Tender, poignant, thought provoking. Challenges beliefs. Points the way to true faith. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Can't wait to recommend it to my bookclub! I give it 5 stars *****

Gilead is a beautifully written book but it's slow moving and at times, hard to follow. Told in a memoir form to his young son the book is choppy (on purpose to indicate breaks between writing sessions) and looses the reader. It is hard to remember who is who, and what they are like because there are long sections of ramblings from Rev. Ames. I did enjoy Rev. Ames take on life, how he questions himself and most things around him but as a story it is short on appeal for nothing really happens.

I think you would have people that will love this book and then you will have people that will not care for this book. I think it would make for good discussion in a book club setting. Personally, I was taken with the book from the first page but I felt the momentum slow in the middle. I liked the observations made by the Reverend and his love for his family and friends. It is a touching story with many generations of characters. Overall a good book.

Life is complex and yet so simple. Humour, compassion, insight, and wisdom are all qualities everyone should aspire to attain.
This book sheds light on all aspects of human existence; it is a book filled with many topics that could be discussed. Religion, philosophy, love, hate, birth, and death are inticately interwoven into a masterful piece of storytelling.

A must read that will warm the heart and may even move one to tears--as it did to me.

This book was fantastic. Robinson is quite literally one of the best writers of our time - her style of writing is elegant and clean. I would highly recommend this book - as it challenges the reader and is also a very fulfilling read.

I love Ms. Robinson's writing. I am a HUGE fan of Housekeeping and now a big, big fan of Gilead. This is a sweet, tender story told in a beautiful voice. I enjoyed the story of a young son and an older father and his desire to get things set straight before he dies. I would highly recommend this for bookgroups, there is a lot to discuss, the writing the story...just wonderful.

This is one of my favorite book club books. It is written wonderfully and the story is as sweet and sentimental as they come. I was so sad when I finished the last page.

This may be the best book I've read in the last 5 years. Robinson's language is beautiful and haunting. The characters are richly drawn and the prose was so vivid that I wanted to weep. I may read this again just to let it seep deeper into my soul.

Half of my book club could not even get through it. We found it boring as it did not seem to have a plot we could grasp.

It was truly a pleasure to venture into the less spoiled world in which John Ames lived. I was moved by his peace of spirit.

I rarely read a book twice. This was one of them. To fully understand the story you must read her other book, "Home".

I rarely don't finish a book. Couldn't make it all the way through this one. Skipped to the end...and could only ask myself why!

This awarding winning book and author have some good aspects, but it was written it a style that was difficult to get used to. It moved very slowly for most of us. Are we glad we read it...yes. Will we read the author's sequels to Gilead....probably not right away.

Very confusing flow of time and characters. Very spiritual/?Cristian influence.

The writing is amazing. You can pick this book up and turn to any page and find a nugget of inspiration. The plot was a bit slow but the book is so beautifully written you don't want to miss this book.

Gilead is a beautifully written reminiscence of a minister's life for his very young son. There are wonderful themes of fathers and sons, aging, light, forgiveness and love. There's a touching re telling of a sweet courtship and a heartfelt explanation of the Fifth Commandment to honor thy father and mother.

On scale of 1-10, our book club rated it 8.5. Interested in reading the other books in her trilogy about Jack Boughton and Lila Ames.