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Gilead (Gilead, #1)

Marilynne Robinson

Start date: December 15, 2008

Discussion: Reading List

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What Members Thought

Oct 08, 2008 Rosana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2008, constant-reader-bookclub, favorites

I loved this book. The narrator’s voice is intimate and meditative. It feels so personal that one forgets that it is a piece of fiction and not a real memoir: an old, dying man writing a letter to his young son with a wise voice, but humane enough in his doubts and small – and big – desires.

It certainly is not a book for someone craving plot and action, but a philosophical meandering on life, death, love, parenthood and many of the other big questionings. Yet it does not feel heavy and self-rig ...more

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Sep 06, 2015 William rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015

I find that the quality of a book often can be inferred from the quality of the reviews on Goodreads. I can add little to the excellent reviews I have read. It is not a book for everyone - deeply reflective and spiritual - a book to be savoured more than simply enjoyed. For me it brought to mind Toni Morrison - verging on steam of consciousness. I found the structure interesting. The reader is put in the position of the son of the protagonist reading a memoir meant to be opened some years hence ...more

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Oct 31, 2019 Eric Wojcik rated it liked it

This simply did not work for me, and I have a capacity for philosophical or even theological fiction. I'm a bit surprised by how much of a miss this was, having read Housekeeping many years ago and finding that it stuck with me. But here she shears away what made that novel memorable -- a sense of place (sodden, cold, tangible) -- and cranks up what was weakest, which is character. In that previous novel we have shapes and outlines moving that become most real when interacting with their environ This simply did not work for me, and I have a capacity for philosophical or even theological fiction. I'm a bit surprised by how much of a miss this was, having read Housekeeping many years ago and finding that it stuck with me. But here she shears away what made that novel memorable -- a sense of place (sodden, cold, tangible) -- and cranks up what was weakest, which is character. In that previous novel we have shapes and outlines moving that become most real when interacting with their environment; here, we have no strong sense of place and the characters are stock. Here is a boy: I love the boy. Here is a wife much younger than I am: I look at her face.

But who are these people? I have little sense of them. What makes it worse is the presence of John Ames' best friend's son, Jack Boughton, who serves as a persistent, pestering foil to Ames' placid set of mind, and I could give a good goddamn about this guy. He turns out to be extremely important, far more important than the faceless masses this pastor has administered to throughout his life. A ne'er-do-well who nonetheless can speak on the icy godly/atheistic theories Ames bobbles about here and there, he continually reminded me of far more enveloping and fascinating characters from Faulkner. Especially with the race stuff.

Robinson really plugs into central casting in the American vein. The good-hearted, long-suffering preacher. Okay. He watches baseball. Fine. She even snakes an arm in to bring in John Brown and the history of abolitionism, although I'm not really sure what she's getting at, there.

I have trouble with this, especially, in the current era -- 2019 -- when the American myth is proving as well as it ever has to be a veneer over ridiculous lies. The easiness of the pastor-as-character, the cornpone wisdom of The Devil and Daniel Webster and the like, the foundational illusions of white America, make this character even more irritating, the fundamental fraud of religion, power, and storytelling in this country. I almost wish Ames' grandfather had been a Bushwacker, instead. Something to get closer to a truth rather than the easiness of just saying 'John Brown' a few times.

And then Robinson's easy slip into sentimentality. A six year old boy who will never know much of his father, who tries to leave a memo behind. Just heart-rending: can you feel it? (The plot to Michael Keaton's 1993 tear-jerker My Life.)

I was reminded time and again of John Williams' Stoner, which was unknown when this novel came out, but has been reestablished by the good folks at NYRB. That novel, from 1965, is filled with such quiet, ungreeted passion, is so tangible and real, so stirring with life and quietude, that there is simply no comparison. Sorry -- I am comparing after all.

I suppose I was never convinced by Ames. There is a homespun plainness to his voice, a dopiness, that suits him, but makes for zoning out. None of his anecdotes come to anything: we spend a few pages on a baseball game where literally nothing happens. There's a bizarre historical episode about a tunnel in a village collapsing. Nothing comes of these things, and I'm still convinced the novel has no idea what to do about race, just injects it to liven things up. And, most frustrating to me is the aleatory structure, as we ping gracelessly from one topic to the next in an old man ramble. I would have liked more shape. Instead we get Jack Boughton and more of him, because the book needed some edge or direction.

I'm disappointed that I am disappointed. And impressed that Robinson considered this bevy of characters interesting enough to go back to twice more. ...more

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May 19, 2015 Dree rated it it was ok

Shelves: the-midwest, pulitzer-all-winner-short, 2015-reads, 1000-guardian-read

YAWN.

If this were not a Pulitzer winner, I would have abandoned it. Because it is just.that.dull.

The writing is fine. Consistent (-ly dull), the voice is steady throughout.

My favorite line appears on page 202: "I have been looking through these pages, and I realize that for some time I have mainly been worrying to myself, when my intention from the beginning was to speak to you."

John Ames, small-town Iowa Reverend, 77 and dying of heart failure, begins writing to explain things to his 7-year-ol ...more

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May 05, 2009 Celeste rated it did not like it

I know this book won the Pultizer, but I don't know why. ...more

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Nov 12, 2018 Curious Squid rated it really liked it

Such a quiet book.

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Jun 14, 2008 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: modern-lit, midwest, religion

Utterly lovely - the rare book that touches the heart rather than manipulating the heartstrings. Let yourself get lost in its gentle pace and Robinson's thoughtful reflections on faith and forgiveness. ...more

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Oct 02, 2008 Cookiesue9x rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-read-again, religion-and-spirituality

This was a beautiful and life -affirming book.
It is a quietly and simply told story of truth and beauty about an old and ailing minister, his faith, family and life in Iowa in 1956.

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