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A review by miffybooks
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
5.0
i went into this book entirely blind. a historical religious fiction story abt a small town girl in iowa isnt usually the type of book that i read but im really glad i gave this a chance bcs its really unlike any book ive read.
the BIGGEST thing about this book that immediately pulled me in from the beginning is just how beautiful the writing is. marilynne robinson has an otherworldly level of control when crafting Lila's voice as well as describing the world around her. the descriptions of the quiet nature of iowa: the wind, the snow, the sunlight, the water, are all built with tender and simple sensory details that let me vividly imagine what she's describing. i love how much of a presence iowa has in this. robinson makes an effort to sprinkle in descriptions of the nearby environment nearly every important scene so that you never forget what Gilead looks, feels, and smells like.
as described earlier, it is ridiculously impressive how precise Lila's voice is. the book is entirely dependent on her being an appealing narrator with interesting things to say (the majority of the book pretty much takes place in her incredibly curious thoughts) and i seriously cant believe how REAL she sounds. her behavior is seen as peculiar to the townspeople and even the reverend that she marries (to some extent) but as a reader i was able to have a perfect understanding of her motivations and desires. her thoughts are so clear! she is curious and wants so badly to understand the things around her in a way that is so resonant.
which brings me to talking about the depiction of religion in the book! i absolutely love how its portrayed and offered to the reader in this. we're introduced to Lila as someone who is deeply confused and detached from all the conventions of society. she uses her arrival to gilead as an opportunity to seek answers about basically everything from people who know more than she does. and then as the book unfolds, we learn in the most subtle and beautiful way, that nobody is really that different from Lila. Lila doesn't have any answers. her preacher husband doesn't either. nor does marilynne robinson! religion isnt being presented as a solution and it isnt forced upon the reader in this book. its moreso presented as just another way to process the world. everyone processes the world somehow! you dont have to agree with the preacher's sermons. you dont have to agree with lila's skepticism. this book just wants you to appreciate how people find hope and clarity in all their different ways, and offers their perspective for you to consider, as well as presenting the limits of how much humans can really try and comprehend. we can talk and argue about death all we want, but nobody really knows what happens when we die. and thats okay! we're all united in that uncertainty and that is so beautiful.
to conclude this review, heres a passage from the book that i thought was beautiful!
"Fear and comfort could be the same thing. It was strange, when she thought of it. The wind always somewhere, trifling with the leaves, troubling the firelight. And that smell of damp earth and bruised grass, a lonely, yearning sort of smell that meant, Why don't you come back, you will come back, you know you will."
the BIGGEST thing about this book that immediately pulled me in from the beginning is just how beautiful the writing is. marilynne robinson has an otherworldly level of control when crafting Lila's voice as well as describing the world around her. the descriptions of the quiet nature of iowa: the wind, the snow, the sunlight, the water, are all built with tender and simple sensory details that let me vividly imagine what she's describing. i love how much of a presence iowa has in this. robinson makes an effort to sprinkle in descriptions of the nearby environment nearly every important scene so that you never forget what Gilead looks, feels, and smells like.
as described earlier, it is ridiculously impressive how precise Lila's voice is. the book is entirely dependent on her being an appealing narrator with interesting things to say (the majority of the book pretty much takes place in her incredibly curious thoughts) and i seriously cant believe how REAL she sounds. her behavior is seen as peculiar to the townspeople and even the reverend that she marries (to some extent) but as a reader i was able to have a perfect understanding of her motivations and desires. her thoughts are so clear! she is curious and wants so badly to understand the things around her in a way that is so resonant.
which brings me to talking about the depiction of religion in the book! i absolutely love how its portrayed and offered to the reader in this. we're introduced to Lila as someone who is deeply confused and detached from all the conventions of society. she uses her arrival to gilead as an opportunity to seek answers about basically everything from people who know more than she does. and then as the book unfolds, we learn in the most subtle and beautiful way, that nobody is really that different from Lila. Lila doesn't have any answers. her preacher husband doesn't either. nor does marilynne robinson! religion isnt being presented as a solution and it isnt forced upon the reader in this book. its moreso presented as just another way to process the world. everyone processes the world somehow! you dont have to agree with the preacher's sermons. you dont have to agree with lila's skepticism. this book just wants you to appreciate how people find hope and clarity in all their different ways, and offers their perspective for you to consider, as well as presenting the limits of how much humans can really try and comprehend. we can talk and argue about death all we want, but nobody really knows what happens when we die. and thats okay! we're all united in that uncertainty and that is so beautiful.
to conclude this review, heres a passage from the book that i thought was beautiful!
"Fear and comfort could be the same thing. It was strange, when she thought of it. The wind always somewhere, trifling with the leaves, troubling the firelight. And that smell of damp earth and bruised grass, a lonely, yearning sort of smell that meant, Why don't you come back, you will come back, you know you will."