Gilead (Paperback)

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• This item: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

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• Home by Marilynne Robinson

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• Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

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Home by Marilynne Robinson 4.2 out of 5 stars (10)  £3.99

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson 4.5 out of 5 stars (10)  £4.79

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Review
'A visionary work of dazzling originality' Robert McCrum, Observer 'Writing of this quality, with an authority as unforced as the perfect pitch in music, is rare and carries with it a sense almost of danger' Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph 'It is difficult not to be awed moved and ultimately humbled' Neel Mukherjee, The Times 'A great work of literature' John de Falbe, Daily Telegraph 'Gilead is a beautiful work - demanding, grave and lucid ... Robinson's words have a spiritual force that's very rare in contemporary fiction' James Wood, New York Times Book Review 'Serenely beautiful, and written in a prose so gravely measured and thoughtful, that one feels touched with grace just to read it. There's nothing flashy in these pages, and yet one regularly pauses to reread sentences, sometimes for their beauty, sometimes for their truth ... A portrait of the human condition - prey to isolation and loneliness, ever needful of faith and love' - Washington Post 'The wait since 1981 and Housekeeping is over. Robinson returns with a second novel that, however quiet in tone and however delicate of step, will do no less than tell the story of America - and break your heart' Kirkus Review 'Robinson's prose is beautiful, shimmering and precise ... Robinson truly succeeds in what is destined to become her second classic' Publishers Weekly 'Gilead is a powerful and intense read, one that takes time, but gives bountiful rewards' Bookseller 'A first novel that sounds as if the author has been treasuring it up all her life...You can feel in the book a gathering voluptuous release of confidence, a delighted surprise at the unexpected capacities of language, a close, careful fondness for people that we thought only saints felt' - Anatole Broyard, The New York Times 'A work of enormous integrity... A beautiful book of ideas' The Atlantic Monthly 'A psalm worthy of study, a sermon of the loveliest profundity... A literary miracle' Entertainment Weekly 'Gilead is a beautiful work-demanding, grave and lucid... Robinson's words has a spiritual force that's very rare in contemporary fiction' James Wood, New York Times Book Review 'Serenely beautiful... one feels touched with grace just to read it' Washington Post'Gilead is a beautiful work - demanding, grave and lucid ... Robinson's words have a spiritual force that's very rare in contemporary fiction' James Wood, New York Times Book Review 'Serenely beautiful, and written in a prose so gravely measured and thoughtful, that one feels touched with grace just to read it. There's nothing flashy in these pages, and yet one regularly pauses to reread sentences, sometimes for their beauty, sometimes for their truth ... A portrait of the human condition - prey to isolation and loneliness, ever needful of faith and love' - Washington Post 'The wait since 1981 and Housekeeping is over. Robinson returns with a second novel that, however quiet in tone and however delicate of step, will do no less than tell the story of America - and break your heart' Kirkus Review 'Robinson's prose is beautiful, shimmering and precise ... Robinson truly succeeds in what is destined to become her second classic' Publishers Weekly 'Gilead is a powerful and intense read, one that takes time, but gives bountiful rewards' Bookseller 'A first novel that sounds as if the author has been treasuring it up all her life...You can feel in the book a gathering voluptuous release of confidence, a delighted surprise at the unexpected capacities of language, a close, careful fondness for people that we thought only saints felt' - Anatole Broyard, The New York Times 'A work of enormous integrity... A beautiful book of ideas' The Atlantic Monthly 'A psalm worthy of study, a sermon of the loveliest profundity... A literary miracle' Entertainment Weekly 'Gilead is a beautiful work-demanding, grave and lucid... Robinson's words has a spiritual force that's very rare in contemporary fiction' James Wood, New York Times Book Review 'Serenely beautiful... one feels touched with grace just to read it' Washington Post

Publishers Weekly
'Many writers try to capture life's universals... but Robinson truly succeeds in what is destined to become her second classic.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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46 Reviews 5 star:  (22) 4 star:  (5) 3 star:  (9) 2 star:  (4) 1 star:  (6)           Average Customer Review 3.7 out of 5 stars (46 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   36 of 36 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, 9 Jan 2006 By  CultureVulture "CV" (London) - See all my reviews This review is from: Gilead (Hardcover) I suppose I wouldn't have read this book if I hadn't, by chance, come across an extract in the 'New Yorker' a while ago. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity. Notionally, 'Gilead' is a letter from a father to a son, a testament to the hopes and fears that the father, now in the twilight of his life, will never be able to share with his son. It is an account of the troublesome relationship between the narrator's father, a pacifist, and his grandfather, a militant abolitionist who fought (apparently with vigour and with valour) in the American Civil War; it is a deep reflection on the meaning and purpose of faith (the narrator, in common with both his father and grandfather, is the Pastor in the eponymous town of the title); and it is a commentary on the fears evoked within him by the sudden reappearance of the long lost son of a friend, a ne'r-do-well whom he instinctively, yet irrationally fears. But 'Gilead' is much more than this. It is a work of art, as delicate and as beautiful as a painting or a sculpture. It is not overly concerned with the nicities of plot, of story development, of climax and resolution. Rather, it is more intimately linked with the evocation of an emotional state within the reader that is rarely found in fiction. And it succeeds. Robinson's language and expression is tight, precise and captures the world, the existence of her narrator, a 76 year old in man in the last days of a long and eventful life, perfectly. Too perfectly, one might argue; at least one understands why there was a gap of a quarter century between her debut and this, only her second work of fiction. I recommend this book as a masterpiece, nothing less. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   25 of 26 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, thought-provoking, beautifully written..., 12 Jan 2006 By  tillyschneider (UK) - See all my reviews This review is from: Gilead (Hardcover) Gilead is a superb novel. It's a book that grows in stature and interest as it proceeds - it is the journal of a man who is coming to the end of his life, written specifically for his young son. His son is the child of a second marriage - his first wife and child died - and he married his much younger second wife late, and so is an old man (77) with a young son (nearly 7). As the journal progresses, he tells stories of his relationship with his own father, and of his grandfather - three generations of church ministers, the grandfather having been involved in the Civil War, the father an ardent pacifist, the narrator trying to come to terms with his own life and what will happen when he dies. The strength of the book is in the power of this narrative - the relationships that are evoked by the understated but beautiful prose of the journal, and the man's own wrestling with his inner life as well as the life and lives going on around him. A specific story emerges, and the book becomes very moving in unexpected ways. There is a lot of Christian theology, and yet because of the main focus of the narrative, this is interesting and pertinent, and should not put off those who have no interest in religion - odd to have so much theology at the centre of a novel, but it's a very human take on theology, and the open-mindedness of the narrator gives a richness and thought-provoking depth to ideas about belief in God and practical issues of being human. I found it a very subtle book, and one that slowly enthralled me. There is very little dialogue, because of the nature of the narrative, but it never becomes monotonous. It is like a meditation on the nature of father and son relationships, yet written by a woman - I found it quite extraordinary, and definitely to be recommended to anyone looking for a slower, more thoughtful read. Anyone who has read Marilynne Robinson’s previous novel, the beautiful Housekeeping, will surely not be disappointed. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   19 of 20 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars small things half-seen, 6 Aug 2007 By  Paul Callick (manchester) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    An extraordinary book, even just in formal terms. Others have commented here on the human side of things (which I found very moving), but I'd add something about story-telling here. Like John McGahern's amazing 'That They May Face the Rising Run' (his last novel), 'Gilead' is astonishing in how the reader glimpses small scenes and fragments of the past almost subliminally, scenes which are then seen again, still from afar. It makes the reader lean in towards the story, peering closely, as if saying, 'what was that? Did I really see THAT?' So the story relies on reluctance, tact, and half-recalled things, and things of loveliness or disturbance glimpsed at the edge of life. Others have done this ('Beloved', so movingly), but Robinson is really wonderful at the fleetingness of things. I've rarely felt I've had to quietly attend to small things, as when leaning in towards this book. It's simply a marvel of technique. And most strange that she might have learned this art from the short lyric poems of George Herbert. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 46 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Layers of subtlety I was bowled over by this. An aging dying minister of religion in Iowa writes a testimony for his seven year old son to read when he grows up. Read more Published 2 days ago by Varifocal 3.0 out of 5 stars No escape After all the glowing tributes on the cover I hesitate, as a mere mortal, to criticise this book. But for me its structure - a memoir-letter from father to son - is too... Read more Published 10 days ago by Clevor Trevor 5.0 out of 5 stars A book to reflect on I usually read books at a great pace and when I have read it I rarely re-read them. ' What's so Amazing about Grace' by Philip Yancey is an exception. Read more Published 16 days ago by Adrian P 4.0 out of 5 stars Complex, poetic and moving I preferred Housekeeping, but this is still a great work of modern literature. Very moving, complex and funny in places, it explores the life, mind and relationships of a preacher... Read more Published 19 days ago by William 4.0 out of 5 stars A Pulitzer for Prose Over Plot Gilead is a novel which is in fact the letter of dying Reverend John Ames to his son written in Gilead, Iowa in 1956. Read more Published 1 month ago by Simon Savidge "savidgeread... 1.0 out of 5 stars What's to like? Granted Marilynne Robinson writes clearly and simply, I always like that. So that's her one star. Here she seems to spend a lot of time and effort writing about almost nothing. Read more Published 2 months ago by J. M. Gardner 3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings This is the first book I have read by this author. It's a gentle book with some very astute observations. I found it amusing - laugh aloud a couple of times. Read more Published 3 months ago by Mrs. Esther Ann Hitchcock 1.0 out of 5 stars Without doubt one of the most boring books I've ever read. There is no plot, nothing to grab your attention, it is impossible to get into or relate to the characters, there is no storyline... Read more Published 3 months ago by Atheana 5.0 out of 5 stars Just wonderful I guess this is one of those books that either astonishes you or bores you to death - I just loved it - the pace, the voice, the people, the tenderness, the wisdom and above all... Read more Published 6 months ago by S. Hardie 5.0 out of 5 stars Contemplative and Fulfilling There are so many things that this book is "about." Fathers and sons, the desire to be remembered when you have left this World for the next, family histories (and skeletons),... Read more Published 7 months ago by Graceann Macleod Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 46 customer reviews...

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