Every now and then I come across a book that requires more time from me than others. Such books don’t always have to be hefty like Dostoevsky or Melville (I spent a whole summer reading The Brothers Karamazov, still haven’t finished Moby Dick). If the book is full of enough depth and beauty to make me reread paragraphs, it doesn’t have to break the 250 page mark to consume more time than average. Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping is one such book. The novel precedes her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead, and is one of the best books I’ve read in some time.
The novel involves two sisters: Ruthie and Lucille. The sisters go through a slough of parental guardians, when their aunt, Sylvie, finally settles in for good. Sylvie is what is known as a “transient,” and though she’s a welcome addition over the stuffy great-aunts before her, her way of life challenges the sisters’ ideals. Eventually, a rift develops between Ruthie and Lucille. Growth, maturation, and the desire to fit into societal norms arise between them, and they are forced to confront the differences breaching their love for each other.
The story is told in an authentic voice, forcing the reader to ask whether they’re reading a memoir or a work of fiction. She also tells the story in a language rarely seen in contemporary literature. Typically, I am attracted to fiction that opens with every gun blazing (Barry Hannah, Jim Harrison, and William Gay come to mind). However, Robinson’s language is so gorgeous that I read on, wondering how she’ll surprise me next. One passage in particular blew me away: “The sky above Fingerbone was a floral yellow. A few spindled clouds smoldered and glowed a most unfiery pink. And then the sun flung a long shaft over the mountain, and another, like a long-legged insect bracing itself out of its chrysalis, and then it showed above the black crest, bristly and red and improbable” (147). This is only a small fragment of the talent Robinson displays in this work.
If you’re interested in a quiet, heartfelt, and beautifully told story, read this book. Be prepared to focus, think, weigh, and consider the content. It’s not a book to be read quickly.
-Ellis
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