Gilead

Critics

• Book of a Lifetime: Gilead, By Marilynne Robinson

  "The fact is, I don't want to be old. And I certainly don't want to be dead. I don't want to be the tremulous coot you barely remember." As John Ames begins to write a letter to his son, a letter that will be read when he is long buried, he is unawar ... (read full critics)

  independent published on Fri, 1 Apr 2011

• Gilead

  La trama e le recensioni di Gilead, romanzo di Marilynne Robinson edito da Einaudi. Il reverendo John Ames sta morendo. Non potrà crescere il figlio di soli sette anni, né educarlo, né offrirgli testimonianza di sé. Sceglie così di affidarsi a una le ... (read full critics)

  Qlibri published on Tue, 23 Nov 2010

6 Reviews

• 

  My thoughts

  I found this book emotionally moving and thought-provoking. I liked how John reflected on his relationship with his father and his father's relationship with his father.

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  krin5292 said on Nov 15, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Rarely have I read such a boring novel

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  rayuela said on Jan 10, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  This book is very slow, with minimal plot. Some insights into the human condition are revealed, which are interesting, but I was waiting for something marvellous to happen. It never did.
  It is very well-written; there is not a comma out of place, but being well-crafted does not make it a good, ... (continue)

  This book is very slow, with minimal plot. Some insights into the human condition are revealed, which are interesting, but I was waiting for something marvellous to happen. It never did.
  It is very well-written; there is not a comma out of place, but being well-crafted does not make it a good, or even great book. Disappointing.

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  Lunarossa said on Oct 21, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  A beautifully, beautifully written novel about intergenerational relationships & passing knowledge & experience from father to son. There are some lovely little stories in it, and the author does a good job of tying things together.

  But the constant religious philosophizing soon wore me down ( ... (continue)

  A beautifully, beautifully written novel about intergenerational relationships & passing knowledge & experience from father to son. There are some lovely little stories in it, and the author does a good job of tying things together.

  But the constant religious philosophizing soon wore me down (the novel is about a family of ministers). It was a chore to finish, and about halfway through I took to skipping quickly over the more religious passages, of which there are a lot.

  If you aren't religious, give this book a pass no matter how well written it is.

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  Scott said on Jun 11, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Hill of Testimony/Mound of Witness

  2005 Pulitzer Prize winner.

  This is one of the book that needs to be read in great attention, and it often involves back and forth leafing to re-digest the words. I guess it is fair that it took Robinson 12 years to write this book, and it took me a few months to go through it.

  This is a ... (continue)

  2005 Pulitzer Prize winner.

  This is one of the book that needs to be read in great attention, and it often involves back and forth leafing to re-digest the words. I guess it is fair that it took Robinson 12 years to write this book, and it took me a few months to go through it.

  This is a prose-like novel, which depicts a minister's life from a few generations' preacher family in a small town with declining in its population. Although with a high prestige from his job, John Ames could not escape from some personal prejudice, and those feelings seemingly ungodly towards his best friend's son and his god son.

  By way of writing to his young-aged son for expecting to be a posthumous letter, the protagonist wrote out his true feelings towards people close to him and to god. Even the progress seems random and slow, you would be touched by his true reflections to people, to things and to god. People surrounding him come from different believes and attitudes towards god, life and other people. He, as a minister, need to play a neutral role to bridge people and god's gap, while he had his own doubt in his mind.

  We don't see this kind of work everyday, so we don't have to finish it in haste. Following the pace of the author has given, it actually quite an enjoyable book to be slowly chewed on.

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  artie said on Apr 1, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  A good story, but the way it has been written is quite a boredom to me.

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  S.E. said on Mar 1, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (56)
  • 5 stars
  • 4 stars
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  • 1 star
• English Books
• Others 247 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0739453017
• ISBN-13: 9780739453018
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
• Pub date: Jan 01, 2004
• Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani, Svenska böcker

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• NY Times Notable Book Club (481)

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