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bibliobrandie's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know. I just don't know. I didn't love this book, nor did I love Gilead. I just feel compelled to read Robinson because I like her writing so much. Lila is a prequel to Gilead and I wish that it would have been in first person (as Gilead was) so that it would have felt more intimate. I did appreciate the glimpse into Lila's life. Had I not read Gilead though, I don't know if this would have resonated with me much.
gormygirlkt's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful, loved this novel and am glad I read Gilead first.
danib11's review against another edition
4.0
I love Robinson's writing.
P. 222
He cleared his throat. "So. 'Things happen for reasons that are hidden from us, utterly hidden for as long as we think they must proceed from what has come before, our guilt or our deserving, rather than coming to us from a future that God in his freedom offers to us.' My meaning here is that you really can't account for what happens by what has happened in the past, as you understand it anyway...
P. 222
He cleared his throat. "So. 'Things happen for reasons that are hidden from us, utterly hidden for as long as we think they must proceed from what has come before, our guilt or our deserving, rather than coming to us from a future that God in his freedom offers to us.' My meaning here is that you really can't account for what happens by what has happened in the past, as you understand it anyway...
lbarsk's review against another edition
2.0
WELL, I FINISHED.
I just don't know what to do with this book; particularly, I think the problem is that I'm not a huge fan of Big Philosophical Discussions That Are Vaguely Religiously-Tinged. I also think that this just really isn't a book that's up my alley:
a) I can appreciate the prose in theory -- it was definitely DIFFERENT than other prose I've read and helped Robinson get her philosophical/dreamlike point across -- but in practice it distracted from the actual reading of the book.
b) I'm Jewish and this is a book that grapples with big CHRISTIAN-BASED philosophical questions; maybe I would've been more appreciative if there had been a discussion about like, modern-day golems or how hard it is to reconcile Jewish God's perpetual anger with the fact that the Jews are supposed to be Jewish God's Chosen People.
c) I personally don't like it when you can't place the time period of a "real world" book. There were moments that felt Great Depression, moments that felt Homesteading With Laura Ingalls Wilder, moments that felt Quaintly 1950s, and then some floaty time in-between. As with the prose, this was SUPER DISTRACTING for me personally. Maybe others would like that?
d) I am usually ALL FOR the kind of "past and present colliding, narrators simultaneously narrating the past and the present" stuff. It's done with great success in Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies and in several excellent fantasy books I've read in the past, not to mention like the billions of fanfics that do such timey-wimey shifts brilliantly every day. Here, I was NOT all for it. I felt like that part of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when all of the characters yell "GET ON WITH IT!!!!" -- Robinson rehashes The Past so many times over and foreshadowed the Big Awful Past Thing for so long that when it did happen I was like YOU MIGHT'VE PUT THAT 50 PAGES EARLIER???
e) This isn't based so much in Personal Taste as it is in Writing and Pacing: the ending happened waaaaaay too fast. If you've already spent so much of the book GOING SLOWLY, treading carefully, building up little moments and growing incrementally, how are you gonna have PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE ACTION OF THE BOOK happen in the last 20 pages? Not even 20? Oy gevalt.
In the end, I think much of this dislike boils down to personal issues and not "problems with its existence as a book." So take this all with a "Lena has strong feelings about most everything, we knew that already" grain of salt. I'm just disappointed that my first finished book of 2017 had to be this one! *shakes fist at book club*
I just don't know what to do with this book; particularly, I think the problem is that I'm not a huge fan of Big Philosophical Discussions That Are Vaguely Religiously-Tinged. I also think that this just really isn't a book that's up my alley:
a) I can appreciate the prose in theory -- it was definitely DIFFERENT than other prose I've read and helped Robinson get her philosophical/dreamlike point across -- but in practice it distracted from the actual reading of the book.
b) I'm Jewish and this is a book that grapples with big CHRISTIAN-BASED philosophical questions; maybe I would've been more appreciative if there had been a discussion about like, modern-day golems or how hard it is to reconcile Jewish God's perpetual anger with the fact that the Jews are supposed to be Jewish God's Chosen People.
c) I personally don't like it when you can't place the time period of a "real world" book. There were moments that felt Great Depression, moments that felt Homesteading With Laura Ingalls Wilder, moments that felt Quaintly 1950s, and then some floaty time in-between. As with the prose, this was SUPER DISTRACTING for me personally. Maybe others would like that?
d) I am usually ALL FOR the kind of "past and present colliding, narrators simultaneously narrating the past and the present" stuff. It's done with great success in Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies and in several excellent fantasy books I've read in the past, not to mention like the billions of fanfics that do such timey-wimey shifts brilliantly every day. Here, I was NOT all for it. I felt like that part of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when all of the characters yell "GET ON WITH IT!!!!" -- Robinson rehashes The Past so many times over and foreshadowed the Big Awful Past Thing for so long that when it did happen I was like YOU MIGHT'VE PUT THAT 50 PAGES EARLIER???
e) This isn't based so much in Personal Taste as it is in Writing and Pacing: the ending happened waaaaaay too fast. If you've already spent so much of the book GOING SLOWLY, treading carefully, building up little moments and growing incrementally, how are you gonna have PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE ACTION OF THE BOOK happen in the last 20 pages? Not even 20? Oy gevalt.
In the end, I think much of this dislike boils down to personal issues and not "problems with its existence as a book." So take this all with a "Lena has strong feelings about most everything, we knew that already" grain of salt. I'm just disappointed that my first finished book of 2017 had to be this one! *shakes fist at book club*
tarrowood's review against another edition
5.0
By far my favorite of the Gilead series so far. Robinson’s stream of conscious style in Lila adds so much flare, and it carries themes from Housekeeping that I found so intriguing. Lila’s narrative is one I’ve longed for, and I’m better for having heard it, I think
schor's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
expatally's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This series is just beautifully written. If you take it as if you are peeling back bits of it at a time, you’ll get used to the slow pace and will be so glad that you took the time to read it.
angelamichelle's review against another edition
5.0
The most accessible of the Gilead books, I think. I've been thinking about what makes Marilynne Robinson's writing so achingly beautiful when on the surface it's plain and simple. I think it's because Robinson is a deep thinker and her plain little sentences are true as true.
lydiawesome's review against another edition
5.0
This book is almost too beautiful for words. This is stream-of-consiousness poerty memoir of a woman battling her past, filled with shame, loneliness, homelessness, and pain so that she can accept the unexpected happiness she finds herself in.
kanejim57's review against another edition
3.0
Having read Gilead and Home I was looking forward to Lila. And while I was not disappointed with Lila I did find it hard to follow at times give the narrative style. Still a worthy read and should be read along with Gilead and Home.