I haven’t read much lately. I just realized I haven’t had one of these recaps in quite awhile. But I finally finished Gilead. I warmed slowly to this book. At first it seemed like exactly what it was billed as… the ramblings of an old Iowa preacher. Having been raised in a pretty conservative family (my dad is the head deacon at their Southern Baptist church), I am generally pretty skeptical of the truth and beauty of 'spiritual writings'. It’s just become too familiar (stale) for me through the years. But I was gradually and reticently moved by this book and these characters. Even the Guy enjoyed the passages I read aloud to him (he’s Jewish)… because they transcend anyone’s religion and say a lot about the awe and wonder of simply being human, and what that means. It is a book that makes you feel your very delicate and precious mortality.
I think my best endorsement would be to re-write this passage:
“You didn’t wait until this morning to realize that I am old. I don’t know what it was I saw, and I’m not going to think about it anymore. It didn’t set well with me…
If I live, I’ll vote for Eisenhower.
How I wish you could have known me in my strength.”
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2 comments:
i LOVE this book, i think it is the best effing book i've read in a really long time. my family is pretty conservative and religious (but presbyterian, so one of the more benign religions for an agnostic & repetitive sinner such as myself), and i totally agree with you that it transcends religion.
when writing shines, it just simply shines.
completely agree.... and it did. i haven't stayed up late reading in months!
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