John Ames is a dying 75 year old minister in 1950s Iowa, writing a letter to his young son to remember him by. Mirroring Ames's life, the story meanders then sprints. In its short course, Robinson manages meditations on fathers and sons, race in America from Reconstruction to the dawn of the Civil Rights era, and the tale of the Prodigal Son. To say so much about family, faith, and flag in so few words is an achievement, and to make the entire journey lovely doubly so.
Tags: books