Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
A quietly engaging story of the kind of salvation we might wish for any life. Beautiful, convincing, unsentimental.
Lila Ames is one of those characters who breaks your heart with her pureness. An abandoned child who is taken in by a band of wanderers, she knows just enough to know how much she doesn't know. Her observations on the world are precise and honest and reveal such a simplicity of cause and effect, she culminates into a brilliant manifestation of common sense.
"It felt very good to have him walking beside her, good like rest and quiet, like something you could live without but you need anyway, that you had to learn how to miss and then you'd never stop missing it."
But it was Marilynne Robinson's storytelling that sent me into another place with this book. How does she seamlessly weave in and out of three time periods-- childhood, adulthood, and present day-- with no differentiation and no confusion, to tell a gutting story with so much heart? It is truly a remarkable literary feat.
"It felt very good to have him walking beside her, good like rest and quiet, like something you could live without but you need anyway, that you had to learn how to miss and then you'd never stop missing it."
But it was Marilynne Robinson's storytelling that sent me into another place with this book. How does she seamlessly weave in and out of three time periods-- childhood, adulthood, and present day-- with no differentiation and no confusion, to tell a gutting story with so much heart? It is truly a remarkable literary feat.
Audiobook - DNF after 2 hours
I am not sure what is happening 25% through.
I am not sure what is happening 25% through.
Could not get into this book. It seemed to be written about other characters m, not from the previous books.
DNF
DNF
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel, while taking up the life of the young second wife of the Rev John Ames, does not follow the same chronology as the first two. Rather we get Lila's life before marrying him. Now the earlier novels had indicated she had a history largely unknown and that she was different from villagers, but it hadn't prepared me for how very different.
The novel weaves through time. it took a few pages to get used to its transitions among past, more distant past, and present. Perhaps it was more than getting used to shifts, more as information piled up it was easier to spot by detail which time frame we were in. Information from the past is dribbled out carefully after hints have made the reader curious to know.
Lila think s deep thoughts about life, religion, and existence, though she doesn't have the theological vocabulary to express them. john appreciates her questions, and though he tries not to give pat answers, his language sometimes obscures his thought and it comes across as pat. An early report of the teacher from the one year of school Lila attended telling Doll of Lila's "remarkable intelligence" makes her deep thoughts believable. I appreciated Lila's ponderings through most of the book, but felt the last several pages was too much, even for her.
Lila is an intriguing character worth getting to know.
The novel weaves through time. it took a few pages to get used to its transitions among past, more distant past, and present. Perhaps it was more than getting used to shifts, more as information piled up it was easier to spot by detail which time frame we were in. Information from the past is dribbled out carefully after hints have made the reader curious to know.
Lila think s deep thoughts about life, religion, and existence, though she doesn't have the theological vocabulary to express them. john appreciates her questions, and though he tries not to give pat answers, his language sometimes obscures his thought and it comes across as pat. An early report of the teacher from the one year of school Lila attended telling Doll of Lila's "remarkable intelligence" makes her deep thoughts believable. I appreciated Lila's ponderings through most of the book, but felt the last several pages was too much, even for her.
Lila is an intriguing character worth getting to know.
Lila Ames was the wife of Reverend John Ames, who we first met in her book Gilead. Lila was a rough-edged, elusive figure, a mystery unresolved.
Who was she and how did she come to marry the Reverend Ames?
In this book, we come to know her and witness their struggles and unusual love story.
Many questions emerge.
What is the meaning of suffering?
Do any of us have hope of redemption?
As the book covers Lila’s life, we bear witness to her difficult life and upbringing to what brings her to her life with Ames.
The book is told in third person narration, which encourages us to submerge ourselves in Lila’s story – her challenges and complexities.
But having said that, this story wasn’t as lovely a read for me as Gilead. It was harsh and complex and shows difficult pictures of the characters reality to wade through.
The author is still a good writer. She knows how to create complicated characters. I commend her for that.
Who was she and how did she come to marry the Reverend Ames?
In this book, we come to know her and witness their struggles and unusual love story.
Many questions emerge.
What is the meaning of suffering?
Do any of us have hope of redemption?
As the book covers Lila’s life, we bear witness to her difficult life and upbringing to what brings her to her life with Ames.
The book is told in third person narration, which encourages us to submerge ourselves in Lila’s story – her challenges and complexities.
But having said that, this story wasn’t as lovely a read for me as Gilead. It was harsh and complex and shows difficult pictures of the characters reality to wade through.
The author is still a good writer. She knows how to create complicated characters. I commend her for that.
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Of the trilogy, I think I liked this one the best.