“Her father always said, ‘That loneliness of his,’ and when she saw it in him now, she felt lonely, even abandoned for the moment it lasted . .”

Robinson2Writing about loneliness is surely one of those tricks that should come with the warning “Do not attempt this at home.” Often, descriptions of loneliness trigger disengagement. It takes a master, such as Marilynne Robinson, to write a novel about loneliness that’s a page-turner. In an interview, when asked … Read More

“It was a very clear night, or morning, very still, and then there was such energy in the things transpiring among those trees, like a storm, like travail.”

RobinsonThis beautiful novel could be a “how to” manual for aspiring writers.  It shows how to have a virtuous central character who is interesting — a rare feat in contemporary literature.  It shows how to structure a novel without using standard architectural tools, such as chapters.  It shows how to … Read More