January 22, 2009: Page Turners 7 p.m.

Book: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Discussion:

We welcomed two new Page Turners at our first meeting of the new year, and I personally am glad they came, as they were among the few that really enjoyed this month’s selection. The book was Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Our voting results illustrate the book’s reception; two members voted thumbs up, two down, six sideways, and two abstained pending completion of the novel.

The major complaints about the book were that the readers could not get into it. Gilead is a short book, approximately two hundred and fifty pages, but a slow-moving read. The plot line tends to meander from past to present, back again, and through bits of philosophical insight, which can make for tedious reading at times. Several events in the story, many involving John Ames’ grandfather or Jon Ames Boughton, seemed to be repeated several times throughout the book, which was another key detractor of the novel.

On the other hand, the language used in the book was highly praised, at least by one reader. The text was certainly easy to read and had a nice leisurely flow. Though some readers read and reread certain passages several times trying to make sense of what the author was trying to say, others found the language beautiful and profound and one of the novel’s assets, rather than one of its drawbacks.

We also discussed the idea of authors writing first person characters of the opposite gender. Some writers are able to do it more accurately than others. In Robinson’s case the Page Turners approved of her writing from a man’s point of view, and of this specific type of man in particular. We thought that a minister who be a more sensitive kind of man, especially an elderly one with a chronic condition. This may have allowed Robinson to write from a male’s viewpoint more easily than a Rambo-like character would have.

Another key topic of discussion was the prodigal son, Jack Boughton. We debated over whether or not Ames was right to be paranoid for much of the book about the possibility of Jack pursuing his wife, agreeing that knowing Boughton’s past and the fact that Jack and the preacher’s wife were closer in age did give Ames the right to be slightly uneasy. However, we also all thought it seemed unlikely that Mrs. Ames would be interested in Jack, and that she was friendly with him mostly out of politeness.

We rounded out the meeting by talking about Robinson’s newest tile, Home, which is a sort of sequel to Gilead, focused on Glory and Jack Boughton and their father.

Due to the recent surge in interest, probably because of the new film, I was unable to obtain any copies of next month’s book, Marley and Me, for distribution. However, flyers advertising upcoming programs were made available.