Pigs in Heaven

Rating:
Summary: interesting info on Cherokee Nation but writing labored
Review: the author tried too hard to be a clever writer and it came across as a labored style; the story itself was somewhat unrealistic but I did enjoy learning about the life style of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, especially since I had lived in Atlanta and heard about the Cherokee's forced deportation

Rating:
Summary: A simple story that takes a hard look at the Cherokee Nation
Review: Warning: this book is no page-turning, deeply compelling murder mystery. Instead, it is a simple tale of a mother trying to protect her little girl, with a little description and background information thrown in. Right from the start Kingsolver tries to entice her readers by sticking them right into the mind of a woman about to leave her husband. What she ends up doing is leaving out the necessary information that the readers must have such as who, what, where, when, and why. Kingsolver continues to add characters to the story, but none of them seem real, and not one of them has to face the consequences of their actions. A wife who just walks out on her husband. A mother who takes her child and runs with no destination in mind. A lawyer who drops everything to pursue a story she saw on a talk show. Along with their actions, the dialogue of the characters sounds fake as well. A thirty year old woman speaks to a police officer as if he is a child using such text as "So you want to take some happy pills and try acting a little nicer to us?" The same woman sarcastically addresses a manager with "Happy Easter. Let's go hunt some eggs." In contrast with her fictional characters, Kingsolver includes many bold statements and witty description. "Her broad mouth has the complicated curves of a foreign punctuation mark." She also uses native Cherokee words sprinkled in her dialogue and text with enough surrounding clues to make the meaning of these words apparent. These help the readers to get a better sense of the characters as real people. Toward the end this book gets heavy on the Cherokee history, language, and customs. Kingsolver takes her readers into the heart of the tribe, introducing important members, explaining interesting traditions, describing certain activities such as feasts and stomp dances. It does begin to grow mildly repetitious when she includes whole paragraphs demonstrating how the Cherokee trace their family ties through the tribe. Though this book is definitely not a must read, it does have a universal lesson that everyone should learn. "Do right by your people or you'll be a pig in heaven."

Rating:
Summary: Didn't want it to end
Review: It was hard to leave these marvelous characters behind. Each rings true with the certainty of one who looks closely to find humanity in quiet places. Kingsolver delivers a compelling, cherishable story with a happy ending to boot. I can't wait to read more of her work!

Rating:
Summary: I didn't like it.
Review: I think the book was horribly developed and the characters were 1 dimensional.

Rating:
Summary: DELIGHTFULLY UNPREDICTABLE
Review: I read this book a few years ago, and it still comes to mind as my all-time favorite read. What I cherish is the unpredictable actions and interactions between the characters. Just when you think two characters are about to start throwing stones at one another, they'll sit down and start talking honestly, even humorously, with one another. (You have to read it to believe it.) In addition to being a subtle crash-course in good relationships, it's a real page turner.

Rating:
Summary: A Truly Insightful Look into Life!
Review: I found the author to be philosophical. Her characters were well developed. I especially liked Jax, except when he cheated on Taylor with Gundi. Although not action packed, this novel gets inside your head. I found myself thinking about the words long after I put the book down. For this alone the author deserves praise!

Rating:
Summary: Well-crafted with great characters
Review: I found this book to be quite enjoyable. The story is well-crafted and as a bonus I now look with greater appreciation at Cherokee customs and family values. The characters are well-drawn and people you can empathize with. Each person in the book has both strengths and weaknesses, and refreshingly they don't take themselves too seriously. Kingsolver's writing style is light and somewhat flippant, similar to Carl Hiaasen. This book was recommended to me by a friend and I recommend it myself. I look forward to reading other books by this author.

Rating:
Summary: Prose that reads like poetry.
Review: The characters are marvelous, the story is grand, and the language is pure poetry. Kingsolver has a metaphor for everything, and each one better than the last. There may be some who'd call this a book for women, but I'm a 73-year-old man and I loved every word. I'm off to the library right now to get the prequel "The Bean Trees." Can't wait to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Great build up, but then it crashed at the end!!!
Review: Pigs in Heaven has great build-up, but then crashes at the end. It was dissapointing when Alice and Cash got married! Hello, that just would happen. It defeats the entire purpose of the novel. I thought this book was about the moral choice over family and love and herritage...AND, why all the random characters, like Barbie, who just dissapeared? This book is like watching a soap opera because as I read it I was really interested but then by the end I thought about it and said, that was stupid!

Rating:
Summary: -Another Kingslover masterpiece-
Review: Like most of the people that have reviewed this book, I have read both 'The Bean Trees' and 'Pigs in Heaven.' I will most definitly recommend both of these books to anyone looking to read an attention-keeping book. Barbara Kingslover has a fantastic talent of getting the reader into the characters lives. And the unusual qualities that the characters have just make the book more interesting. For example, while Taylor and Turtle were running from Annawake, the met a strange young lady. Her name was Barbie, and she collected everything that Barbie (the doll) had ever produced. She even dressed like Barbie. As you can see many of the characters were unusual. The plot that these characters create over the span of the two books is an emotional adventure. So many families are broken apart, then to be mended, ironically, in the end. 'Pigs in Heaven' is a just another one of Barbara Kingslover's masterpiece's, she should team up with a producer and combine 'The Bean Trees' and 'Pigs in Heaven' into an elaborate portral of Turtle and "all" of her family in a movie. Amanda M.