Housekeeping

Book Description

Critics

• Housekeeping By Marilynne Robinson

  Marilynne Robinson's second novel Gilead won this year's Pulitzer Prize, and that fortunately lead to a rekindling of interest in her first, Housekeeping. Published in 1982 to much acclaim, it's now available on audio, read by Becket Royce with the s ... (read full critics)

  bookpage published on Tue, 14 Sep 2010

• Marilynne Robinson: Housekeeping

  In 2003, when the Observer newspaper compiled a list of “the 100 greatest novels of all time,” one title – Housekeeping – stood out. What? It was the only one from the last century that I hadn’t heard of. Who? Marilynne Robinson sounded like a new Ha ... (read full critics)

  theasylum published on Fri, 10 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson

  This novel is really great, and blew me away. I think that comparisons to Alice Munro aren't unfounded as far as subject matter goes (small town North America, women, isolated countryside, bleak). The manner in which Robinson handles her themes is quite sophisticated (espeically considering this is ... (continue)

  This novel is really great, and blew me away. I think that comparisons to Alice Munro aren't unfounded as far as subject matter goes (small town North America, women, isolated countryside, bleak). The manner in which Robinson handles her themes is quite sophisticated (espeically considering this is her first novel); and the writing is so beautiful and poetic. I don't know what else I can say, other than I highly recommend experiencing the beautiful storytelling of this novel.

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  Scott said on Jan 20, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  Nice reflections and symbolism

  Check out what I wrote about this book in my blog in Spanish: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2011/12/houskeeping…
  This is the story of two girls that don't have mother or dad, and have to live under their aunt's care. Their aunt is very young and before long she loses co ... (continue)

  Check out what I wrote about this book in my blog in Spanish: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2011/12/houskeeping…
  This is the story of two girls that don't have mother or dad, and have to live under their aunt's care. Their aunt is very young and before long she loses control and the girls put the house on fire and flee from the town. But the book is much more than that story. The novel is full of references and reflections about life and the sense of being a human in this world. This is a book to read very slowly and with a lot of attention, because it has a lot to offer to a mind avid of meditation in trascendental facts of life.

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  ariadna73 said on Dec 23, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  This is my second read of Housekeeping. During the interval, I've read more than 40 novels. When I return to this novel after finishing all those other works, I still find the reading experience very unique and unforgettable. Housekeeping is the rare book that has only one of its kind. You can't fin ... (continue)

  This is my second read of Housekeeping. During the interval, I've read more than 40 novels. When I return to this novel after finishing all those other works, I still find the reading experience very unique and unforgettable. Housekeeping is the rare book that has only one of its kind. You can't find another work that resembles it.

  Though this is Robinson's first novel, it is a very mature work. The plot contains potentials that allow Robinson to develop the book otherwise, but she chooses not to. For example, the kind of stories that contains eccentric woman, dark houses, deaths and cold weather reminds me of the female gothic tradition from Shelley, Bronte to Atwood. Clearly Robinson can draw a lot from this trajectory, but what we see in this novel is that she tones down these sentiments and focuses instead on memories, dreams and impressions. And the settings also play a very important role in this novel: darkness, light, water, the brush of your skirts, the freezing wind, the heavy smell of the lake. Robinson avoids dramatic climax and emotional conflicts. It's not that they do not exist. Instead, they are nowhere and everywhere, and their absences ring out loud in each page. It's like the lake in this novel. The lake sends heavy smell that permeats throughout the book, and underneath the surface are all the dead people including Ruth's grandfather and mother. Robinson does not shout her painful stories out loud. She hums them out slowly with grace.

  Last but not the least, it's a pity that I am not that familiar with the Bible (not a Christian myself,) or there will be some extra fun in reading Housekeeping. The novel in general can be considered the adaptation of Ruth 1 in the Old Testament. Underneath the novel is a strong Christian vein that appear in Ruth's idiosyncratic take of the Bible. Ruth's conception of the law of completion, for example, certainly helps her deal with the losses that she is confronted with all her life. One can also see the influence of the Biblical style in Robinson's language.

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  yuuyh said on Nov 6, 2011 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 224 Pages
• Edition: Reprint
• ISBN-10: 0312424094
• ISBN-13: 9780312424091
• Publisher: Picador
• Pub date: Nov 01, 2004
• Dimensions: 1355 mm x 839 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette and Others

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• NY Times Notable Book Club (474)

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