Today was last week's day off, well almost, I had to do some urgent admin this morning and have a meeting this evening.  But I did get to spend the afternoon lying on the settee reading most of 'Gilead,' a novel that many people have been raving about for a while.

To be honest, although I'm glad I've read it, for me it didn't set the heather alight.  Perhaps I didn't "get it."  Although I found bits that resonated or that I found quite clever, it didn't excite me the way it seems to have done others and certainly wouldn't find its way onto my 'must read/recommend' list.

One thing I might think a bit more about - because it intrigued me - was the paralleling of the Ten Commandments with the start of Genesis.  I'm sure lots of people have already thought long an hard about this, but I haven't!

It's not a case of disliking the novel, it was a perfectly acceptable read (and a relaxing way to spend my afternoon!).  I wonder if, perhaps, because it had so many recommendations I had too high hopes for it?

Whether this just demonstrates that I'm a literary philistine or that my taste is widely different from others, I have no idea.  As something to read for relaxation, it worked well, and as I will soon have to get back into reading for research purposes, I'm glad I got the chance to complete it.