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Loading... Gilead: A Novelby Marilynne Robinson
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Private Comments (  )LDG | Jun 29, 2009 |   Written in the voice of an aging/dying priest to his young son to red when he is older. Told as a way to share his life with one who is too young to hear the story. OwlCat | Jun 18, 2009 | This is a very simple, beautiful novel. It is written diary-style as letters to an old man's son. This man, a pastor, married quite late in life and had one son. He knows the end is near, and even though he has faith in heaven and the fact that he has lived a good life, he still bemoans the fact that he will not be around to watch his son grow up. Thus, he tries to tell him about experiences he has had and things he has loved and cared about. Robinson is able to portray really simple occurrences in a way that is just breathtaking (like a sunset or eating a particular meal). The father also goes into present events - the wayward son of his best friend (he is actually his godfather, and the boy is named after him) has come home, and his return dredges up many hard feelings for the protagonist. This boy, a very charming troublemaker, seduced a very young girl (never sure how young) and got her pregnant. He refused to claim the baby as his own, which broke his father's heart. His homecoming forces the protagonist to examine the ideas of forgiveness, charity, and self-examination. That is one thing I liked about this character - he was never afraid to examine his soul and his conscience to discover his true feelings and intentions. Parts of the book are a little dry, but overall, it is a peaceful, lovely read. mtreseder | Jun 18, 2009 | I found this book to be very dull, and a little bit preachy. I just couldn't find anything in it to relate to—I'm not an elderly man, I don't live in a tiny town, I'm not religious... I know plenty of people love this book, but I couldn't get into it. Glad I read the library's copy. (  )goddessladyj | Jun 10, 2009 | My theory about reading fiction is that you should read it straight through in as few sittings as possible, to immerse yourself in the story, to take up residence in the world it creates. That works for Gilead, too, but it might be better to take it slow. It deserves to be savored, to be rolled around in the mind, to be meditated upon for perhaps a lifetime. It’s a lot like reading the Bible, but with more human speech and annotations by Gandhi. Congregationalist minister John Ames, nearing seventy-seven years old, sets out to write down some notes for the benefit of his six-year-old son. Ames’ heart condition has numbered his days, and he wants his son to know his family history as the descendant of three ministers, each of whom struggled to understand one errant son. Not that Ames’ child is errant, but that is part of the personal journey the story reveals in this middle-American tale set in the 1950’s. We read only Ames’ words, his meditations on his faith -- the faith his forefathers, his best friend, three wars, one terrible drought and a Depression have revealed to him. In the course of the months during which he searches his soul, we are able to watch him mend one particular tear in the fabric of his life, and experience with him a personal transcendence that prepares him for the end. This book is more philosophy than fiction, yet too dependent on its story to be simply a book of essays. Building on the lives of four ministers of the faith, Ames has compiled a Christianity we seldom see today. His faith is kind, generous, humble, forgiving, intelligent, thoughtful, wise and incredibly human. Ames’ failings -- as ordinary as they are heartbreaking -- provide poignancy to his story, but his struggles to be worthy of his God are mighty. Be forewarned: this is not a charming book of homilies, nor a set of Hallmark messages that capture tender moments. This complex, demanding story of the quest for divine grace is only just close enough to the earth for ordinary readers to catch hold of, and only then if we are willing to stand on tip-toe. My one criticism is best expressed as a question: why is it only the men in this book who struggle with deep and demanding thoughts, who must find their way to divine truth and make decisions that will define the path for themselves, their families and their congregations? The women are very much in the background, in the role of gentle, understanding caretakers and wise but quiet nurturers. Not for them the heady world of thought and decision. Clearly, Marilynne Robinson herself chose another path, but then she was also born into another age. (  )kambrogi | Jun 7, 2009 | 9  0.062 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com (ISBN 0374153892, Hardcover)In 1981, Marilynne Robinson wrote Housekeeping, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award and became a modern classic. Since then, she has written two pieces of nonfiction: Mother Country and The Death of Adam. With Gilead, we have, at last, another work of fiction. As with The Great Fire, Shirley Hazzards's return, 22 years after The Transit of Venus, it was worth the long wait. Books such as these take time, and thought, and a certain kind of genius. There are no invidious comparisons to be made. Robinson's books are unalike in every way but one: the same incisive thought and careful prose illuminate both.The narrator, John Ames, is 76, a preacher who has lived almost all of his life in Gilead, Iowa. He is writing a letter to his almost seven-year-old son, the blessing of his second marriage. It is a summing-up, an apologia, a consideration of his life. Robinson takes the story away from being simply the reminiscences of one man and moves it into the realm of a meditation on fathers and children, particularly sons, on faith, and on the imperfectability of man. The reason for the letter is Ames's failing health. He wants to leave an account of himself for this son who will never really know him. His greatest regret is that he hasn't much to leave them, in worldly terms. "Your mother told you I'm writing your begats, and you seemed very pleased with the idea. Well, then. What should I record for you?" In the course of the narrative, John Ames records himself, inside and out, in a meditative style. Robinson's prose asks the reader to slow down to the pace of an old man in Gilead, Iowa, in 1956. Ames writes of his father and grandfather, estranged over his grandfather's departure for Kansas to march for abolition and his father's lifelong pacifism. The tension between them, their love for each other and their inability to bridge the chasm of their beliefs is a constant source of rumination for John Ames. Fathers and sons. The other constant in the book is Ames's friendship since childhood with "old Boughton," a Presbyterian minister. Boughton, father of many children, favors his son, named John Ames Boughton, above all others. Ames must constantly monitor his tendency to be envious of Boughton's bounteous family; his first wife died in childbirth and the baby died almost immediately after her. Jack Boughton is a ne'er-do-well, Ames knows it and strives to love him as he knows he should. Jack arrives in Gilead after a long absence, full of charm and mischief, causing Ames to wonder what influence he might have on Ames's young wife and son when Ames dies. These are the things that Ames tells his son about: his ancestors, the nature of love and friendship, the part that faith and prayer play in every life and an awareness of one's own culpability. There is also reconciliation without resignation, self-awareness without deprecation, abundant good humor, philosophical queries--Jack asks, "'Do you ever wonder why American Christianity seems to wait for the real thinking to be done elsewhere?'"--and an ongoing sense of childlike wonder at the beauty and variety of God's world. In Marilynne Robinson's hands, there is a balm in Gilead, as the old spiritual tells us. --Valerie Ryan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:52 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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