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Search - Housekeeping
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Housekeeping Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Paperback, Audio CD, Audio CD (Unabridged)
Book Description:
A modern classic, Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, who grow up haphazardly, first under the care of their competent grandmother, then of two comically bumbling great-aunts, and finally of Sylvie, their eccentric and remote aunt. The family house is in the small Far West town of Fingerbone set on a glacial lake, the same lake where their grandfather died in a spectacular train wreck, and their mother drove off a cliff to her death. It is a town "chastened by an outsized landscape and extravagant weather, and chastened again by an awareness that the whole of human history had occurred elsewhere." Ruth and Lucille's struggle toward adulthood beautifully illuminates the price of loss and survival, and the dangerous and deep undertow of transience.
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Top Member Book Reviews
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
Blech. I had to read this for my bookclub, and then the lady who chose it decided NOT to select this book. One good thing about book club is that it forces me to choose books outside my comfort zone. A bad thing is that I waste time reading garbage like this. Other reviewers say the author's writing is lyrical. I disliked the story so much, that I could not get around to enjoying anything about the writing style. Over and over instead of feeling sorry for the two sisters, I just felt like they were whiners who couldn't get their lives together. I have little tolerance for people who only complain about their unhappiness and want to do little to improve their lots in life.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
At first, I thought I would not like this book, but as I went on, the story drew me in and I found myself almost finished with it before I knew it. My only complaint is that I found myself skipping some sentences at times because her writing is so descriptive and symbolic, I didn't want to try and figure it out, but just wanted to read on to continue the story.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
A little difficult for me to get into. Her poetic use of language has been highly praised. However, as someone who is not a literature or english major, I don't think I could appreciate this book as much.
Elizabeth Z. (
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
I truly enjoyed this book. It was beautifully written, and the metaphors that the author uses repeat themselves in different variations, tying the book together nicely. It didn't end as I'd expected it to, which was also a nice surprise. I'm not sure that this book is for everyone, it was hard to get into at first, but by the time the two aunts came into the story I was hooked. This is a short book and it is not a plot intensive/action packed book. There is a balance between the descriptive prose, and the plot so that both equally contribute to the book as a whole. Personally, I can't wait to read her other novels.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
In spite of what it said on the back of the book, I could not get interested in this book, I tried, I kept plodding along till I was almost part way through and said, thats it.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
A beautifully written, deeply touching book. One that pulls you in and stays with you long after it's finished.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is the first novel by Marilynne Robinson who won awards for her next book Gilead. This is a story of two young girls who lose their mother and are reared by a grandmother, then two aunts and then another aunt. It is also a story of a family in a small town that is overshadowed by a haunting lake that has claimed the lives of many, including the children's mother and grandfather.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I was still thinking about these characters long after I finished the book.
Lesley F. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
A short book (219 pages) but one that will stay with you for awhile.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Was a very good book....really not my cup of tea but I did enjoy it and would recommend it.
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Please Rate these Book Reviews
I kept reading good reviews of this book but it didn't really hold my interest.
Tiffany T. (Beautifully written prose about abandonment and transiency.
A startling book about abandonment, loss, and the instability and impernance of a dysfunctional home.
Irina D. (Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, who grow up haphazardly, first under the care of their competent grandmother, then of two comically bumbling great-aunts, and finally of Sylvie, their eccentric and remote aunt.
"Here's a first novel that sounds as if the author has been treasuring it up all her life...You can feel in the book a gathering voluptuous release of confidence, a delighted surprise at the unexpected capacities of language, a close, careful fondness for people we only thought saints felt" New York Times.
Read All Book Reviews of "Housekeeping"
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