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)

A book for dreaming over

Usually, I gobble books. Not this one. Exquisitely written, it begs the reader to pause, to ponder, to wonder, to marvel. So delicate, like leaves rustling in a light breeze. As the narrator ponders his life, so you cannot help but ponder your own. Here is a book full of spirit, a sermon if you like, without the preaching down to the reader. Instead it is an invitation to think with compassion about oneself, one's failings, one's relationships with God and man. Amazing.

A perfect reading

"Gilead" is one of the most profound, deeply moving novels of our time. Its portrayal of human nature and existence in a universe pervaded by God would perhaps have seemed natural a century and more ago; today, it is a revelation. More than once, this novel made me weep, something that no book has ever before done. How fortunate, then, that this blessed novel has been blessed with a great reader. His voice, intonation and pace are ideal for the character of John Ames, the story's ostensible narrator. A perfect reading of a perfect novel: what more could one ask of an audible.com offering?

The wonder of retrospect

I feel that I listened to this book two and one half times due to the many rewinds I made in order to hear again the poetic charm of Robinson's use of our marvelous language. Emotions, concerns and recollections are expressed in a manner that I could feel as my own. Perhaps this is in part due to the wonderful narrator whose voice seemed to be perfect for a story cited on the plains of Iowa and Kansas. His voice had a rawness, a lonliness, a solid mid-american character that brought the words alive. I believe that I shall listen to this book again. It felt that good.

Deeply Personal

This is a beautifully written book, and the narrator's voice is so well suited to this work I forgot I wasn't sitting with John Ames listening to his story. There are countless nuggets of wisdom to be mined in this artuflly crafted memoire.

Good book, wrong reader

This is a case in which a major book's excellence is rendered all but unlistenable by a dreadfully cast reader. Tim Jerome handles this work in a very old-fashioned format, musty and nostalgic, perfect for Dickens, not for the intelligent stance of a contemporary intellience like Robinson. After a few minutes, the sweetness of this approach goes sickly, the prose starts to sound like Sunday School literature (which is too much in the context of a minister's tale) -- the listener is left trying to search out the smart cadences and ruminative depths that make Robinson's work important. It's too bad. But be sure to note that my ranking here isn't a negative comment about Robinson's literary achievement, but about the audiobook's casting.

Gilead Fails to Reach the Heights

Marilynne Robinson is an exquisite writer but her story is dull. It is told as a preacher writing a letter to his young son. In the letter he recounts the history of the family. There is no variation in the narration and after listening to two discs, I forwarded to exerpts of a few others including the end; nothing changed. It gets one star and that only for the language.

Better for Oprah's club

I make it a point to read Pulitzer Prize winners, finding them to be consistantly well chosen and aligned well with my tastes. I also tend to enjoy first person narratives which seem to bond me tightly to the main character. For me, neither came true with this novel.

In fairness, I have recently visited the worlds of Roth, Hemmingway and Dostyevski, all of whom create characer who affect your own being. This novel, however, is best described as a folksy sermon in the same vein as the many preachers who like to teach life lessons based on their own life stories. Throughout we get to hear about a quaint small town tale or a Biblical quandary or "ah, shucks, I am such a fool" self-deprications that never seem forthright. It adds up to be cute, charming, and safe.

In short, it seems to be well suited for Oprah's audiences, not for literary awards.

Exquisite, humorous, though-provoking experience

In this collection of letters to his young son, the voice of Rev. John Ames, mesmerizes us. To this boy he leaves his last treasures .. the family story, the story of the town Gilead, his observations of life, friendship, society, history, rural life, the nature of love, jealousy, and friendship, the reconciliation of fears and disappointments.. and his steadfast faith in God, and the role that faith plays in Rev. Ame's life. Woven into all this are several amazing tales of adventure, and quite a bit of subtle humor.

The reason for the letter is Rev.Ames's failing health. He wants to leave an account of himself for this son who will never really know him. He is 76 and dying. His son is almost 7 years old. The boy and his mother have been a blessing in his later years, and his deep love for them both is painted in the gratitude he expresses for this gift from God. His hopes and dreams for the boy's future are the most poignant. Without mushy sentimentality, we feel the ache he feels anticipating his absence from the boy's growing up.

This is a wonderful story, beautifully written. Thought provoking and awe inspiring. I've listened to it once.. read it twice.. given it to several friends as gifts. It is a challenging book to read, rich and full of new discoveries with each new reading.

There is,indeed, a balm in Gilead.

Extraordinary

I found this to be a novel of great depth and discovery. It is quiet and thoughtful and beautiful. It doesn't stuff anything down your throat...just makes your mind work. It could have gone in many directions but chose the true path. What a pleasure to read a novel so thought provoking and unassuming.

snoozer

I can't believe how dull and boring this story is. It's as though the author set out to be deliberately boring. I really tried to get into this one but it just never picked up, and finally I just shut it off and cut my losses. Little mundane details of this preacher and his father's life will bore you to tears. Avoid at all costs.