Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Start discussion here for Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.

Okay, I'll leap in with a comment about the lake, which haunts the entire story. This passage struck me:

"This perfect quiet had settled into their house after the death of their father. That event had troubled the very medium of their lives. Time and air and sunlight bore wave and wave of shock, until all the shock was spent, and time and space and light grew still again and nothing seemed to tremble, and nothing seemed to lean. The disaster had fallen out of sight, like the train itself, and if the calm that followed it was not greater than the calm that came before it, it had seemed so. And the dear ordinary had healed as seamlessly as an image on water." (p. 15)

I don't know, it just seems really important. What do others think?

Robinson's writing is so beautiful and so complex. Even descriptions of death were lovely and picturesque. The lake, and water in general, truly did haunt the entire book, both literally and figuratively. I remember thinking to myself that if it were me, and I was one of those girls, I would stay well away from that lake. Perhaps I am too superstitious.

There is a dark and building undertone to the book, even during the humorous parts (I'm curious if the movie captures this). Darkness and light are very symbolic in this book. There also seems to be a pervasive current of loss and impermanence throughout the story. Some passages I felt I had to read over and over again so as not to miss any symbolism, but I'm sure that much of it went way over my head. It is probably one of those books you have to read over and over to fully comprehend.

The loss and impermanence are what makes the book so unsettling, I think. Sylvie can live with it, Ruth and Lucille (especially) cannot.

The scene about 1/3 of the way in, where the great aunts have just left and then the water floods the downstairs and the three are marooned in the upstairs. Sylvie goes down in the dark and stays there for a very long time, until Ruth drags her back upstairs and then the girls make sure she STAYS with them.

You can't stave it off for long. Their efforts seem poignant because they're so ineffective, but you feel for those girls.

Forgive me for going on, but this line just stopped me in my tracks:

"Sylvie, I knew, felt the life of perished things."

I can't wait to get into this one, you ladies make it sound so enticing. Amazon is apparently sending my copy on a slow boat from Tuktoyuktuk!

Lisa wrote: "Forgive me for going on, but this line just stopped me in my tracks:

"Sylvie, I knew, felt the life of perished things.""

Me, too! Such a powerful quote!

This novel is so emotionally honest and straightforward. This passage demonstrates my point:
"When did I become so unlike other people? ....was it when my mother left me waiting for her, and established in me the habit of waiting and expectation which makes any present moment most significant for what it does not contain."
The constant reference to the lake, reflections in water, mirrors and faces build up to Ruthie's declaration of emptiness. Haunting prose.

There are some passages concerning loneliness that really stood out to me, some things Ruthie is explaining when she and Sylvia spent the night on the lake and finding that abandoned homestead. Know the ones I'm talking about? Something to the affect of it being like looking into a house with a light on and people conversing, but not being seen or touched by the light that separates those on the inside and those on the outside. Thought it was interesting! :-)

Yay! My copy just arrived so I hope to get started on it tonight. I've been following the discussion and you folks have got me really primed for this one!

Gosh, I hope your expectations aren't TOO high. ;)

I did want to respond to Jeremy's comment about the visit to the island with the abandoned homestead. That passage hit home with me as well, and this bit that came after:

"Perhaps all unsheltered people are angry in their hearts, and would like to break the roof, spine, and ribs, and smash the windows and flood the floor and spindle the curtains and bloat the couch."

yeah Lisa, that passage stood out to me to! I think it's human nature that Jealously leads to unkind animosity towards those you are jealous of. A much more difficult characteristic to develop, I think, is the ability to be happy for others when they are successful. I think this is true even if you yourself are successful, but especially true when you are less so in comparison with the other.

The author writes very lyrically about the lake, the house, loneliness, loss, eccentricity, and transiency. I'll be remembering the railroad bridge over the deep lake for a long time.

I'm close to the end now, and I've been totally engrossed. I find that she is so descriptive that I have to re-read some parts to be sure I have the meaning. Reminds me a bit of Margaret Atwood in that regard.

Connie, I agree that the railroad bridge carries a lot of freight (joke), emotionally. It's something to do with fears that keep you safe but also limit you. If you can face them, you're free.

And yet freedom is not pure exhilaration. It's lonely. The thrill of cutting loose fades in time and what are you left with?

Lisa, your comment is so good.

This will stick with me for a while:

I remember her, grave with the peace of the destined, the summoned, and she seems almost an apparition.

But if she had simply brought us home again to the high frame apartment building with the scaffolding of stairs, I would not remember her that way. Her eccentricities might have irked and embarrassed us when we grew older. we might have forgotten her birthday, and teased her to buy a car or to change her hair. We would have left her finally. We would have laughed together with bitterness and satisfaction at our strangely solitary childhood, in light of which our failings would seem inevitable, and all our attainments miraculous.

That passage struck me as particularly powerful and insightful. Ruth is very troubled with the concept of leaving or abandonment until the end, I think.

It is a haunting passage.

Thanks, Hattie. I was so excited to find you all were discussing this book because it gave me an excuse to read it again.

Jim, the passage you cited broke my heart. It seemed to be about how much Helen's daughters wanted her to be a normal mother, knowing that she never was that. She was damaged by the death of her father and she damaged her children in turn. They should have been the ones to grow up and leave HER, not the other way around.

As a parent reading this, it made me sad to see Ruth's pain, so naked there. This book made me want to hug my own children and show them how much I love them.

Lisa wrote: "Thanks, Hattie. I was so excited to find you all were discussing this book because it gave me an excuse to read it again.

Jim, the passage you cited broke my heart. It seemed to be about how much..."

Well said.

Great summary and comments. However, I didn't enjoy the book and gave it a 2star rating.