| In 1981， Marilynne Robinson wrote Housekeeping， which won the PEN/Hemingway Award and became a modern classic. Since then， she has written two pieces of nonfiction: Mother Country and The Death of Adam. With Gilead， we have， at last， another work of fiction. As with The Great Fire， Shirley Hazzards s return， 22 years after The Transit of Venus， it was worth the long wait. Books such as these take time， and thought， and a certain kind of genius. There are no invidious comparisons to be made. Robinson s books are unalike in every way but one: the same incisive thought and careful prose illuminate both. The narrator， John Ames， is 76， a preacher who has lived almost all of his life in Gilead， Iowa. He is writing a letter to his almost seven-year-old son， the blessing of his second marriage. It is a summing-up， an apologia， a consideration of his life. Robinson takes the story away from being simply the reminiscences of one man and moves it into the realm of a meditation on fathers and children， particularly sons， on faith， and on the imperfectability of man. The reason for the letter is Ames s failing health. He wants to leave an account of himself for this son who will never really know him. His greatest regret is that he hasn t much to leave them， in worldly terms. "Your mother told you I m writing your begats， and you seemed very pleased with the idea. Well， then. What should I record for you?" In the course of the narrative， John Ames records himself， inside and out， in a meditative style. Robinson s prose asks the reader to slow down to the pace of an old man in Gilead， Iowa， in 1956. Ames writes of his father and grandfather， estranged over his grandfather s departure for Kansas to march for abolition and his father s lifelong pacifism. The tension between them， their love for each other and their inability to bridge the chasm of their beliefs is a constant source of rumination for John Ames. Fathers and sons. The other constant in the book is Ames s friendship since childhood with "old Boughton，" a Presbyterian minister. Boughton， father of many children， favors his son， named John Ames Boughton， above all others. Ames must constantly monitor his tendency to be envious of Boughton s bounteous family; his first wife died in childbirth and the baby died almost immediately after her. Jack Boughton is a ne er-do-well， Ames knows it and strives to love him as he knows he should. Jack arrives in Gilead after a long absence， full of charm and mischief， causing Ames to wonder what influence he might have on Ames s young wife and son when Ames dies. These are the things that Ames tells his son about: his ancestors， the nature of love and friendship， the part that faith and prayer play in every life and an awareness of one s own culpability. There is also reconciliation without resignation， self-awareness without deprecation， abundant good humor， philosophical queries--Jack asks， " Do you ever wonder why American Christianity seems to wait for the real thinking to be done elsewhere? "--and an ongoing sense of childlike wonder at the beauty and variety of God s world. In Marilynne Robinson s hands， there is a balm in Gilead， as the old spiritual tells us. --Valerie Ryan |
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