A Pulitzer Prize blog

QOTD

"Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration.
You don't have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see."
- The old man's "blog" in "Gilead"

Book: "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson
Review: 4 bill-stars (out of 5)... really good!

"Gilead" takes place in Gilead, Iowa.
Google maps says that Gilead is also town in Iowa.
But Wikipedia says that's not what the book meant... Gilead Wikipedia page.

I don't know. Whatever. But thank you Wikipedia for this one... that my heathen ass did not know:

From the Scriptures, "Gilead" means hill of testimony or mound of witness, (Genesis 31:21)
- Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilead

"Gilead" (the book) is indeed a "mound of witness". The book is a 77 year-old guy's writings/advice to his young son. See, the old Dad is dying and he wants to leave his thoughts for his son to read when he grows up.

The writing is absolutely beautiful. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction... says so right on the cover. It is warm and insightful and positive.

It's also a wee bit boring at times. Reading some guy's inner monologue is sort of like, um, reading this crappy blog... my blog just doesn't have all that fancy verbiage or correct punctuation, of course. The author was cool because the old man's "blog" meanders a bit... some times telling stories more than once, and being all stream of consciousness, like I like. I really felt like I was reading some old minister's notes to his son most of the time. I really felt like I was reading a guy who was, still at 77, trying to figure some shit out. Trying to make sense of some things. I empathize.

And, nice ending.

I think it's okay to be a little bored in the middle there. To muddle a bit. Depth comes at a slower pace. We got to know the Reverend and his life/situation even better that way. And it's a nice complement to all the tweeting and the local sports team and blah blah blah.

So, I really liked "Gilead".
try it... yow, bill

PS - Funny. I finished reading "Gilead" on a bar stool with (practically naked) women's beach volleyball blaring on TV in the background. Nice contrast. He he.

PPS - OK, let me dig and find you (me, really) another one... ah!

QOTD2

"How soft her voice is. That there should be such a voice in the whole world, and that I should be the one to hear it, seemed to me then and seems to me now an unfathomable grace."
- the old minister describing his wife

PPPS - I just amazoned up the previous work by Robinson, "Housekeeping". Excellent.