The Known World in Slow-Mo

I am really struggling with this one...only 65 pages in, and I am dragging my feet. The premise is such a fascinating one, but the narrative keeps losing me, and every time I connect to one of the characters, the story shifts away from them. And by the time we come back, I've forgotten who they were. Anybody else have a problem with this one??

Pulitzer Project Book #7: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

I knew there was a reason why I decided to engage in this Pulitzer Project...and this book is the reason. What a perfect, magical, insightful, and inspiring book about one man's complex relationships with his family and friends, with his young son, with the world, and with God. It is a book not about religion but about the willingness to see the inherent beauty in the world, and to find grace in the most difficult of places.

I can't find words to do this novel justice. The prose is gorgeous. The narrator is flawed but endearing. The imagery is astounding. I will never forget the image of two women laughing in the grass so hard that their tears rolled into their hair. Read this, read this, read this.

Here's the thing about me:

as much as I hate disappointment and feeling defeated, disappointment and defeat are actually two magical things that ignite me. They make me work harder. They make me reach farther. It's been one of those days, but now that the spark is let, I plan to set the world on fire.