“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'.”
“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”
“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. ”
“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.”
“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.”
“Gilead's pace is slow and thoughtful; therefore, the reader must be willing to wade through a slow-moving, pendantic book. Walking around in a person's head was uncomfortable for me, and if I knew the book contained tons of stream of consciousness writing, I would have avoided reading this novel. What kept me reading was Robinson's ability to stay in someone's mind and reveal John Ames' deepest thoughts and emotions; that was uncanny. I could not help but think "What a shame Ames is not sharing these amazing ideas with others. He writes them in letters to be read by only one person, his son, after he passes."”
“Good to know that I wasn't the only one who had a hard time getting through this book!”
“GileadI am reading this book, is it worth finishing? ”
“I loved this book and it is definitely worth finishing. It made me want to be a father very badly.”
“yes it is. it's a bit too deliberate at times because of the narrator's voice, but robinson is such a fine writer that she manages to build momentum as she goes. but irrespective of whether you've already given up or finished "gilead," you must read her first novel "housekeeping" if you haven't already. to my mind it's one of the finest novels of the second 1/2 of the 20th century (see my top ten list for proof).”
