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A review by faintgirl
Home by Marilynne Robinson
1.0
They kicked off the Curious Tale of the Dog in the Night Time and such for this? My Mum recommended Home, but also that I start by reading Gilead, which is not a precursor but an addition to this story. The two books describe the same story but from two different perspectives, a neat little idea but that's where the fun ends with these sorry novels. The first, Gilead, tells of wild boy Jack's return to his family from the viewpoint of the local pastor and friend of his father, Reverend Ames. The second tells the same tale from the point of Glory, the younjgest sister who returned to the family homne to care for her ailing father. Gilead bored me to tears. I found Ames stilted, confined, and repetitive. His fears about the nature of the prodigal son were interesting but unfounded, and as a character he never made a real effort to challenge them. 300+ pages of an old man set in his ways, dull as dishwater.
The second book, Home, and the one that made it to the list, is an improvement on this. Glory is a more likeable character, a woman badly done by at the hands of a scoundrel of a man and the constraints of the society of Middle America. But Jack is weak, pathetic, and his constant attempts to address his lack of faith have the circularity and dullness of the constant moaning of the teens in the new Twilight film. His poor father is losing his mind and tries his best to deal with this loser of a son, but I would have lost patience with him about 20 seconds after he arrived in the door.
Throughout the whole novel, very little happens. No events shake this little township, no one is forced to change their minds, no conclusions are ever really drawn from the constant agonising over past issues. It's dull, it completely fails to be moving, and I have absolutely no idea why this belongs on the list. Very, very glad it's over, and I won't be going near Marilynne Robinson again.
The second book, Home, and the one that made it to the list, is an improvement on this. Glory is a more likeable character, a woman badly done by at the hands of a scoundrel of a man and the constraints of the society of Middle America. But Jack is weak, pathetic, and his constant attempts to address his lack of faith have the circularity and dullness of the constant moaning of the teens in the new Twilight film. His poor father is losing his mind and tries his best to deal with this loser of a son, but I would have lost patience with him about 20 seconds after he arrived in the door.
Throughout the whole novel, very little happens. No events shake this little township, no one is forced to change their minds, no conclusions are ever really drawn from the constant agonising over past issues. It's dull, it completely fails to be moving, and I have absolutely no idea why this belongs on the list. Very, very glad it's over, and I won't be going near Marilynne Robinson again.