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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-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
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I discovered the writing of Marilynne Robinson earlier this year. After tearing through Gilead and Home - the first two of her books to deal with this handful of characters in the same fictional Iowa town of Gilead - I was apprehensive about reading Lila. Gilead is a veritable masterpiece, and Home is equally brilliant (the ending of the latter was, for me, one of those cathartic moments a reader sometimes experiences when coming upon words so perfectly constructed one isn't sure whether to chuckle or weep), but I started to worry that Lila couldn't possibly measure up to those first two. Well, I was wrong. At once a tale of an unlikely romance, a nuanced theological treatise, an ode to small town Midwest America, and a commentary on what things like poverty, loneliness, and redemption can do to people, Robinson has crafted a story full of authenticity using a prose full of grace. Embracing complexity and questions, she has written into existence characters who - I am not ashamed to say - I feel are or were real people. Definitely start with Gilead and Home before reading Lila, but do your head and your heart a favor, and read all three.
A beautiful book about a girl Lila who was saved from death and a life of cruelty by Doll a kind hearted woman who gave her life and love and a "home". Lila finds herself in a life very different from the one she was raised into, and struggles to accept it. The book is mostly a reflection on the life once lived and the pull to return to what is known. Lila is a woman of few words and much introspection which is captured beautifully by the writer. The book is extremely well written and easy enough to follow although I did get bogged down by the switching between life and internal thoughts when I was tired. I haven't read anything else by this writter but am very much tempted to read the rest of the books in the Gilead series. I would like to thank the reading room for my copy it was a wonderful read.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Although Lila is the third installment in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead series, it is the first novel I have read of the series and by Robinson. Lila is the narrator and the protagonist, who we learn at the beginning of the novel has married Reverend John Ames, a pastor in the Iowa town Gilead. The novel has no chapters, moving as Lila's mind likely does between her relationship with Ames and her past-- a transient childhood that Lila is still making sense of into her adulthood.
This is a slow-paced, subtle, beautiful book. Lila is a character with whom I loved spending time. I wasn't sure if I was interested in reading the other books in this series, but I am now.
This is a slow-paced, subtle, beautiful book. Lila is a character with whom I loved spending time. I wasn't sure if I was interested in reading the other books in this series, but I am now.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Each novel in this ‘quadrilogy’ expands the characters and brings them closer to life. Lila may be my favorite character to date for her questioning to understand and perseverance in spite of her life’s hardships.