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A review by ben_smitty
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
5.0
Read again Aug. 2022
A book that gets better after a re-read. This has grown to become one of my favorite books.
original review
This book wasn't fun at all, but it was beautiful.
Personal theory
I'm pretty sure Jack and John are foil characters - John being the one that stays loyal to Gilead, envying those whom have left to explore the world vs. Jack being the one that leaves to explore but ends up being homesick and lonely. The fact that they have the same name is no accident... and even the fact that he fits in with the family so nicely: making Lila feel comfortable and playing with John's son and all that. Jack and John are both pastor's kids, and they both fit the stereotype of the saintly pastor's kid and the wretched pastor's kid perfectly.
I also think the book has the parable of the prodigal son and the lost sheep undertones... which I believed was intentional. But I'm not sure whether John plays the father or if Boughton does... I'll have to check out Home
[Spoiler] - I thought the benediction at the end was a nice touch to the benediction that could've been when he baptized Jack out of envy (when Jack was an infant).
Aside from the theories that I've come up with, the overall theme is, like many have said, the beauty of life, the inevitability of death and what our response should be. Robinson does so well at describing the feeling of the mild existential angst that one has at the end of life, which is a big reason why she won the Pulitzer Prize. I honestly think that I will read this again once I am old, Lord willing. I know for a fact that the book would resonate with me much more then.
A book that gets better after a re-read. This has grown to become one of my favorite books.
original review
This book wasn't fun at all, but it was beautiful.
Personal theory
I'm pretty sure Jack and John are foil characters - John being the one that stays loyal to Gilead, envying those whom have left to explore the world vs. Jack being the one that leaves to explore but ends up being homesick and lonely. The fact that they have the same name is no accident... and even the fact that he fits in with the family so nicely: making Lila feel comfortable and playing with John's son and all that. Jack and John are both pastor's kids, and they both fit the stereotype of the saintly pastor's kid and the wretched pastor's kid perfectly.
I also think the book has the parable of the prodigal son and the lost sheep undertones... which I believed was intentional. But I'm not sure whether John plays the father or if Boughton does... I'll have to check out Home
[Spoiler] - I thought the benediction at the end was a nice touch to the benediction that could've been when he baptized Jack out of envy (when Jack was an infant).
Aside from the theories that I've come up with, the overall theme is, like many have said, the beauty of life, the inevitability of death and what our response should be. Robinson does so well at describing the feeling of the mild existential angst that one has at the end of life, which is a big reason why she won the Pulitzer Prize. I honestly think that I will read this again once I am old, Lord willing. I know for a fact that the book would resonate with me much more then.