Brad Coelho
02-14-2010, 11:21 AM
This is a fabulous book. The tenor of Marilynne’s prose takes on a bucolic air initially, almost glossing over some of the disastrous details of an eroding family life. As the story progresses, her measured sentences become more expansive & prophetic, unearthing the sublimated pain of the past inch by inch. While the dialogue is sparse, each character phrase is purposeful and thought-provoking, leaving us w/ enough insight to get the wheels moving in multiple directions.
The plot is simplicity on the surface: a nowhere town of Northwest America, lost in time & pummeled by the elements, serves as the backdrop for 3 generations of a dissolving American family. Once the grandfather of the family disappears into a lake off a railroad car, the ripple effect begins to take a toll on each family member through the years, manifesting different consequences for each daughter. As things unfurl Robinson explores themes of introversion, loneliness, transience & sublimation. The real beauty of the novel lies in her prose, which ranges from short and declarative to a soulful, almost pastoral search for deeper meaning.
Robinson took a 25 year hiatus between fiction novels (she finished Housekeeping in ’80 and Gilead in ’05, for which she got the Pulitzer) so she isn’t the most prolific of fiction writers, but she certainly sparked a new light in my eye for contemporary literature.
Solid A.
The plot is simplicity on the surface: a nowhere town of Northwest America, lost in time & pummeled by the elements, serves as the backdrop for 3 generations of a dissolving American family. Once the grandfather of the family disappears into a lake off a railroad car, the ripple effect begins to take a toll on each family member through the years, manifesting different consequences for each daughter. As things unfurl Robinson explores themes of introversion, loneliness, transience & sublimation. The real beauty of the novel lies in her prose, which ranges from short and declarative to a soulful, almost pastoral search for deeper meaning.
Robinson took a 25 year hiatus between fiction novels (she finished Housekeeping in ’80 and Gilead in ’05, for which she got the Pulitzer) so she isn’t the most prolific of fiction writers, but she certainly sparked a new light in my eye for contemporary literature.
Solid A.