Person
Marilynne Robinson's book recommendations
Key facts
- Marilynne Robinson has recommended or discussed 6 books on podcasts, as of March 20, 2024.
- Marilynne Robinson has talked about books on 2 podcasts, as of March 20, 2024.
- Those books came up in 2 episodes, as of March 20, 2024.
- The 3 books Marilynne Robinson has mentioned in the most episodes, as of March 20, 2024: The Republic, Piers Plowman and Theologia Germanica.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Marilynne Robinson aired on March 20, 2024.
Updated
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Marilynne Robinson appears on, in one place — not just one.
Marilynne Robinson’s most recommended books
- The Republic by Plato
- Piers Plowman by William Langland
- Theologia Germanica by Susanna Winkworth
- Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin
- Summa contra gentiles by Thomas Aquinas
- Summa Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas
Marilynne Summers Robinson is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, the National Humanities Medal in 2012, and the 2016 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, and she retired from teaching at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the spring of 2016. Appearing on podcasts such as The Ezra Klein Show and Conversations with Tyler, Robinson recommended and discussed several foundational texts. When asked for book recommendations, she recommended William Langland's fourteenth-century work Piers Plowman and the anonymous fourteenth-century German text Theologia Germanica. In her discussions, she frequently referenced Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae and Summa contra gentiles while addressing theological concepts like predestination and an omnipotent God. Robinson also brought up Plato's Republic when discussing how Moses created an ideal culture in the wilderness with ancient features, and mentioned John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion while critiquing how people misinterpret or fail to read Calvin.
Books recommended by Marilynne Robinson
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The Republic
Plato's foundational classical text "The Republic" explores justice, political structures, and the nature of reality.
Discussed“he's doing kind of like Plato in the Republic he's saying this is this is how we develop the idea of a community”
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
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Institutes of the Christian Religion
Discussed“you know I mean every these people that call themselves Calvinists you there's no no great likelihood that they will have read the the institutes or anything else that he wrote”
Where to get it
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Summa contra gentiles
Discussed“Thomas aquinus believed in it for example wrote about it you know in Sim country dulis and also in the Suma theologia”
Where to get it
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Summa Theologiae
Summa Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas is a monumental theological and philosophical text that systematically addresses foundational questions concerning God, morality, and human existence through a rigorous, structured method of inquiry.
Discussed“Thomas aquinus believed in it for example wrote about it you know in Sim country dulis and also in the Suma theologia”
Where to get it
Books by Marilynne Robinson
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Gilead
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Housekeeping
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Home
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Lila
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Tinkers
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Jack
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When I was a child I read books
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What are we doing here?
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The Givenness of Things
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The Death of Adam
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Absence of mind
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Mother country
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Reading Genesis
Appearances
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“well my first book is actually the novel housekeeping nuclear pollution came after I'm sorry okay it was my second book”