Gilead

De: Marilynne Robinson

Narrado por: Tim Jerome

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2005

National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction, 2005

In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. Ames is the son of an Iowan preacher and the grandson of a minister who, as a young man in Maine, saw a vision of Christ bound in chains and came west to Kansas to fight for abolition: He "preached men into the Civil War", then, at age 50, became a chaplain in the Union Army, losing his right eye in battle. Reverend Ames writes to his son about the tension between his father, an ardent pacifist, and his grandfather, whose pistol and bloody shirts, concealed in an army blanket, may be relics from the fight between the abolitionists and those settlers who wanted to vote Kansas into the union as a slave state. And he tells a story of the sacred bonds between fathers and sons, which are tested in his tender and strained relationship with his namesake, John Ames Boughton, his best friend's wayward son.

This is also the tale of another remarkable vision, not a corporeal vision of God but the vision of life as a wondrously strange creation. It tells how wisdom was forged in Ames's soul during his solitary life, and how history lives through generations, pervasively present even when betrayed and forgotten.

Gilead is the long-hoped-for second novel by one of our finest writers, a hymn of praise and lamentation to the God-haunted existence that Reverend Ames loves passionately, and from which he will soon part.

©2004 Marilynne Robinson (P)2005 BBC Audiobooks America, Published by Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Reseñas de la Crítica

" Gilead is a beautiful work: demanding, grave, and lucid...Robinson's words have a spiritual force that's very rare in contemporary fiction." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"The long wait has been worth it....Robinson's prose is beautiful, shimmering, and precise....Destined to become her second classic." ( Publishers Weekly)
"[ Gilead] is so serenely beautiful, and written in a prose so gravely measured and thoughtful, that one feels touched with grace just to read it." ( The Washington Post Book World)

Deeply Personal

This is a beautifully written book, and the narrator's voice is so well suited to this work I forgot I wasn't sitting with John Ames listening to his story. There are countless nuggets of wisdom to be mined in this artuflly crafted memoire.

Masterful!

Would you listen to Gilead again? Why?

I have already planned on doing so. As with her previous novel, Marilynne Robinson has captured such wonderful selections of the english language to tell this story that it reguires much more than one pass. Perhaps twice for the masterful story line, twice for the characterization, and innumerable for the glorious language she chooses. I will keep it on my

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gilead?

I especially enjoyed the times that the main character described the love and appreciation he had for his son. What child wouldn't want to hear those remarks from their parent?

What does Tim Jerome bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Tim Jerome WAS the Reverend, our main character. His intonations and expert use of his voice brought this story to life. Excellent job.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were so many parts I adored but I can point clearly to the telling of the trip to the graveyard and meeting the woman on the farm. It was greatly moving to me.

Any additional comments?

I will keep reading this work as I did Ms. Robinson's first work, Housekeeping. Both of them are glorious works.

it was a slow burn

Is slow burn the right phrase. Basically it was very, very, extremely difficult to get into for me but once I did, I loved it and I want to read it again. very thought provoking and beautifully written. also I listening to it on 1.4 speed seemed to be ideal.

Well written, but a little disjointed

The first part was a narration about family, the second about dealing with the quasi-antigonist. The plot device of an elderly father writing a letter to his young child before his death didn't really carry the second part very well.
In spite of that - I enjoyed the story.

Beautiful writing

A thoughtful, well written book. Some have complained about the narrator sounding too old but I thought he was perfect. The main character IS old. The story revolves around a minister who struggles with age and jealousy. He overcomes, for the most part, by focusing on his faith, love of family/friends and understanding the flaws of a lost soul.

Beautiful

Beautiful prose and story. The author wove such an intricate narrative through a deceptively simple device (old man’s letter to his child). Narrator also had a great voice.

An okay book

It was thought provoking, but often it was mundane, and void of a story to hook me and drag me along, out of a lake.

unexpected. revered

selfawareness is difficult as described by the reverend. how well can we know ourselves. how can we truly know as nother. kudos.

An old man's musings

Marilynne Robinson is the most lyrical novelist working today. Pretty much all the action is interior--the musings of an old man in an old town. But the fineness of his perceptions and his gentle moral rigor are given full play and in prose that is fine and precise, like the best of scalpels.

Beautiful moments, but not very dramatic.

I read a number of reviews and thought I would love this book. It was OK. It's nice to read a pleasant work of fiction that looks into Christian values. There were moments I thought were insightful, but I was mostly bored listening to this.

The narrator was the right selection, I just didn't find the plot very engaging.