Gilead (Oprah's Book Club)

By: Marilynne Robinson

Narrated by: Tim Jerome

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2005

National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction, 2005

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 50, 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. And he tells a story of the sacred bonds between fathers and sons, which are tested in his tender and strained relationship with his namesake, John Ames Boughton, his best friend's wayward son.

This is also the tale of another remarkable vision, not a corporeal vision of God but the vision of life as a wondrously strange creation. It tells how wisdom was forged in Ames's soul during his solitary life, and how history lives through generations, pervasively present even when betrayed and forgotten.

Gilead is the long-hoped-for second novel by one of our finest writers, a hymn of praise and lamentation to the God-haunted existence that Reverend Ames loves passionately, and from which he will soon part.

©2004 Marilynne Robinson (P)2005 BBC Audiobooks America, Published by Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

" Gilead is a beautiful work: demanding, grave, and lucid...Robinson's words have a spiritual force that's very rare in contemporary fiction." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"The long wait has been worth it....Robinson's prose is beautiful, shimmering, and precise....Destined to become her second classic." ( Publishers Weekly)
"[ Gilead] is so serenely beautiful, and written in a prose so gravely measured and thoughtful, that one feels touched with grace just to read it." ( The Washington Post Book World)

Just the book I needed

I listened to this book in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election in the United States, a time of great strife and conflict. I’ve been wrestling with forgiveness toward what I perceive as evil. It was just what I needed to listen to an old man work through similar emotions, and to see that struggle through generations. And I grew up in Iowa! It all comes together in this book.

Heartfelt narrative brings touching story to life

Tim Jerome was incredible. He brought so much emotion and feeling to John Ames's story. It definitely added a dimension to the story and enhanced my enjoyment.

I've read several Pulitzer books, and I probably enjoyed this one the most. The language is so clear, so vivid that it truly brings the characters and story to life. The book was a bit slow in the middle, but the journey through John Ames's life and journey through the last stages of his life are poignant to touching.

Not my favorite.....

Became tiresome at the end, I kept saying enough already get to the point but if you love literature then this book is for you.

Narrator

The narrator spoke in the meditative voice of a weary
old man. I was often sad as I listened

Woe to those who cannot see this beauty

I loves this book in a way inhave loved few others, possibly with the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird. I encourage those on the fence of reading this to take this in.

Old Preacher

This contained the late life of a preacher. the preacher came from a long line of clergy. I found the book very interesting since I am a chaplain and have been for many years.

mesmerizing

Beautiful story that captures the essence of a life lived in remembrance, long awaited grace, grief of pending loss, acceptance and finally forgiveness and astonishing revelation of love. The vocal narrator captured the Pastor's essence and soul. Recommended for those of us who treasure a great story in the line of Styron and Faulkner (with a MIDWEST setting.) I think I will now "pray and then sleep"

intreqing

Would you listen to Gilead again? Why?

yes, I already have been listening or going back to bookmarks.

What did you like best about this story?

I am not sure but I would say that it makes me think. I have thught about why I like itl I loved "Our Town" vy Thorton Wilder and it is sort of about "our tw]own. I just finished "Team of Rivals" and thereefinitely a a contemporary history. I looked up The Dred Scot Decision and the Missouri Compromise, Bleeding Kansas and John Brown to review exactly what they were about. incidently Dred Scott is buried in St Louis MO if yu are interested.

Which scene was your favorite?

I am not done with it yet. Right now I really aant to know what was the problem at the Bowden's. (sp). I cannot see to read so I am relying only on the audi. I learned how to bookmark so that I can go back and listen.

The quote I really like right now is "I think that our punishment after we die is to look back at how we liked at ourselves or something to that effect.

I am 76 as well so I can relate to the things he says about getting old

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not yet. but maybe it will

Any additional comments?

I am loving it and I am looking forward to reading the s sequels. I have already recommended.

I got the book because I am taking a class in October called liter Lions and this author is one of the Literary Lions that we are delving into.

I loved the metaphors and I wondered How anyone can write so well. I t a wonderful book to listen. to.

I think it will be a classic\

Please excur my spelling. I can't seeit to check right now and know not to end a sentence with a preposition.

Needed this book for school

Would you listen to Gilead again? Why?

Although this was

Who was your favorite character and why?

The grandfather, a minister who was also violently active in the Civil War, made for an interesting character.

Which character – as performed by Tim Jerome – was your favorite?

The book was written entirely from a first-person perspective.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but I was grateful for its company during long car rides.

Any additional comments?

The Kindle-car stereo interface is ideal for me, and made my time with this book much easier to fit in.

I Wept

This is both a beautiful book, and a beautiful performance. I spent the last 15 minutes of the book weeping. I was weeping from all the beauty.