The narrator of this story is John Ames a 76 year old preacher who has lived almost all of his life in Gilead, Iowa. He is writing a letter to his almost seven-year-old son, the blessing of his second marriage. It is a summing-up, an apologia, a consideration of his life. Robinson takes the story away from being simply the reminiscences of one man and moves it into the realm of a meditation on fathers and children, particularly sons, on faith, and on the imperfectability of man.
It’s a great read, slow paced but moving. When I read it I read and listened to the audio version as well. Below is a short version of my on small town experience.
My Gilead was a small town in Florida called Apopka, pop, 2500. Apopka is an Indian word meaning “big potato.” That’s about the only thing there that was big. The town was essentially a block long in a square but not one with a court house sitting in the middle. My mom and dad’s place of business set just one business off the main driving street, Hwy 441 (running north and south). My family owned two businesses, my mom ran the clothing store and my dad, for many years, was the town’s only barber. The town had two brothers at opposite ends of the spectrum: More
