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Gilead (Gilead, #1)

Marilynne Robinson

Start date: December 15, 2008

Discussion: Reading List

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Oct 22, 2007 Inder rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, 21st-century, philosophyspirituality, read-2007, read-2008, midwest, race, read-2012

Yes, I have now read this THREE times. That should really speak for itself.
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12/1/07 I've been thinking and thinking about this book, so I find myself coming back to this review.

The basic plot (such as it is - this is a character driven book in the most basic sense): An old preacher finds out that he is dying, and writes a journal/memoir to his seven year old son.

There are a couple of breathtaking scenes in the book, that have stuck with me. The narrator remembers a tim Yes, I have now read this THREE times. That should really speak for itself.
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12/1/07 I've been thinking and thinking about this book, so I find myself coming back to this review.

The basic plot (such as it is - this is a character driven book in the most basic sense): An old preacher finds out that he is dying, and writes a journal/memoir to his seven year old son.

There are a couple of breathtaking scenes in the book, that have stuck with me. The narrator remembers a time in his childhood, in the late 19th century, when the local church burned down. The community came out in force to clean up the wreckage and salvage what could be salvaged. The women sang hymns while they worked. It began to rain, and the girl's skirts were dirty and wet, and their hair hung down their backs. His father offered him bread from his hands, covered in ash and soot. To the narrator, this was the most important "communion" of his life. The image comes up over and over again, and the theme is repeated when the narrator gives his son communion in his own church many years later (although he is too young to formally take communion). I thought it was so beautiful, the essence of what communion should be about.

Which brings me to another thing I loved about the book: The strong sense of generations, the passing of love and knowledge and problems from father to son through the generations. As my friend Elizabeth says, the book lingers long on issues of masculinity. I related so strongly to the characters that I didn't even really notice that until it was pointed out to me! But it's true, this is a book about how to be a righteous man (in the best, least judgmental meaning of "righteous"), and how to grow your sons into righteous men.

I also loved the very last scene. I don't want to spoil it, but it is so beautiful. This is one of those rare novels where the end does not disappoint.

And, of course, there's the rhythm of the narration, and the language. So slow, lilting, sad, and lovely, like one of the slower Sacred Harp hymns I love to sing. It's almost Homeric, in the sense that it feels like oral history, with the rhythm of very old-fashioned storytelling.

Reading around on Goodreads, this is apparently something many readers found difficult and criticize on their reviews. I can see that it's an acquired taste.

I loved it, but I read older novels all the time, constantly seeking out that softer, slower, more detailed rhythm of writing that seemed more common pre-TV. If your obsessions tend more towards the cyber-punk post-modern, this book might seem too heavy and slow - in fact, it has almost no plot at all, which might throw some people off.

But of course, the adoption of an older style is, in itself, a bit interesting and pastiche-y. But now I'm out of my comfort zone - I'll let someone else deconstruct it.

Meanwhile, I highly recommend this book to all of my serious, thoughtful, passionate friends who like serious, thoughtful, passionate books. ...more

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Sep 03, 2007 Dottie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, ocitylibrary, 2005, marilynne-r

Letter/s to his son from an older father who is a minister -- may not be the style everyone will enjoy but this is a very powerful book and I highly recommend it.

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Oct 28, 2014 Mandy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-fiction, novels-novellas, pulitzer-winners

I soldiered through the first couple of chapters thinking this book was going to be a dull little thing and wondering why it has garnered so much praise. Good thing I hate putting a book down and that it takes Wasp Factory-level horror to make me stop. I've read some wonderful books this year, a couple that have skyrocked to my list of all time favorites, but nothing like this -- nothing so quietly beautiful and capable of changing the way I look at things. Robinson spends a lot of time describi ...more

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Sep 13, 2007 Susan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: christian-lit, book-club

A story that opperates beautifully on several levels. Told from the p.o.v of a dying pastor in a small mid-western town in the 1950's, the atmosphere is really more turn-of-the-century as he recalls his father and grandfather and their difficult relationship. But it reaches forward also as he contemplates his young son. The book is in the form of a sort of rambling letter he writes to his son. Rich and poignant, full of wisdom ...more

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