Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 2024-03-05
Books mentioned on Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Beauty, Human Evil and the Idea of Israel
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Gilead
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning epistolary novel structured as a heartfelt letter from an elderly, dying Congregationalist minister to his young son, reflecting on faith, family history, and the profound beauty of existence.
Discussed“this reminds me of of my favorite line from you which is a a line from John Ames and and Gilead the who he's the main character in that in that book but there's also my favorite line written by anybody”
Where to get it
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Reading Genesis
Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson offers a theological and literary examination of the biblical Book of Genesis.
Discussed“but her latest book book goes directly to the source it is called reading Genesis and it is exactly that it is Robinson's deep reading of the biblical Book of Genesis”
Where to get it
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Housekeeping
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson is a celebrated novel that examines themes of transience, grief, and the profound ripples of family trauma through a distinctively poetic lens.
Discussed“um Gilead I think is very much this way it's very much uh a constant reminder to see what is around you that you'll write about something like laundry as you do in your book housekeeping and say something you know about this line of laundry”
Where to get it
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The Republic
The Republic by Plato is a foundational philosophical text exploring justice, the ideal political state, the nature of reality through the allegory of the cave, and the evolution of various political regimes including democracy.
Discussed“he's doing sort of what Plato does you know in the Republic he's creating an ideal culture that with very ancient features”
Where to get it
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Piers Plowman
Piers Plowman by William Langland is a monumental 14th-century English allegorical poem that explores Christian themes of truth, honesty, and the quest for a righteous life through a series of dream visions.
Recommended“and one of my favorite books is Pier Plowman William langland coming out of the 14th century I just finished reading the Theology of germanica which is an anonymous work 14th century written in German”
Where to get it
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Theologia Germanica
Theologia Germanica is an anonymous late fourteenth-century mystical treatise written in German that explores the union of the human soul with God through self-abandonment and pure love.
Recommended“and one of my favorite books is Pier Plowman William langland coming out of the 14th century I just finished reading the Theology of germanica which is an anonymous work 14th century written in German”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“but she has all these other beautiful books housekeeping lla Jack many many more”
“but she has all these other beautiful books housekeeping lla Jack many many more”
“but she has all these other beautiful books housekeeping lla Jack many many more”