housekeeping
by marilynne robinson
The Bottom Line
High in the western mountains a train spins off a trestle and the
lake is the town of Fingerbone, where sisters Ruthie and Lucille
are being raised by their grandmother. Their grandfather is still on
the train. After their grandmother's death, the sisters are eventually
cared for by Aunt Sylvie, their late mother's sister. Aunt Sylvie is a
transient who brings into crisis the issues of how, and whether, to
keep house.
Pros: Vivid, tragic, amusing, beautifully written.
Cons: Unsettling plot.
Description - Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
219 pages; softcover, ISBN 0-374-17313-3
Guide Review - Housekeeping was an instant classic when it was
first published in 1980. It is a haunting, dreamlike novel. You may
be enthralled, amused, or uneasy, but you will not be bored. If you
put it down, Housekeeping will return to you again and again. This
is an interesting thing for it to do, since Marilynn Robinson wrote it
to show how people and things can happen, finish and pass away
- and recollection. The characters are flesh and blood, unless they
are features of the landscape, drawn so strongly that they play a
role in the plot. If words were food, I would call this book
delicious.
High in the western mountains a train spins off a trestle and the
lake is the town of Fingerbone, where sisters Ruthie and Lucille
are being raised by their grandmother. Their grandfather is still on
the train. After their grandmother's death, the sisters are eventually
cared for by Aunt Sylvie, their late mother's sister. Aunt Sylvie is a
transient who brings into crisis the issues of how, and whether, to
keep house.
Pros: Vivid, tragic, amusing, beautifully written.
Cons: Unsettling plot.
Description - Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
219 pages; softcover, ISBN 0-374-17313-3
Guide Review - Housekeeping was an instant classic when it was
first published in 1980. It is a haunting, dreamlike novel. You may
be enthralled, amused, or uneasy, but you will not be bored. If you
put it down, Housekeeping will return to you again and again. This
is an interesting thing for it to do, since Marilynn Robinson wrote it
to show how people and things can happen, finish and pass away
- and recollection. The characters are flesh and blood, unless they
are features of the landscape, drawn so strongly that they play a
role in the plot. If words were food, I would call this book
delicious.
This book review appeared at About.com