“Home” by Marilynne Robinson – Reviews and recommendations

This is the story of the prodigal son. A chamber play about a father and the family’s black sheep. It is also a tale of salvation or doom, grounded in American Presbyterians’ belief in predestination; so this that some of us are predestined to salvation, while others face eternal perdition. “Hjem” is the second, independent volume in Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead series. It is a literary event that Cappelen Damm will now publish the entire series in Norwegian. Robinson received the Pulitzer Prize for “Gilead”, and the book was named the best novel of the year in 2004 by the American Critics Association. “Hjem”, which came out in 2008, also brought her several awards – and I have no objections to that: This is unique writing, an unusually nuanced universe of texts that stimulates both the emotions and the intellect. The Most Beloved We are in the small town of Gilead in Iowa in the mid-1950s. Widower Robert Boughton has been a pastor in a Presbyterian church all his life. The Presbyterians are inspired by the strict reformer Jean Calvin. He was a contemporary of Martin Luther and believed that it is the Bible alone, the words of Scripture, and not the authority of the Pope or the bishops, which should be the guideline for people’s conduct of life. God’s word is law, also in society. But how to interpret the sacred text? Life and teachings are put to the test when Jack, the unruly son who throughout his upbringing challenged the patience of the priest family, returns as a grown man, after he has been gone for 20 years. He was the loner in the group of eight, the cunningly naughty one, always up to mischief, and yet always the most loved. The daughter’s gaze As the story begins, Glory, Boughton’s youngest daughter, has also arrived home. Reportedly to take care of his old father. The truth is that she has made her bitter experiences in her love life. She too has her shameful secrets. It is Glory we follow, these few weeks Jack is home. Her look at her older brother, at her dying father and at the mechanisms between them is so cleverly portrayed! Robinson sees paradoxes in every little feeling and action. She is tactile, and it becomes beautiful, whether she portrays the smell of fresh apple pie, which makes the priest think back to his childhood, or Glory, who is unexpectedly allowed to cut her brother’s hair: It will turn out that the old priest who speaks so mildly of his son – who admittedly has brought him so much despair and sorrow – unable to grant the forgiveness he advocates. If there is one hero in this story, which is no hero story, since all three are portrayed as whole people with strengths and weaknesses, then it must be Glory, who quietly, but not without demands, approaches Jack with an all-consuming goodness. A masterpiece “Hjem” is thus the second volume in the Gilead suite, but it can easily be read on its own. I would also recommend “Gilead”, which has already been translated into Norwegian (by Kjell Olaf Jensen) and will be republished later this autumn. It contains to a greater extent theological considerations, but also tells the story of Jack from a completely different point of view. The Bible references and the theoretical thinking may seem foreign to a modern Norwegian reader. Who has read Calvin or Karl Barth today? Robinson has read them, forwards and backwards, and she manages to convey their vision and give it life through the highly vivid novel characters she writes. Like Sigrid Undset in her medieval novels, Marilynne Robinson gives a rare insight into life where everyday life and faith are so closely intertwined. Jon Fosse writes about faith in his own way, compared to his heartfelt thought process, Robinson appears purely analytical and cool. But cool is the wrong word to use. Perhaps repressed fervor is a better description? More reading experiences to come What is a home? What does it mean to be in exile, physically or mentally? The renegade Jack, is there any hope for him? Ingrid Haug lets these questions ring out in her moving Norwegian translation. Marilynne Robinson explores both Jack’s and others’ fates in the novels “Lila” and “Jack”, which will eventually also be published in Norwegian. It’s just a matter of preparing for a powerful reading experience. news reviews Photo: Cappelen Damm Title: “Home” Author: Marilynne Robinson Genre: Novel Publisher: Cappelen Damm Translated by: Ingrid Haug Number of pages: 352



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