved heroically during WWII, but the tone is 21st century American through and through and for me, at least, not at all believable. The anachronisms begin on page one and are a pervasive irritant. The writing seemed flat, the characters all sounded the same. The plot is based, in detail, on real people and events that probably should have been credited in the forward. If the book were well written this wouldn't matter, but here it seems like one more strike. I'm in a tiny minority here. Most people loved it.
The Bardo is a place of infinite possibility where the soul awaits rebirth. It's not a nice place and one's experience there determines whether one moves up or down the chain of being. Willie Lincoln is in the Bardo and his father can't let go. Some readers found this Joycean, but the style reminded reminded me of Dos Pasos' USA Trilogy with many voices clamoring for attention. I'm not liking it as much as I had hoped. There is some rough language; souls in limbo are trying to find themselves and aren't much concerned with proprieties.
Feet of Clay Old men are dying. Golems are implicated. The watch is on the case.
Cheers.
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