AJ Dunn Reads

  Jack by Marilynne Robinson Jack is the fourth book in the Gilead series with this volume following Jack Boughton and his developing relationship with Della, a black Methodist high school teacher he meets in St. Louis in the 1940s. Both are children of minister fathers living during a time when it is illegal for them to be together. The plot of the story is straightfoward. Jack sees Della and the two strike up a friendship that leads to a romance, however they have to keep their affair a secret and can only really be together in public in Della's part of town, where folks may look down on the relationship, but the fear of being arrested is lessened. Jack and Della navigate these trials and Jack often fights with himself about whether or not it would be kinder and better for Della if he just left her alone. I found Jack in this book to be fearful, cowardly, and meek to the point of fault. He sees himself as a nobody and believes that others see him as even less. He is awkward and...

  Lila by Marilynne Robinson This is the third book in the Gilead series. It is told from the perspective of Reverend Ames's young wife, Lila, and follows her life from childhood up to the birth of the child she has with Ames. As a young child Lila is "stolen" by a woman named Doll after she is left outside of her home during the night. She lives with a bunch of people who seem to not care about her at all. Doll takes her and cares for her while they follow a transient group around the mid-western farm circuit in search of work during the Depression. Doll is a rough woman who teaches Lila not to really care about what happens in life, just to get by and to not take what doesn't belong to her. Doll eventually is arrested for killing a man, presumably Lila's father who may have come looking for her. Afterward, Lila makes her way to St. Louis and winds up at a brothel, where she fails to make it as a lady of the night, instead spending her time cleaning the place. Sh...

  Home by Marilynne Robinson Occurring as a parallel story line to Robinson's book Gilead , Home tells the story of Jack Boughton's return to the town of Gilead where he finds his sister Glory caring for their elderly father Robert. The book is narrated from Glory's point of view, but it is ultimately Jack's story that is the focal point. Jack returns to Gilead after getting to a low point in his tumultuous life. He has been sworn off by his wife and her father, and he returns to his childhood home in search of a place to find himself, some redemption, and a feeling of home, even though he never felt like he belonged. Glory, herself running away from a life that didn't turn out as planned, is caring for their father, a retired Reverend who is nearing the end of his days. When Jack returns, Glory and Robert are shocked at the state of him, and shocked that he cam home at all. They fuss over him, tiptoe around his feelings in order to make sure he stays around instea...

  Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson Ruth and Lucille's mother drives her car into a lake. The same lake their grandfather perished in. They are left with their grandmother who takes care of them for a few years before she passes. The grandmother's nervous, cautious, and gossipy sisters come to care for them until they decide to write to the girls' aunt Sylvie to see if she will come and relive them of their burden. Sylvie is transient and the girls fear she is unstable, that she will leave them or try to kill herself as their mother did. As they mature, Lucille becomes embarrassed by Sylvie's nature. Both girls continue to believe one day Sylvie will board one of the trains that passes through their town (Fingerbone) and disappear forever. Lucille begins to pretend their mother didn't abandon them and kill herself. She makes up stories about her instead. The girls are growing apart; Lucille accuses Ruth of becoming like Sylvie and their mother. Lucille wants to esc...

  Gilead by Marilynne Robinson What a beautifully written novel. The language in this book is possibly the most tender I have ever read. Reverend John Ames, a 77 year old Congregationalist pastor in the 1950s small fictional town of Gilead, Iowa, is dying and he is leaving behind a memoir to his son who is just seven years old and to his young wife. Ames recounts episodes in his life that have shaped him, especially those involving his father, grandfather, and his good friend Reverand Boughton, whose son Jack returns to Gilead and rekindles the somewhat adversarial relationship he had with Ames (his Godfather, for whom he was named). Ames struggles with his own theological understandings, especially where Jack is concerned, among other things. This book is filled with moments of beauty we should all recognize in everyday life; moments Ames finds awe in and hopes that his son will come to understand and appreciate as he grows. It is a reflective novel on a life lived mostly in solit...