Gilead Audiobook By Marilynne Robinson cover art

Gilead

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Gilead

By: Marilynne Robinson
Narrated by: Tim Jerome
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.52

Buy for $14.52

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2005

National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction, 2005

From the author of Housekeeping, Gilead is the long-hoped-for second novel by one of America's finest writers.

Chosen by the New York Times Book Review as one of the top six novels of 2004.

In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames' life, he begins a letter to his young son, a kind of last testament to his remarkable forebears.

©2005 Marilynne Robinson (P)2008 Hachette Digital
Literary Fiction
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"It is a book of such meditative calm, such spiritual intensity that is seems miraculous that her silence was only for 23 years; such measure of wisdom is the fruit of a lifetime." ( Neel Mukherjee, The Times)
"Writing of this quality, with an authority as unforced as the perfect pitch in music, is rare and carries with it a sense almost of danger - that at any moment, it might all go wrong. In Gilead, however, nothing goes wrong." ( Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph)

What listeners say about Gilead

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    22
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful writing and narration

Silent contemplation of a father's love for his son, parallel of the Lord's love to me. Of hurt and grief living on this side of eternity and writing the intricate and complex feelings out speaks depth to me. Spells love on many levels too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Dour Reading Failed to Resonate

What disappointed you about Gilead?

I was very interested in listening to this book, but the dour reading style of the narrator induced a profound depression in my soul. Maybe it's an accurate rendition of the character's voice, but I had to cut and run before the first chapter was out.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Freeing

No words I can muster can describe the impact this book had on me, but I shall make an attempt:

I imagine any child anywhere would love to receive such a mesmerizingly beautiful and unsettlingly honest look into their father’s thoughts, because I don’t think any father could live long enough for their children to think of asking all the things revealed in this book. (That is, no earthly father)

It also is a very honest look at Christianity - at what we fail to acknowledge or say when we try to explain our faith.

I marvel at the world again after listening to it.

The irony of such honesty, that would be expected to bring shame, rather brings freedom. For the bearer of the load and for the listener.

It frees me from the weight of my own thoughts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beauty, wisdom and grace

A book of beautiful descriptions of everyday moments, of deep reflection, of grasping with one's own humanness and of grace.

I need to read this again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!