Second Saturday Book Club discussion

Hi, everybody! If you want to discuss this month's book from the safety of home, join in the discussion right here!

I first read Housekeeping several years ago, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember much about it.* Having re-read it, I understand why. It’s full of beautifully written description and metaphor and . . . well, even more description and metaphor. Occasionally, one of the characters says something.

I say “characters” on purpose, because they never felt real to me. They seemed meant to represent ideas rather than actual people. Apart from the sheriff, who appears only briefly, the rest of the characters are women. Men seem to vanish as completely and mysteriously in Fingerbone as they did in Cranford. (If you haven’t read Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, you must. It’s utterly charming. Put it on your reading list, or least watch the BBC miniseries.) Robinson’s characters were either passive, irresponsible, self-involved, or some combination of the three. I couldn’t convince myself to care about any of them.

Marilynne Robinson is clearly a gifted writer. I’m sure she meant this book to communicate something worthwhile. I just couldn’t find it. As lovely as the writing is, I’m glad to be done with it, and I’m looking forward to reading something with a plot.

* Though I couldn’t remember anything about Housekeeping, I definitely remembered what convinced me to read it: Nick Hornby’s rapturous review in Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt. If you only know Hornby as a novelist, don’t miss his delightful book reviews. He has several collections in book form, as well as his bi-monthly column, “Stuff I’ve Been Reading,” in The Believer magazine.

Thanks, Amanda. I read the book long ago, and I don't remember much about it, but I did enjoy it enough that it sent me to her subsequent books ("Gilead," "Home," and "Lila," which tell the stories of several generations of the same family), I feel like the lengthy sentences and detail are mesmermizing and almost pastoral. Perhaps it's my longing for a simpler time. Four stars from me.