Housekeeping: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "My name is Ruth..." (more)
Key Phrases: Marilynne Robinson, Miss Royce, Rosette Browne (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Their lives spun off the tilting world like thread off a spindle," says Ruthie, the novel's narrator. The same may be said of Becket Royce's subtle, low-keyed reading. The interwoven themes of loss and love, longing and loneliness—"the wanting never subsided"—require a cool, almost impersonal touch. Royce narrates natural and manmade catastrophe and ruin as the author offers them: with a sort of watery vagueness engulfing extraordinary events. Occasionally this leads Royce to sound sleepy or to glide over humor. But she expresses Ruthie's story without any irksome effort to sound childlike, and she avoids the pitfall of dramatizing other characters, such as the awkward sheriff, the whispery insubstantiality of Aunt Sylvie or the ladies bearing casseroles to lure Ruthie away from Aunt Sylvie and into their concept of normality. Originally published in 1980 and filmed in 1987, Housekeeping is finally on audio because of Robinson's new Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead. The novel holds up remarkably and painfully well, and the language remains searching and sonorous. Anatole Broyard wrote back then: "Here is a first novel that sounds as if the author has been treasuring it up all her life...." And because the author's rhythms, images and diction are so original and dense, this audio is a treasure for listeners who have or haven't read the book. Based on the Picador paperback. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

"So precise, so distilled, so beautiful that one doesn't want to miss any pleasure it might yield."--The New York Times Book Review

"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 that we thought only saints felt."--Anatole Broyard, The New York Times

"I found myself reading slowly, than more slowly--this is not a novel to be hurried through, for every sentence is a delight."--Doris Lessing
-- Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Picador (October 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312424094
• ISBN-13: 978-0312424091
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (165 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,741 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

229 of 246 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TRANSCENDING READING EXPERIENCE, August 21, 2002

By	Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Housekeeping: A Novel (Paperback)

HOUSEKEEPING is a book that is a joy to read, simply by virtue of the carefully constructed yet flowing language employed by the author. It's a challenge for the reader to pace themselves so as not to pass by any of the innumerable shining passages that lie within. The novel speaks to the heart and soul about the transitory state that our lives exemplify, of our expectations and their consequences on our experiences of life.

There is a history of tragedy -- both real and as perceived by those on the outside -- in the family depicted. The story is told by Ruthie -- she and her sister Lucille (who is younger, but more socially aware and mature) have been orphaned. Their mother has delivered them to the home of their grandmother in the small, remote town of Fingerbone (great name!), then disappeared -- they learn later that she has driven in a friend's car off a cliff into the nearby lake, where their grandfather perished many years before when the train on which he was riding left the bridge and plunged into the icy waters.

Ruthie and Lucille are raised for a time by their grandmother. She is a reserved, slightly distant woman -- but she loves them in her own way, caring for them and seeing to their needs. At the beginning of chapter 2, on p. 29, the girls awaken to find her dead: '...after five years, my grandmother one winter morning eschewed awakening.' Enter their two great aunts, Lily and Nora, who move to Fingerbone from San Francisco (giving up their cherished lifestyle and home, as they remind the girls quite often) in order to care for Ruthie and Lucille. These two are some of the most gently comic characters I have run across in years -- perhaps because they remind me a bit of my own great aunts, with whom I spent a lot of time when I was a child. The conversations between them are priceless -- I actually had tears running down my cheeks from laughing. Lily and Nora don't last long -- they don't die, but they're simply not up to the task of caring for two young girls. The reality of it overwhelms them completely -- they begin to imagine every conceivable scenario of disaster and flee back to the city, having lured the girls' aunt Sylvie to take over for them.

Sylvie is a piece of work -- and her character and influence on the girls is the mighty engine that drives the rest of the story. She has long been separated from the rest of her family, traveling all over the country as a transient, 'riding the rails' from one place to another. She is a brilliantly-drawn character, gentle and thoughtful (if a bit odd -- although I hope for my own sake that trait never becomes a crime...). Neither of the girls not the good people of Fingerbone know quite what to make of her. She definitely has her own ideas about things -- she goes into deep, long silences, almost as if, for her, time doesn't exist. Sylvie begins to fill the house with odd collections of things -- empty tin cans with their labels removed, newspapers and magazines. Leaves begin to pile up in the corners of the room -- a visible reminder of her own ideas about 'the essence of housekeeping'.

Besides being an immensely entertaining story and a literary jewel, the book is a treasure trove of wisdom. It addresses the concept of human need and offers one of the most shining promises of fulfillment and hope that I have seen.

I knew when I picked up this book that it had been made into a film -- I put off watching it until I had read the novel, wanting to experience the richness of the written word first. The film is good, if low-key -- if you haven't seen it, definitely read the book first. This is one of the finest reading experiences I've had in recent years -- I can wholeheartedly recommend it, but PLEASE take your time and savor every word...!

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fiction as reverie, September 10, 2004

By	csk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Housekeeping: A Novel (Paperback)

This is certainly one of the most well written books in English published in the second half of the 20th century. Robinson has only written this novel, but unlike many first published novels, esp. by American women writers in the past few decades, Robinson has written a mature, flawless piece of fiction that never collapses into a confessional narrative; she doesn't fall prey to the hypersensitive, victimized "I." Her story is straightforward enough--a simple plot, very American, of repetition and distillation from one generation to another--two sisters, two sisters, two sisters. It is her language that is remarkable--there are passages so lyrical, yet tolerably lyrical, that I dare you to read them without feeling movement within yourself--the frozen sea shift about. My father read it, and said to me that it was "too sad, nearly unbearably sad." But it is only sad because it is so resonant--it conjures living using language in a way that persuades the reader to be present in the world, with its smells, noises, textures, shadows, tastes. A brilliant, nearly perfect novel.

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectually demanding, January 25, 2006

By	Melissa Stoldt "PygmyWarrior" (California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am somewhat amused by the clear split between the reviews posted here: either the readers loved it or absolutely despised it. There is very little middle ground. This book is clearly difficult - I'm an avid reader, hold a degree in Comparative Literature and am an English teacher and I found myself reaching for the dictionary often. This is not a book to take lightly. It is not a novel that should be read as a simple fiction. This novel requires a lot of mental involvement and you will be exposed to different ideas, ideas that many people seem to find off-putting. It is so well written that you could, if you wished, fly through it quickly but I don't recommend it. Slow down and savor the words and phrasing and analyze the characters. This book is about a family trying to survive and cope with death and permanence. It is a slice of the darker side of life that most people wish to ignore. Yes, it's painful at times but most lessons tend to be so. It's a book about survival and trying to find a place in society; or whether you want to be a part of that society or not.

Housekeeping is not light entertainment. You will have to work and study it but it is so beautifully written that it is a joy. Settle down with your dictionary and enjoy it. I know I did.