Book Review: "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

From the Book: In 1956 towards the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son: "I told you last night that I might be gone sometime...you reached up and put your fingers on my lips and gave me that look I never in my life saw on any other face besides your mother's. It's a kind of furious pride, very passionate and stern. I'm always a little surprised to find my eyebrows unsinged after I've suffered one of those looks. I will miss them."

My Review: This is a very beautifully written novel. I have not previously read Robinson's, Housekeeping, which received the PEN/Hemingway award. Based on Housekeeping, critics were highly anticipating Gilead after several years of wait. Gilead is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. As per usual, I'm always a little hesitant to read Pulitzer winners even though my bucket list includes reading them all. I generally have a hard time with them. Not that they aren't exemplary novels, just that they're typically more intense reads. By that I mean, I shouldn't have started this book at the beach. 

It's a very heartwarming story of a man writing to his young son under the premise that he will have passed before his son is mature enough to know what kind of man he is. John Ames is a traditional man in his mind. The son of a long line of men of God and from a small town in Iowa that most choose to leave as soon as possible. I wondered for most of the novel what made John Ames stay in Gilead. Close to the end of the story he tells his son exactly why he stayed in Gilead, despite opportunities to leave. 

The beauty of John Ames's letter to his son is that he is more or less discovering things about himself as he is writing. Stories of his childhood and his father's are full of life lessons for the young Johnny Ames. Stories of religious and racial differences that have formed and then weathered the town of Gilead over time. John Ames is nothing but sincere and revealing in his letter for he wants his son to know how and why his life was lived. He reveals his fears, his joys, his humiliations, and his humanity in raw form. A few times the story feels like a sermon and in fact he takes lessons from old sermons that his wife has dug up for him. He cites scripture and always reminds himself who is really in control of his life. 

The intriguing part of John Ames's letter is his relationship with the Boughton family from Gilead. The Boughton's have been in Gilead longer than John himself. He grew up with the Boughton's and now there is a young Boughton living in the home that is a companion to his son, Johnny. There is a very mysterious relationship between John Ames and one of the Boughton sons, Jack. Jack was the black sheep of the Boughton family but always the gleam in Mr. Boughton's eye. Jack had recently been unheard of for many years before John Ames begins his letter to his son. As time passes and he is writing his letter to Johnny, John Ames and Jack Broughton attempt several times to discuss the uncomfortableness between them. 

In the end, John Ames and Jack Broughton, are able to finally overcome the unease and have a talk. Jack comes to the church to speak. He is leaving Gilead and comes clean to John Ames as to where and why. All the previous attempts at having this conversation ended in discontent and revolved mainly around offending each other before any conversation really began. The story of this conversation that John Ames writes to his son is definitely the moment of the story where I had to stop and just say, "wow." All of Jack Boughton's indiscretions and crimes, and peculiarities are defined for the reader. It really was an ah-ha moment. 

Very thankful for this revelation, I am. I had started to lose interest in the book for I feared it would just end with John Ames either finishing his letter or not making it to the end. It was a wonderful way to close the story. Really, it was probably the reason that I didn't finish the book dissatisfied. It justified a Pulitzer Prize in my mind. That Robinson could write such a heartwarming story with a fairly mute tone with a bit of mystery and then add that defining moment in the end was refreshing.

Recommendations: I'm not going to tell you that you have to read this novel. It's not a must read for me. It was well worth the read, however. If you're interested in reading a Pulitzer then you should give it a go.
The stories in John Ames's letter are fascinating. Although the pace is rather slow, there is an aire of mystery, and I just told you how great the ending was. I'm not going to give up on my Pulitzer reading list...let's put it that way! I have hope. I even think that I will add Robinson's Housekeeping to my reading list now. 

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