It is so very difficult for me to review Marilynne Robinson’s works, because I always feel like my own prose is inadequate to describing hers. I cried a lot reading Lila, because I understand what it feels like to fall in love with someone even when you don’t trust love or people or existence, when fear and shame are your mainstays and hope feels like an unattainable luxury, or something you deny yourself because it’s better that way, safer. I cried because this novel mirrored the fierce tenderness I feel every day as a mother, the gratitude I have for the sweetness of my children, the appreciation of every closeness they allow me. I cried because unfailing kindness always makes me cry, and unfailing kindness is the undeniable basis of religion in this book, never mind that it isn’t and will never be my religion, though they do share convictions. Lila wasn’t as good as Gilead, but that is asking too much of any book, that it outdo that masterwork. It is, however, an excellent novel on its own, and one to treasure on its own merits. Now I need to go lie down, I’m so worn out, but in a good way, from the experience.
Aug 23 2015
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
- By Doreen Sheridan in Doreen, Literature, Religion
-
August 23, 2015
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/08/23/lila-by-marilynne-robinson/
Recent Posts
- Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle comes out in August! June 17, 2025
- Free Bird by Christine Mott & Ofra Layla Isler June 16, 2025
- Tantalizing Tales — June 2025 — Part Two June 13, 2025
- Raymond Chandler’s Trouble Is My Business by Arvind Ethan David, Ilias Kyriazis & Cris Peter June 12, 2025
- Friends In Nature by Marina Ruiz June 11, 2025
- An Interview with Wendy Gee, Author of Fleet Landing June 10, 2025
- Redcoat, Volume 1: Einstein & The Immortal by Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch June 9, 2025
- Tantalizing Tales — June 2025 — Part One June 6, 2025
- Fishflies by Jeff Lemire June 5, 2025
- Madame Sosostris And The Festival For The Brokenhearted by Ben Okri June 4, 2025
Contributors
Categories
Tag Cloud
Al
Alternate History
Art
Auf Deutsch
Autobiography
Children's
Discworld
Doreen
Doug
Dystopia
Eastern Europe
England
Fabulous Ones
Fantasy
Feminism
Fiction
Games
Germany
Graphic Novel
Graphic Novels
History
Horror
Hugo Finalist
Humor
LGBTQIA
Literature
Mystery
Mythology
Non-fiction
Novella
Poetry
Poland
Politics
Religion
Romance
Russia
Science
Science Fiction
Short Stories
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Terry Pratchett
Thriller
Urban Fantasy
World War II
Young Adult