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Gilead. [large print] Marilynne Robinson.

Summary:

In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. Ames is the son of an Iowan preacher and the grandson of a minister who, as a young man in Maine, saw a vision of Christ bound in chains and came west to Kansas to fight for abolition: He "preached men into the Civil War," then, at age fifty, became a chaplain in the Union Army, losing his right eye in battle. Reverend Ames writes to his son about the tension between his father--an ardent pacifist--and his grandfather, whose pistol and bloody shirts, concealed in an army blanket, may be relics from the fight between the abolitionists and those settlers who wanted to vote Kansas into the union as a slave state. And he tells a story of the sacred bonds between fathers and sons, which are tested in his tender and strained relationship with his namesake, John Ames Boughton, his best friend's wayward son. This is also the tale of another remarkable vision--not a corporeal vision of God but the vision of life as a wondrously strange creation. It tells how wisdom was forged in Ames's soul during his solitary life, and how history lives through generations, pervasively present even when betrayed and forgotten. Gilead is the long-hoped-for second novel by one of our finest writers, a hymn of praise and lamentation to the God-haunted existence that Reverend Ames loves passionately, and from which he will soon part.

Record details

  • ISBN: 1594131244
  • ISBN: 9781594131240
  • ISBN: 0786272015
  • ISBN: 9780786272013
  • Physical Description: 389 pages (large print) ; 23 cm
  • Edition: [large print]
  • Publisher: Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press, 2005.
Subject:
Conflict of generations > Fiction.
Reminiscing in old age > Fiction.
Children of clergy > Fiction.
Fathers and sons > Fiction.
Grandfathers > Fiction.
Clergy > Fiction.
Kansas > Fiction.
Genre:
Large print books.
Epistolary fiction.
Christian fiction.
Domestic fiction.

Available copies

  • 4 of 5 copies available at NC Cardinal.
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Rutherford County Library System. (Show)

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 5 total copies.
Sort by distance from:
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Mountains Branch Library LP F Rob (Text) 38801100981429 Adult Large Print Fiction Available -
East Asheville Library LP ROB (Text) 0020506901477 Adult Large Print Fiction Available -
High Point Library LP FIC Robinson Marilynne (Text) 30519007232013 Adult Large Print Fiction Available -
Lee County Main Library LPF/ROBINSON (Text) 33262002550181 Adult Large Print Fiction Checked out 08/18/2026
Pack Memorial Library LP ROB (Text) 0020506459385 Adult Large Print Fiction Available -

Accessibility Features

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1001 . ‡aRobinson, Marilynne. ‡0(CARDINAL)514028
24510. ‡aGilead. ‡h[large print] ‡cMarilynne Robinson.
250 . ‡a[large print]
264 1. ‡aWaterville, Maine : ‡bThorndike Press, ‡c2005.
300 . ‡a389 pages (large print) ; ‡c23 cm
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
337 . ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia
338 . ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier
340 . ‡nlarge print ‡2rdafs
520 . ‡aIn 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. Ames is the son of an Iowan preacher and the grandson of a minister who, as a young man in Maine, saw a vision of Christ bound in chains and came west to Kansas to fight for abolition: He "preached men into the Civil War," then, at age fifty, became a chaplain in the Union Army, losing his right eye in battle. Reverend Ames writes to his son about the tension between his father--an ardent pacifist--and his grandfather, whose pistol and bloody shirts, concealed in an army blanket, may be relics from the fight between the abolitionists and those settlers who wanted to vote Kansas into the union as a slave state. And he tells a story of the sacred bonds between fathers and sons, which are tested in his tender and strained relationship with his namesake, John Ames Boughton, his best friend's wayward son. This is also the tale of another remarkable vision--not a corporeal vision of God but the vision of life as a wondrously strange creation. It tells how wisdom was forged in Ames's soul during his solitary life, and how history lives through generations, pervasively present even when betrayed and forgotten. Gilead is the long-hoped-for second novel by one of our finest writers, a hymn of praise and lamentation to the God-haunted existence that Reverend Ames loves passionately, and from which he will soon part.
650 0. ‡aConflict of generations ‡vFiction. ‡0(CARDINAL)355777
650 0. ‡aReminiscing in old age ‡vFiction. ‡0(CARDINAL)442483
650 0. ‡aChildren of clergy ‡vFiction. ‡0(CARDINAL)439530
650 0. ‡aFathers and sons ‡vFiction. ‡0(CARDINAL)293760
650 0. ‡aGrandfathers ‡vFiction. ‡0(CARDINAL)324116
650 0. ‡aClergy ‡vFiction. ‡0(CARDINAL)335085
651 0. ‡aKansas ‡vFiction. ‡0(CARDINAL)344244
655 7. ‡aLarge print books. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)859167
655 7. ‡aEpistolary fiction. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)341003
655 7. ‡aChristian fiction. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)692374
655 7. ‡aDomestic fiction. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)335559
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 201809
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 201909
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 201912
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 202012
902 . ‡aMARCIVE 202303
901 . ‡a3705581 ‡bOCLC ‡c3705581 ‡tbiblio