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an interview with Marilynne Robinson
In my previous post I reviewed HOME (FSG Books), the new novel by Marilynne Robinson. I also interviewed the author (by e-mail) but I did not get her responses until after my deadline for submitting my review had passed.
Readers of this blog are getting a special treat; an interview with Marilynne Robinson
Vick Mickunas: “Gilead” was one of my favorite books of 2004. I was delighted to see that you had written “Home.” After reading it I was curious about how you conceived of the relationship between these books? In “Gilead.” the Rev. Ames is slowly dying from a heart condition. In “Home” his good friend, the Rev, Boughton is also slowly dying while Rev. Ames is still living and seemingly no worse for the wear. “Home” isn’t a sequel per se to Gilead - it’s more like a neighbor, almost a contiguous novel? What are your thoughts here?
MR: I am happy to accept any of the categories you suggest. I seem
to have done something a little unusual in writing novels that are
related in the way these two are. Home is simply the book I wanted
to write. I had no conception, other than a feeling that to write it
would be interesting, and would allow me to explore characters who
had stayed in my thoughts. (And Ames has not told anyone but Lila
about his heart. But you will notice that, in Home, Boughton has
suspicions.)
Vick Mickunas: You published an essay recently in the New York Times where you alluded to some distinctive traits possessed by some Iowans. You have a long association with the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. “Gilead” and “Home” are set in rural Iowa some fifty years ago. What is it about this region, people, and time period that you find so compelling for spurring your imagination in works of fiction?
MR:I made a study of Iowa history when I first came here, and of the
landscape as well, and I have been here for almost twenty years. So
the place is both interesting and familiar to me. I am interested in
the ‘fifties because that period was a watershed in American history,
and I like it because there was vastly less saturation of the
atmosphere with industrialized culture, commercialized religion,
media-driven politics—the echo chamber we live in now that
interferes with actual thought, and cheapens language.
Vick Mickunas: Both books have ministers who devoted their lives to interpreting scripture. “Home” is a contemporary explication of the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. Jack, your wayward, prodigal wanderer in “Home” suffers from a severe case of existential angst. How did this character arise from your imagination?
MR: I never know how any character arises from my imagination. That
is part of my fascination with the work of writing.
Vick Mickunas: “Home” offers readers an intimate view of the interactions between Jack, his sister Glory, and their father, the Rev, Boughton. There are universal themes about family and vocation that will resonate with many readers. “Gilead” was well received. I expect that “Home” will also be deeply appreciated by readers. Before you wrote these books you had not published a novel since “Housekeeping” in 1980. During that 24 year interval between novels were you working on these books? What inspired you to write them?
MR:I wrote nonfiction in the years between novels, and I am writing
it now. It has been a huge part of my education, and a stimulus to
thinking that carries over, very obliquely for the most part, into my
fiction. I value both genres equally, and write whatever is on my
mind. I have written all my novels quickly as such things go. None
of them has required more than 18 months.
Vick Mickunas: “Gilead” and “Home” strike this reviewer as novels that break the mold of what most modern fiction seems to be. They are warm, tender, family stories that defy most of the stereotypes that readers might expect. Do you read much modern fiction? If so, who are some of the writers that you enjoy?
MR: I think the feelings and behaviors that sustain families are much
more complex and interesting and individual than conflict or
fracture. The emphasis on dysfunction that has been so strong since
Freud has distracted attention from the bonds and rituals and so on
that are much more central to people’s experience of life, and are
the esthetics of their lives. I think any writer wants to defy
stereotypes. But we are not of one mind about what is
stereotypical. I read nonfiction for the most part, history and the
kind of science writing that is suited to my layperson’s
understanding. They are the things that refresh my mind.
Vick Mickunas: Thank you for your wonderful books!
MR: Thanks for your kind words about my books.
Marilynne Robinson will be appearing at Cedarville University’s Dixon Ministry Center Recital Hall, 251 N. Main St. in Cedarville, at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. For more information, call (937) 766-7808.
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