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Gilead: A Novel
 

Gilead

by Marilynne Robinson

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... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  pulitzer prize,  spirituality,  contemporary fiction,  religion (all tags)

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Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
tapbirds
  • Rated 5 stars

“A subtle masterpiece! How many modern authors have their characters quoting Karl Barth or referencing John Calvin? This is a novel wherein the lives of three generations: father, son and grandson (also friend, "friend's-son" and second-wife) all interact in ways surprising to each of the main characters. Conflicts regarding the nature of war and pacifism, as well as generational and inter-racial tensions are all interwoven into this delicate and intricate novel. This is truly a novel of...”

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Didn’t Like It

quinnsmom
  • Rated 2 stars

“Gilead is a book that I read for my book group, and to be very honest, I'm not sure I would have finished it had I not felt that I needed to do so for the group discussion. I can't help it, Pulitzer prize and all, but I did not really enjoy it. Don't get me wrong -- Robinson is a very good writer. There were several passages that I read more than once, just for their sheer beauty. But frankly, the main character seemed so bland and at times so incredibly one-dimensional that I was grateful to...”

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Community:
  • Rated 3.691837 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 0 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Zero

    zero said:

    “I must admit there is only word I could think of to summarize this novel: milquetoast. I was neither irritated by or taken with narrator, he is a thoughtful but otherwise unexceptional human being. The philosophical elements likewise plod gently down the middle road; guaranteed not to offend. All-in-all a very passive, unmemorable, non-event of a book. I can only assume that Pulitzer is a legacy award for 'Housekeeping'.”

    posted Monday, June 16 2008
  • chris w

    chris w said:

    “I gave up in a wimper. I want to love this book like everyone else. I want mindful meditation and introspection. I gutted it out for a hundred pages but kept falling asleep”

    posted Monday, June 16 2008
  • Marie J

    marie j said:

    “rebecca m thank you for your comments on this book. Your review was eloquent and I especially agree with you regarding how much we put off that kind of introspection until it is to late. Ed v you need to read it again. ”

    posted Saturday, January 26 2008
  • Vince

    vince said:

    “here is what im going to do when i am terminally ill... im going to print this book on my computer, and sign my name at the bottom and give it to my son... the first half of the book is full of wisdom most pointedly in finding balance, in this case philisophically and theologically... and the second half of the book is a case study of how to work it out... his path to forgiveness of jack boughton is as wisely fought as it is hard fought...

    amazing book... and like a few people have said, it slows you to its pace and carries you along w/ a gracious and warm old preacher.”

    posted Tuesday, December 4 2007 ( | view 1 reply )
  • aspicco

    aspicco said:

    “This was an amazing read, and I would be hard pressed to explain what I read or what the book is about to someone else. It is the examination of a person's life. It is the examination of his religious faith. The story, the little there is of one, moves at a glacial pace, but it was never boring. 60% philosophy and 40% novel, but the philosophy moves the book along. I read Housekeeping 25 years ago, and had wondered whtever happened to Marilynne Robinson. It was worth the wait. The book is like a finely detailed carving; you can spend hours poring over all the details. It can be easily read by anyone Christian or secular. The issues the main character deals with occur in everyone's lives under different names.”

    posted Friday, November 2 2007
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