I have read all of Marilynne Robinson's Gilead books and reading Jack has made me want to reread them all for the prose and the sense of time and place that she never fails to create.

I haven’t read any of the other books in this series so I struggled initially to get in to this, but I did find it easier to follow the further on I got and found it to be an intriguing and beautiful read with engaging characters and premise.

I love this author's books and I really enjoyed this one. Beautifully written, with characters the reader really comes to care about, I would definitely recommend this book.

What is there to say about Marilynne Robinson? Just one of the most gifted prose writers of modern times. The Gilead novels are works of genius, and this highlights that point. Filing in the back story of Jack - who we have mainly seen through the eyes of others in previous books - is a moving journey through love, race, self hate, and yet also vulnerability. The majority of the book is conversations between Jack and Della - so has an almost play like feel to it at times, which makes it different from the other books in the series, but the heartache that sits across the series is still there. We also know what happens with Jack and Della as events here take place before Gilead (one of the best books ever written in my view) and Home. Maybe the weakest of the 4 Gilead novels, but, still very good.

I’m not sure if it’s on me for not having read the rest of the series first but I found this uninteresting and difficult to read.

The first 25% was a REAL drag for me which put a bad light on the rest of the story.

I found it impossible to connect with the main character and the conversations quite frankly, boring.

I was desperate to hear her point of view but it never came.

I regret not DNFing this one… 1/5 stars from me.

I came to read Jack not having read any of the previous books in this series (although I do now own a copy of each of the three previous titles Gilead, Home and Lila).

Jack is a quiet and seemingly uneventful story. John Ames Boughton, known as Jack, meets Della Miles when they are locked into a St Louis cemetery overnight. Jack is homeless and many others in the same situation as him find places to hide away in the cemetery to sleep. It’s not allowed but it feels safer than on the streets. Jack worries about Della though. A woman, alone unable to leave the cemetery might come across a difficult time so he stays with her. They talk. They nap. They talk some more. Until the sun rises.

Della has found herself in a difficult situation, she is a black woman locked in a white persons cemetery. Not only that but she strikes up a conversation with a white man, Jack. His determination to stay with her is, on one hand, quite gentlemanly but, on the other hand, makes Della feel rather awkward. Still it’s comforting to feel cared for. In the very early morning just as the sun rises and as the cemetery gate is being opened Jack distracts the guard so that Della can slip out unseen.

This is how Jack and Della met. They are drawn to one another.

Della is a high school teacher; Jack is homeless and unemployed .

Jack becomes fixated on Della scouring the black area of St Louis in order to find her house and walk by it, loitering even, in the hope of a ‘chance’ meeting with Della. We find out quite a bit about Jack as he finds a job and a room to live in. He’s the estranged son of a preacher. Educated and loves to read especially poetry. Jack, however, has never been able to settle and finds that one of his talents is to steal things but this ultimately led to his downfall and a prison sentence. Since then he has been on the streets occasionally receiving money from his brother.

Della is a bright, hardworking person. Della enjoyed talking with Jack, who she liked. She is the daughter of a Bishop. She rents a home in St Louis where she teaches high school and is doing well.

Their relationship is frowned on by society and any cohabitation or marriage forbidden by law. This is post WWII USA of the 1950s. In the early 1960s interracial marriage was still unlawful; only in 1967 did the US Supreme Court (the Warren Court) unanimously rule in Loving v. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional.

So we follow Jack’s thoughts as the relationship progresses, stalls and comes under scrutiny from various people. Jack moves to Chicago when Della returns to her family trying to do ‘the right thing’ that is to break up the relationship.

This may be a quiet, gentle book but it tells a big story of what it would have been like for two people of different colour – one black, one white – and how difficult it would be to start a relationship and maintain that relationship in 1950’s America. How it is viewed from both sides and the main reasons for not getting involved are the repercussions not just from the State, the Law but from their fellow humans. That it would be simply easier to keep to a person’s own kind or expect trouble – the loss of work, physical intimidation and worse, the revulsion of some, the fear of some.

Jack, through the discussion with the minister whose church he attends and his thoughts around those discussions, further informs us of the social difficulties but also some of the struggles he has with religion and how that has influenced his family relationship.

This book doesn’t preach it simply tells a story one that adds layers to the Gilead series no doubt but which easily stands alone with the story of an interracial relationship. It’s observation on society, on poverty and homelessness at that time in the USA are very evocative but as is all to obvious is still happening today and still makes you wonder how these issues have not been addressed.

What will Jack and Della do? Can they be strong enough to make it work? Not all the questions are answered in the fullest sense. We are, perhaps, left to decide for ourselves what may ultimately become of Jack and Della’s love and their lives.

There are some beautiful passages, some horrible things happen. This is a slow read, one to ponder over and relish or wish things could have been so different. Indeed, to wish things could be different now and in some ways they are but all to often not. This book poses questions. About race relations, homelessness and religion. Perhaps the main or overarching one is – when will we be accepting of and able to live in harmony with one another?

Over the last year or so after a number of recent tragic and terrible deaths of black men at the hands of white men there has been much talk about and action through Black Lives Matter. It was a positive thing but it needs to be continued, ongoing until it is embedded not only into our laws but into the heart, mind and soul of everyone. Will that happen? Can it happen? I hope so. It’s been a long time coming.

A thought provoking book. One which I am glad to have read and would be more than happy to recommend.

Thanks
My thanks to Virago for an eCopy of Jack via NetGalley in exchange for my thoughts on the book.

A treat, like every book by Robinson. The characters are like family now but still manage to surprise me.

"Jack" by Marilynne Robinson is the fourth instalment of the author's Gilead saga, the first, in order of writing rather than chronology, being "Gilead", followed by "Home", "Lila" and now "Jack".
Themes and characters are interconnected between the books, but one can read each book as self-standing or anyway out of the order in which they were written. So far I have read all but "Lila".
"Home" was the first book I came to of the four and remains my favourite. Through the novel is narrated through the viewpoint of Jack's younger sister ,Glory, the character of Jack made quite an impression on me, so I was quite looking forward to reading this. And unfortunately this did not live up to my expectations.

Apart from the novel telling us what it is like for Jack to be Jack through a very close third person narrative, it also brings into the foreground his love story with Della, a Black American promising young lady, at a time when interracial marriage was forbidden and the Jim Crow laws reigned supreme in many states. Though never directly referenced with dates, the time they are living in seems to be the end of the Second World War.

The first ,very long, section is set in a white graveyard where Della, a budding poet and English teacher, is caught at closing time and where Jack, a drifter (a "bum") haunted by shame and self-hate, has chosen to spend his night to save on the doss house rent for one night. Though the two had met before accidentally, this is where they bond and the night will be referenced time and again throughout the book.
Here is where I wanted to score the book one star, so if you are reading this while at that point in the book, do not despair: it does improve.

Some fundamental issues with how this book is written stayed with me though. I found the dialogue and interactions between Jack and Della totally unbelievable and stylised to an ideal which has no place in the world as I know it. As with other reviewers, I found myself really questioning why someone like Della would stick with a guy like Jack to the point of setting her life course towards ruin, faced with the prospect of being unsheltered from the outside racist world without her family's backing while she stays with Jack.
Perhaps in the end this was the most interesting and challenging aspect of the book, leaving aside the more strictly theological themes dear to Robinson such as grace, repentance, etc. There is a particular sermon by a Black minister who Jack consults with mid-way through the book in which the minister, most likely addressing Jack, berates people taking advantage of women who are "saints": "And how do we treat these saints? I borrow a little something from her, well, she'll never ask for it back. She's a saint! I see her hopes valued at nothing. I see her loving heart fixed on some unworthy fool who will just turn away from her, abandon her. She'll forgive, she's a saint."

It is very hard to glean an understanding of Della's perspective, because the book is drenched in Jack's own torment and feelings of self-hate to the extent that you do question how reliable the narrator is so unlikely it seems that this man is at all loveable.

"Jack had dabbled in shame, and it still coursed through him, malarial, waking him up to sweat and pace until, unsoothed, unrationalized, unshriven, it secreted itself again in his bones, and at the base of his skull and was latent except for the occasional leering strangeness of his dreams".

It is rather through the gestures of others, most obviously through Della's commitment and love for him, but also the regular payments that come through from his brother, the doting from a housekeeper (until she finds out about his wife's colour of skin that is) and other small gestures of benevolence dotted through the book which Jack struggles to show us because he does not find himself worthy of them. What we hear from him is that he is " a gifted thief. I lie fluently, often for no reason. I'm a bad but confirmed drunk. I have no talent for friendship. What talents I do have I make no use of. I am aware instantly and almost obsessively of anything fragile, with the thought that I must and will break it. This has been true of me my whole life. I isolate myself as a way of limiting the harm I can do."

I guess there is a skill in putting it like that.

It also made me think of real life situations I've witnessed, and perhaps experienced, of younger women falling for "bad news" men, young women falling in love with love and the need to make the ugly beautiful again (Della says "I just think there has to be a Jesus, to say 'beautiful' about things no one else would ever see. The precious things should be looked to, whatever becomes of the rest of it."). And then you have grace to chew on.

Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK, Virago and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF - Did Not Finish - I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I loved "Housekeeping" - its lyrical leaps and bravado. This book, in comparison, read as quite flat, and to be honest a bit ponderous. It was... kind of dull. It's quite telling to me that even though I've read all of Robinson's books, the only ones I truly remember years later are "Housekeeping," and her collection of essays. She's obviously an extremely popular writer, so it's probably just me. It honestly feels a bit sacrilegious - how "dare" I not enjoy her book! But unfortunately, this wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, and the publishers for the opportunity to read this

‘Jack’ by Marilynne Robinson is fourth in her Gilead series, following ‘Gilead’, ‘Home’ and ‘Lila’ and is a love story. Jack Boughton is the troubled son of Presbyterian minister, and Della, the attractive, black, high school teacher, daughter of a Methodist minister. This is a novel about the quality of love, its consequences, and whether sometimes loving someone means saying goodbye.
The story starts with such a brave scene for any author to write – a two-hander between Jack and Della as they meet accidentally at night. They are locked in a graveyard in St Louis and spend the night walking in conversation about life, their families, themselves, the world. A disreputable white man and a successful attractive black woman, in 1950s America. The conversation ebbs and flows, jumping from subject to subject as a real discussion does. They do not talk about love, but throughout the course of a number of chaste meetings, they fall in love.
It is sublime prose to sink into and absorb. Such small, familiar detail brings Jack and Della instantly to life. They are real and you care for them. The graveyard scene is long, so long I wondered if it took up the whole book.
We have heard of both these characters in the earlier Gilead books. We know Jack is a bad ‘un, as told by others. This is the first time we see into his head.
Robinson has a beautiful way of summarising truths that are easy to identify with. When Jack is with Della in the cemetery, he thinks, ‘Forever after, the thought of her would be painful, because it had been pleasant. Strange how that is.’ Jack is a mixture of insecurities, resentments, injuries and injustices brought upon himself and also by his strict religious upbringing by his pious pastor father.
Not a long book or a quick read, but absorbing. I totally understand why Jack falls for Della, wanting to save and protect her; I’m less sure why she loves him given the risks and dangers of a mixed marriage at that time. He loves his wisecracks and makes jokes at inappropriate times, misjudging the mood and causing silences. Their discussions range from Hamlet to theology, end-of-life world scenarios to poetry.
If you are new to Gilead, please don’t start with this book. Read them in order to get the most enjoyment of these complex stories of the Boughton and Ames families from Gilead, Iowa.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
A well written book with plenty of peasant prose. The idea behind this was interesting but failed to deliver.
The writing was at expense of the story which was sadly lacking. Often the writing seemed to go in circles and did little to engage the reader.

Jack is the fourth volume in the ‘Gilead’ series by prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson, which I did not know when I requested it, and started reading. Having said that, I have no desire to read any of the earlier books as most of the religious content does not interest me. I was drawn to the developing relationship between Jack and Della, and the difficulties they encounter.
Jack is just out of prison for a crime he did not commit, though there were many others he was guilty of. He helps Della when she drops some papers and, mistaking him for a man of the cloth, she invites him home for tea. Jack is portrayed as the black sheep of the family – not having read the other books I have only this story to go on. He does not seem to be a bad man – just down on his luck – but then we are seeing everything through his eyes.
I found the racial discrimination described in this story deeply upsetting. Despite knowing the history, and that segregation existed, reading about Jack and Della’s struggles made it all so much more vivid and real. What surprised me most was why Della’s family objected to their relationship.
Despite their obvious differences, they have things in common; both come from religious families with a preacher for a father, and they are united by their love of literature and poetry.
Almost the first third of the book consists of one long scene in a graveyard; Della is locked in overnight, and Jack is planning to sleep there as he has rented out his room to make some money. This is a bold move by the author, and contains some witty dialogue, but could have been shorter without losing its impact.
Despite believing that the only way he can ‘do no harm’ to other people is to isolate himself, he is repeatedly drawn to Della, even knowing that she has much more to lose than he does. We are not privy to Della’s thoughts, but she stands to lose her home, job and reputation and so is not entering into this relationship lightly.
Marilynne Robinson writes beautiful, lyrical prose that deals with a myriad of themes: racial prejudice, religious faith, family relationships, alcohol dependence to name but a few. Take away all the religious dogma, and it’s an almost timeless story of love and redemption. It is overlong with a bit too much of Jack’s repetitive introspection, but it gives us a fascinating portrayal of life in the segregated southern states of the US in the 1950s.
Thanks to Little, Brown Group and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

I love Robinson's writing; she literally transports you to her imagined claustrophobic worlds. She has such amazing turns of phrases and draws such wonderful characters; slowly and delicately. I will, and have been recommending this to everyone I talk to!

I want to start by saying that I have not read any of the other books in the Gilead series and this does to some extent affect my rating. This was a beautifully written introspective of an unfolding romance between Jack (white) and Della, a black school teacher in the 1950s, with all the difficulties one would expect. I found the story quite slow going and repetitive. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

DNF - Did Not Finish - I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group, and the author Marilynne Robinson.
I"m afraid I had to stick to my new reading resolution here, abandoning books I am not enjoying. Reading this novel felt like a huge amount of effort and concentration, and I was not tempted to pick it up at all after putting it down.
Although there is no denying that the book is beautifully written, with elegant prose, it is quite simply, dull.
I pushed myself to get to half way through, and was too bored to continue.
Reading other reviews, and knowing that this is the 4th story in a series, potentially explains my lack of engagement. Maybe the other three books are essential to enjoying this one. However I can see that I am not alone in my opinion here. 2 stars.

I was intrigued to follow the relationship between Jack and Della, however this was the only thing that kept me going with this book. The book is made up mainly of Jack's self absorbed thoughts which felt repetitive and boring, the story only picked up when Jack & Della were with each other.

I received an ARC of this book via netgalley. It is a gentle love story set in an era of segregation in the USA. At the same time it is almost an interrogation of the difficulties entailed in such a situation and whether they can ever be surmounted. I loved the characterisation, particularly that of Jack, once imprisoned for theft and a self avowed kleptomaniac who meets Della quite by accident. I like Della's characters but all my sympathies are with Jack. There is a rhythm to this narrative and it is important to find that rhythm to fully enjoy it. I feel like it would make a very good audio book, that the right narrator would add a certain something to the storyline.

I do think I have missed something by not reading this series in order and perhaps i will re read at another time having done just that.

There are some beautiful thought provoking quotes " I am actually full of rage. Wrath, I think i feel a little like God must feel a second before he gives up and rains Brimstone. or " I am at the centre of a certain type of turbulence" But it also requires the reader to carry around a large Oxford English Dictionary (or be reading on Kindle) to define some of the words the author uses in my opinion unnecessarily the same sense could be conveyed in words the average reader might have encountered previously. Only an etymologist would understand some of the language in this book e,g, homolectical . IMO the simpler language conveys much more than the fancy words do

I would recommend this book to others but be sure to read the series in order

With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

I was blown away by Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead when I first read it, and was eagerly waiting for this fourth instalment in the series, if it can be called such. Like Gilead, this is a train of theological thought as much as anything else, exploring issues such as predestination, human fallibility, conscience and shame alongside an illegal mixed race relationship, the complexities of family relations, and the power of love to redeem us.

Jack is an intriguing character. He figures in the previous three novels to varying degrees but always seen through others’ eyes, a prodigal son viewed with deep mistrust and suspicion by pretty much everyone except except by his father. In this instalment, finally, we get himself as told by himself, although he is his own harshest critic. He is edging towards middle age, possessed of a raffish charm but living in a miserable room in a boarding house in St Louis after a spell in prison, with varying odd jobs but no permanent employment, unerringly identified as an easy target by thugs who extort money from him, with frayed clothing and a drink and petty larceny problem to numb the pain of daily existence. Suicide is an ever-present impulse, kept at bay only by the thought of the beloved preacher father he has distanced himself from in order to avoid inflicting daily disappointment.

Into this existence walks Della Miles, a young black woman of dignity and grace, a schoolteacher, daughter of a bishop in Memphis. Jack helps her with some dropped papers on a rainy day and walks her home, and so begins an unlikely, and illegal, love story.

As in Gilead, much is made of the various Christian denominations and the differences between them in interpreting the Gospels and applying them to human life. Jack comes from a Presbyterian family, with a belief in predestination, and this seems to have had an enormous bearing on how he perceives himself. He feels that he brings harm to all around him, just by being, and this happens even when he tries to devote himself to harmlessness, to the extent of removing himself from the presence of his loved ones in order not to inflict pain by being who he is. When he falls in love with Della, the potential harm to her is only too easy to foresee, but he is drawn to her again and again in spite of all advice to the contrary.

The bare bones of the plot are really just a skeleton from which to hang an incredible richness of theological thought and psychological insight, alongside some incisive social commentary. Like Gilead and Home, this novel, to me, is about fathers and sons and the complex relations between them. In this case, the Christian God is part of the equation too, with an exploration of the differences between different denominations in how they manage their relationship with Him. Marilynne Robinson perfectly captures the humanity, compassion, complexity and heartbreaking beauty of one of the most fundamental relationships in a human life. Read these books - they are not a quick or easy read, but are amongst the most beautiful and moving and important ones I have ever read.

I was so glad to return to the land of Gilead. Robinson excels at digging deep and having difficult conversations through literature. This read is timely and thought-provoking.

This is such an engaging read. Set in the Southern states of the USA when segregation between black and white was legally enforceable. It tells the story of Jack, a pastors prodigal son whose greatest skill growing up was thieving. The product of a loving, loyal, forgiving, supportive family, it tells the story of Jack, from his perspective as he encounters the world and forms an ongoing relationship with a women of colour. This is a gentle book which offers so many insights into society without labouring a point but allowing you the reader to draw your own conclusions. I was so sorry to come to the end of this book. It is one I shall definitely re read and savour each page