Housekeeping

HOUSEKEEPING
by Marilynne Robinson

Award: PEN/Hemingway Winner 1982

Nominations: National Book Finalist 1983, NY Times Finalist 1981, PEN/Faulkner Finalist 1982, Pulitzer Finalist 1982

Date Read: July 28, 2019

This novel has been on my radar for quite some time and I eagerly dove into it. Flash forward to now and I am heartbroken I finished. Housekeeping is absolutely exquisite and my limited vocabulary will never convey how deeply I love this novel. Robinson has delved into the very core of family, loss, abandonment and a way of being and relating to one another that society labels bizarre and must, therefore, compel to conform.

Ruthie and her sister Lucille seem to get passed around from neighbors, to their grandmother, to their grandmother's friends, to their great-aunts and aunt like figures standing still and this shadows of people swirl before them. When I wanted the girls to continue to cling to each other, they cleave apart choosing vastly different realities. And I can understand both paths.

Sylvia attempts to conform to what is expected of her, yet she is forcing herself to live in a way that is foreign to her. Housekeeping and caring for others does not come naturally. In a short period of time the house is literally falling down around them. "Sylvia... considered accumulation the essence of housekeeping." Through her collecting of bottles, cans, newspapers, she is attempting to put down roots where no roots can truly hold.

Housekeeping has a distinct lack of male characters, yet this novel is not for just women. The writing throughout is so luscious and vivid, I marvel at Robinson's talent. I loved Gilead but I love Housekeeping far more, which I never thought would be possible. I am eager to read Home and Lila, although I doubt I will fall as hard.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Gentleman In Moscow

Image
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2018, Goodreads Finalist 2016, Kirkus Finalist 2016   Date Read: February 24, 2017   From Kirkus Reviews:   “Sentenced to house arrest in Moscow's Metropol Hotel by a Bolshevik tribunal for writing a poem deemed to encourage revolt, Count Alexander Rostov nonetheless lives the fullest of lives, discovering the depths of his humanity.   Inside the elegant Metropol, located near the Kremlin and the Bolshoi, the Count slowly adjusts to circumstances as a "Former Person." He makes do with the attic room, to which he is banished after residing for years in a posh third-floor suite. A man of refined taste in wine, food, and literature, he strives to maintain a daily routine, exploring the nooks and crannies of the hotel, bonding with staff, accepting the advances of attractive women, and forming what proves to be a deeply meaningful relationship with a spirited young girl, Nina. "We are bound to find comfo
Read more

An Island

Image
AN ISLAND by Karen Jennings   Nomination: Booker Longlist 2021   Date Read: December 10, 2022   A short but mighty novel, An Island explores the concept of home, family, identity, the impact of political upheaval and the immigrant experience, when one’s suffering is so intense they move from one shitty country to the next. Samuel has finally found a peaceful home on an island somewhere off the coast of Africa. He was hired as a lighthouse keeper and after a tumultuous life, most of which was spent in prison as a political prisoner, he has carved out a life for himself on this island, enjoying a tranquil existence that basks in the quiet tasks of daily living.   Only after exploring Samuel’s life does the reader understand why such an isolated, spare and lonely existence satisfy him, with no desire to escape but only to grow deeper roots. His life witnessed the end of the British occupation, the installation of a brutal dictator and yet another dictator after the first was poisoned. Sam
Read more

The Changeling

Image
THE CHANGELING by Victor LaValle   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2017, PEN/Jean Stein Finalist 2018   Date Read: July 21, 2024   From Kirkus Reviews: “A  tragedy thrusts a mourning father into peculiar, otherworldly corners of New York City. When Apollo and Emma have their baby, Brian, it feels like both reward and challenge for the new dad. Apollo, the son of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian's birth (in a stalled subway train) seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of  To Kill a Mockingbird  (inscribed by Harper Lee to Truman Capote, no less) shortly after. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish: Apollo finds himself tied up and beaten by Emma, then forced to listen to the sounds of Brian’s murder. LaValle has
Read more