When I Was a Child: A "When I Was a Child I Read Books" Essay

I’ll go ahead and say it: Marilynne Robinson is too smart for me. I can be a lazy reader, seeking the quick answer, the easy answer. This is not a book for lazy readers. It is not a book for simple readers. Robinson is thoughtful and compassionate and deep. She sees past the first obvious answer and......more

I've read all of Robinson's fiction and am a huge fan, so when I saw this essay on audio--twenty minutes--I listened to it, and again, and again, as she is such a good writer, such a careful crafter of sentences, so thoughtful. I'll probably read the rest of it, as it is not writing that one can jus......more

Marilynne Robinson’s first novel, "Housekeeping", was published in 1980, and she has written two further novels: "Gilead", which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize, and Home, which won the Orange Prize in 2009. "Gilead" and "Home" contain many positive values, so "When I was a child I read books", a collec......more

It is my fault that I didn’t like this book. A lesson in reading the blurb not just the title and a quick look at the author. I was expecting a series of essays about childhood reading and instead got a collection of essays about human nature with a heavy spiritual bent. I was propelled by a couple......more

Perhaps her ideas won't be as refreshing and original to everyone as they were to me, but I've never read anything that so intelligently synthesized thoughtful Christianity with the love of literary fiction and a liberal education. She refined my understanding of politics, economics, and faith, and......more