Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is one of the rare books where I find nearly every sentence contains some kernel of wisdom

And it’s such a slim little volume that it doesn’t ever overstay it’s welcome. The economy of language Robinson uses makes it feel like she’s spent hours contemplating every single word you see on the page. Not in an obsessive way however but with the kind loving care someone who luxuriates in the writing and in the act of it would.

As John Ames says, he’s always felt like his writing was praying, even when he wasn’t literally writing prayers out for his congregants. There’s a stillness, a kind of quiet musicality to the writing. And to steal a theme Robinson uses to great effect in the book, reading it is not unlike dipping your thoughts, your mind, into a pool of cool water bathed in golden light. I feel calmer and more centered every time I finish reading a chapter or two.

That may sound hyperbolic but I genuinely feel that ways 🤷‍♂️

by nowlan101