Reading Genesis

For generations, the Book of Genesis has been treated by scholars as a collection of documents by various hands expressing different factional interests, with borrowings from other ancient literatures that mark the text as derivative. In other words, academic interpretation of Genesis has centered on the question of its basic coherency, just as fundamentalist interpretation has centered on the question of the appropriateness of reading it as literally true.

Both of these approaches preclude an appreciation of its greatness as literature, its rich articulation and exploration of themes that resonate through the whole of Scripture. Marilynne Robinson's new book is a powerful consideration of the profound meanings and promise of God's enduring covenant with man. Her magisterial book radiates gratitude for the constancy and benevolence of God's abiding faith in Creation.

In luminous prose Robinson challenges a modern reader to understand just how unusual a book Genesis is, pregnant with meaning that stretches to our own day... In the face of contemporary atrocities, geopolitical strife and the threat of human-made environmental catastrophe, a work championing the goodness of creation and the infinite value of human life can offer a salutary read, calling us to our responsibilities... In spite of everything, Robinson finds a way to produce a powerful meditation on hope at a time when that virtue is generally in short supply. In this rich and provoking study, Robinson has masterfully traced [a] sense of wonder back to its ancient, remarkable source -- Julian Coman Observer
A dedicated layperson's journey through the Book of Genesis. The author meanders delightfully through the text, ruminating on one tale after another while searching for themes and mining for universal truths. Robinson approaches Genesis with a reverence and level of faith uncommon to modern mainstream writers, yet she's also equipped with the appropriate tools for cogent criticism... luminous Kirkus, starred review
Drawing on her experience as a novelist, Robinson explores the use of repetition and parallel stories and traces the core themes, from the (then) wholly new statement that "God is the good creator of a good creation" to the desire for and love of children and the contrariness of humankind. Robinson marvels over "the remarkable realism" in depictions of the emotional turmoil catalyzed by family conflicts and shocking acts of deceit, betrayal, and revenge... Throughout this deeply involving and enlightening exegesis, Robinson links Genesis to the profound dilemmas of our time Booklist
Reading Genesis is not a book with a single argument to make. It invites us to take time in reading the stories again, in the company of one of the foremost novelists today in the English language. Many readers of Robinson's fiction have spoken of the sense of "authority" in her writing... it is a work of exceptional wisdom and imagination -- Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury Daily Telegraph
Like so much of Robinson's writing, Reading Genesis is alive with questions of kindness, community and how to express what we so often struggle to put into words New York Times Magazine
The genius of Reading Genesis lies in its collapse of the space between the holy and the mundane, the metaphysical and the physical Atlantic
Robinson skilfully melds her literary interpretation with her theological one Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Marilynne Robinson is the author of Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award; Home, winner of the Orange Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Jack, a New York Times bestseller. Her first novel, Housekeeping, won the PEN/Hemingway Award. Robinson's non-fiction books include The Givenness of Things, When I Was a Child I Read Books, Absence of Mind, The Death of Adam, and Mother Country. She is the recipient of a 2012 National Humanities Medal, awarded by President Barack Obama, for 'her grace and intelligence in writing.' Robinson lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

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