About this title: Marilynne Robinson's long-awaited second novel is named after the town in which it is set: Gilead, Iowa. The time is the 1950s, and John Ames, the town's beloved pastor, is dying of heart disease. Widowed early but recently remarried, John has a very young son. The novel is a final act of love: a letter to the boy, in which he looks back on his own long life, and on the history of his family and its role in America from the Civil War to the present day. A New York Times Notable Book for 2004.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Picador
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312424404ISBN:031242440X
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780739453018ISBN:0739453017
Description: Acceptable. A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. Return Policy Any defects, damages, or material differences with your item, must be reported to us within 7 days of receipt of the item or 30 days from date of shipment. The returned merchandise must be postmarked within 30 days of the shipment notification. Non-deliveries must be reported ... read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Date Published: 2004-11-19
ISBN-13:9780374153892ISBN:0374153892
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
"Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead" is a beautiful, surprising work. The novel's structure is that of a letter written by an aging rural pastor to his young son. He knows he will be passing away before his son grows up, and wishes to write him his "begats," all those things which he would have imparted to his son as he grew up, had he lived. Throughout the novel, the narrator discusses his family's somewhat fraught political and religious history, and the schisms between fathers and sons that preceded him. Through these stories he tries his best to impart a sense of his faith and love to his young son, whom he holds so dear.
However, sepulchral this is not. This is a rumination on joy, faith, and recognizing the sweet beauty of living. Savor the words in this novel rather than devouring or rushing through them. Give yourself the time and opportunity to be moved by Robinson's masterly depiction of real, pulsing, beating-in-the-arteries humanity. I am very glad that I did, because it's a rare book that can impart both a visceral sense of calm and a churning impulse to experience life."
"I've become more stingy about giving out 5 stars to a book. Gilead clearly earned 5 stars.
I've met some people who did not like this book at all. However, the writing style and inner-monologue/epistolary format of the book floored me. The author frequently made a pure connection with me, on many levels.
I didn't always enjoy the religious thoughts of the main character simply because I found some of the terminology and/or explanations he gave to be vague, circular, or without grounding.
The writing is poetic and often made me feel like I was bathed in a memory. If an author can do that, I doff my hat to them.
There was a passage in which the main character, a very old pastor at a church, is writing to his son and he notes some of the things he loves so very much, including watching the moon at night (which I love too.) After he writes the passage, he turns abruptly to the reality of his own mortality by exclaiming:
"Oh, how I will miss the world!"
That line still makes me shiver and smile at the same time. Kudos, Marilynne Robinson on writing a great book."
"A poem of grace and redemption. I will read it over and over to gain a more profound sense of the deep currents that run beneath the seemingly ordinary surface of daily life. And though it's focused on a family of Protestant ministers in rural Iowa, seen through the eyes of an aged scion of that family, it's not at all a Christian book. This is a universal testament about the invisible threads that bind us to each other and to eternity."
"The story, which seemed metaphorical to humankind's and Christianity's parental idea of God as father, was thought-provoking but too slow moving for my taste."
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