Book: Gilead
Gilead is the memoir of an aging, Midwestern pastor. Afraid he will not live to see his young son grow old, John Ames sets out to write down his family history. Ames's stories, ranging from the humorous to the poignant, are interrupted by insights into human nature and bits of wisdom for his son. The book is structured as a long letter to his son, without a single chapter division. The beauty of the prose and endearing characters are so convincing that you forget the book is actually a novel and the creation of genius Marilynne Robinson. It is truly succulent and requires adequate reading time to savor its details. I've never read anything so honest and so beautiful in its simplicity. Ames is a man who is passionate for ministry, but nevertheless just a man who struggles along with the rest of us. Reading it is like sharing the most intimate conversation with a life-long friend who opens up the deepest part of his heart. It will take a second read through to capture the overlooked details.
I love this quote where Ames is discussing communication, relationships, and the barriers which lie between them.
In every important way we are such secrets from each other, and I do believe that there is a separate language in each of us, also a separate aesthetics and a separate jurisprudence. Every single one of us is a little civilization built on the ruins of any number of preceeding civilizations, but with our own variant notions of what is beautiful and what is acceptable-which, I hasten to add, we generally do not satisfy and by which we struggle to live.
I also enjoyed this quote where Ames is warning his son against following popular theologies for the sake of doubt.
Don't look for proofs. Don't bother with them at all. They are never sufficient to the question, and they're always a little impertinent, I think, because they claim for God a place within our conceptual grasp. I'm not saying never doubt or question. The Lord gave you a mind so that you would make honest use of it. I'm saying you must be sure that the doubts and questions are your own, not, so to speak, the mustache and walking stick that happen to be the fashion of any particular moment.
This is a man who looks back on his life and is satisfied that he has glorified God and is still learning how to enjoy Him forever. I hope I am as fortunate.
Labels: book review
2 Comments:
I read Gilead about a year ago after reading glowing recommendations all over the net, and I wasn't disappointed. My favorite passages were those on her water motif. (I wish I had the book nearby to read some of those again.) Overall, it was interesting to read about a pastor to be admired instead of disliked as in so many other books.
-Joel Weyrick
You need to read Housekeeping too. I read both this year and am converted.
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