Discussion of the Book for October 2011
Posted by bangkokbookclub on January 9, 2012
“Home” by Marilynne Robinson
The women in the group were able to understand the situation Glory was dealing with – coming home to take care of an aging, ailing parent, especially as she did not have a family of her own. Not all agreed that this is the way it should be, just that it is a very real expectation that women across many cultures can face as their parents age, especially at the time this story was set (mid 1950s).
The men in the group that read “Home”, or tried to, unanimously (and vehemently) hated this book. It was difficult for them to understand how this woman allowed herself to get trapped in this depressing life, and saw no purpose to the story at all. In addition, they found the slow pace and detailed and repetitive descriptions of daily life boring to the extreme (the expression “I’d rather watch paint dry” comes to mind).
