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blicksam's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this was a beautiful and cathartic experience. I didn’t realize how much I needed it until I had finished.
zeldaspellman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
smateer73's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book! It’s dreamlike status really calls into question everything we know about the world. It shows us how our memories are what we use to protect ourselves and to shape the world as we need.
chloejen's review against another edition
2.0
{1.5} i get why people like this book, i really do, it’s just not for me.
while we have the time, however, i would like to tell a little story. 2 years ago, chloe picked up this book for a book club she was in. it was the first book of the book club and chloe had not yet figured out that everyone else in the book club was a literary genius (hi mia if you're seeing this). chloe gets her hands on a copy only to be greeted by a first sentence spanning, ahem oh right, the entire first page. it was at this moment she realized that she might be in a little over her head. by the time the meeting to discuss the book rolls around, she is about 60% through the book. she joins the zoom call prepared for everyone to talk about the sheer ridiculousness of the prose, the lack of plot, the pages upon pages of descriptions. For context, chloe has been reading primarily fantasy for years. she cannot understand how someone could enjoy a book without a racing plot or a lovable cast of characters. elements this book definitely does not have. chloe does not talk very much in that book discussion. after that, book after book similar to housekeeping was assigned, some she enjoyed more, some she enjoyed less. all of which she stopped at about 60%. chloe ended the year with nineteen books on her “currently reading” list and a severely deflated ego. she has spent the past two years finishing all of the books she started for that book club. annie john, the dead, who will run the frog hospital?. housekeeping was the final boss. chloe spent two fucking years lugging this book around in her tote bag, hoping somehow, somewhere, she would strike up the motivation to finally finish it. chloe spent two years pausing before the title to remember whether it was called housekeeping or homegoing. chloe’s copy of this book is water damaged and torn. then, on june 22, she finally picked it up and finished it. the ending was utterly underwhelming.
tldr: i might write like a pretentious little bitch sometimes but i don't like reading it
while we have the time, however, i would like to tell a little story. 2 years ago, chloe picked up this book for a book club she was in. it was the first book of the book club and chloe had not yet figured out that everyone else in the book club was a literary genius (hi mia if you're seeing this). chloe gets her hands on a copy only to be greeted by a first sentence spanning, ahem oh right, the entire first page. it was at this moment she realized that she might be in a little over her head. by the time the meeting to discuss the book rolls around, she is about 60% through the book. she joins the zoom call prepared for everyone to talk about the sheer ridiculousness of the prose, the lack of plot, the pages upon pages of descriptions. For context, chloe has been reading primarily fantasy for years. she cannot understand how someone could enjoy a book without a racing plot or a lovable cast of characters. elements this book definitely does not have. chloe does not talk very much in that book discussion. after that, book after book similar to housekeeping was assigned, some she enjoyed more, some she enjoyed less. all of which she stopped at about 60%. chloe ended the year with nineteen books on her “currently reading” list and a severely deflated ego. she has spent the past two years finishing all of the books she started for that book club. annie john, the dead, who will run the frog hospital?. housekeeping was the final boss. chloe spent two fucking years lugging this book around in her tote bag, hoping somehow, somewhere, she would strike up the motivation to finally finish it. chloe spent two years pausing before the title to remember whether it was called housekeeping or homegoing. chloe’s copy of this book is water damaged and torn. then, on june 22, she finally picked it up and finished it. the ending was utterly underwhelming.
tldr: i might write like a pretentious little bitch sometimes but i don't like reading it
littlemegs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
hongjoongie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I normally don’t say this, but this was unnecessarily dense and overwritten. I should have enjoyed this given the topic, but I felt nothing toward the characters and just wanted it to be over. Kirkus review is correct: “fatally weighed down with excess myth-and-symbol pretension.”
katiegilley's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like a monster for giving this book 3 stars. Maybe this wasn't the right time for me to read it, but I didn't enjoy it at all. And I'm SO glad this wasn't my first Marilynne Robinson book or I wouldn't have the guts to move on to the Gilead Trilogy - which was SO GOOD!!
I found this book to be sad and over-written. Robinson is an amazing writer which she proved with the Gilead Trilogy. But for me, this novel to be achingly slow and painful. Again - a global pandemic might not be the best time to pick up something that's universally accepted to be profound and moving - but I found myself frustrated and annoyed while reading.
I found this book to be sad and over-written. Robinson is an amazing writer which she proved with the Gilead Trilogy. But for me, this novel to be achingly slow and painful. Again - a global pandemic might not be the best time to pick up something that's universally accepted to be profound and moving - but I found myself frustrated and annoyed while reading.
megajojo's review against another edition
3.0
i’m afraid this is another book i felt too dumb to understand. so much description and i have no idea what the Point was.