Gilead (Oprah's Book Club) by Marilynne Robinson
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK MORE THAN 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD Quietly powerful (and) moving. The Oprah Magazine (recommended reading) Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award, GILEAD is a hymn of praise and lamentation to the God-haunted existence that Reverend Ames loves passionately, and from which he will soon part. In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. Ames is the son of an Iowan preacher and the grandson of a minister who, as a young man in Maine, saw a vision of Christ bound in chains and came west to Kansas to fight for abolition- He "preached men into the Civil War," then, at age fifty, became a chaplain in the Union Army, losing his right eye in battle. Reverend Ames writes to his son about the tension between his father-an ardent pacifist-and his grandfather, whose pistol and bloody shirts, concealed in an army blanket, may be relics from the fight between the abolitionists and those settlers who wanted to vote Kansas into the union as a slave state.
- Suggested age range- Adult
- Format- Paperback
- Product dimensions- 5.55" W x 8.34" H x 0.69" D
- Genre- Fiction
- Publisher- Picador, Publication date- 08-04-2020
- Page count- 256
- ISBN- 9781250784018
Web ID: 11774586
A Pastor's Love Letter to His Son
I've put off reviewing, b/c I am just not sure what I've thought of the "novel." "Gilead" is more a stream-of-consciousness meditation than it is a novel. Rev. Ames is at the end of his long life, sure he's going to die soon from his weak heart. He remarried and had a son late in life, so "Gilead" is a long love letter from the reverend to his seven-year-old son. He tells his son important stories from his life, his father's life, and his Jayhawker grandfather's life. There were important lessons in how the two, Ames' father and grandfather, approached the wars that were important in their lifetimes: grandfather as an active participant in partisan activity in the border wars of Kansas in the Civil War, and father as a loud pacificist in WWI. Also intertwined w/ the family history are stories about how Ames met his second wife; the tragedy behind how he came to remarry; and Ames' sense of grace in finding his wife. Forgiveness is also a major theme, starting when Ames' no-good godson and namesake returns to town to visit his dying father, Ames' best friend. Ames can't help but be suspicious of the younger man's motives, and struggles mightily to understand him. I did not expect a Christian homily, but with some truly lovely lines and a lot of profound thoughts, "Gilead" left me sad and reflective. 4 stars.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Folksy and full of wisdom
I had long seen this book, but only recently had the opportunity to read it. I wondered about its enduring appeal and now that I realize it was an Oprah selection, I kind of understand. Typical of the Book Club selections, it is told from a folksy point of view. I found some of the historical fiction in it remarkable (e.g. read in 2020 and reference to the 1918 Flu Pandemic) and then the wisdom was of the kind I copied into a notebook to keep.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com