Gilead

How weird, two Pulitzer Prize novels in a row. Reviewed the entire list of Pulitzer Prize winners (prior to 1947: http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Novel and the list for after 1947, changed title to Fiction: http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Fiction). How many have you read? Well today’s book, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, started off really liking the concept, a dying man leaving a story of his life to his son and wife. The intro began with an overview of the life of his father and grandfather and their families. OK. But then, that seemed to be the book with lots of references to the Bible throughout, makes sense as grandfather, father, and son were all preachers; throw in an obscure neighbor’s son who has returned to town after his time as the “problem kid” and the secret of his time away. Makes for a compelling story when the dying man thinks the neighbor’s son may be after his wife, well kind of I guess (playing ball with the preacher’s son and spending time with the wife). I don’t know, didn’t do it for me. Slow read, I mean SLOW. Never got interesting, except the secret life being revealed… Maybe if I was the son of a preacher it would have hit home. While the language was beautiful and the references to the Bible were spot on, I was missing some of the connections and the characters never spoke to me. I was not pulled into his life nor his struggles. I promise my kids I won’t leave this type of tell-all “sermon” to them. Surprised that this book was awarded a Pulitzer, truly surprised. Take a pass on this one. Slow read and hard to connect…