Rating: 
Summary: A Writer in love with her subject
Review: Every word of this book tells us a story about the story behind the book. Kingsolver loves her subject matter-- she falls in love with the land, the characters, the storyline. And in the process, the words she writes resonate with that special glow with which you see someone/thing you love. As a reader, I too fell for the book's setting & characters. I wish I could meet them, go there, be this kind of writer. The story gripped me and would not let go. Having the luck to also have "read" this on the book on tape version read by Kingsolver herself, I enjoyed it all the more... so if you're a "car reader" like me, give this one a try. You'll find yourself making excuses to go on long road trips.
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Summary: Tobacco romance
Review: Kingsolver's career as a science writer is successfully merged with her matchless descriptive skills in this novel. Set in the tobacco growing region of Appalachia, she uses the four women and a retired geneticist to discuss evolution, predator-prey relationships and modern farming practices to foster realistic thinking about environmental issues. These run from "pest elimination" to herbicide use. She deftly relates the different sex ploys of moths, coyotes and humans. The result leaves the human patterns more inexplicable than ever. The middle-aged
Deanna encounters a man in the bush, and we never quite discern which of the pair is the seducer. Lexington Lusa loses a husband, but gains an adolescent. And a septuagenarian, to his everlasting shame, gets an erection over his neighbour, who is nearly as ancient as he.It's unclear what the target market is for this book. Clearly, it isn't her former neighbours in Appalachia. Kingsolver's patronizing attitude toward the farm country patois is almost embarrassing. "Political correctness" hasn't reached down to regional speech patterns yet, apparently. Those tobacco farmers are unlikely to buy into her attempt to explain evolution and it's unlikely she's going to hamper coyote hunting there or anywhere else. The urban readers who have already learned about Darwin will buy this book out of loyalty. Will they learn anything new? Perhaps, but if they wander the countryside trying to sell Kingsolver's ideas as she does, their reception is likely to be a warm one. Will her buyers pick up this book for its plot? Hopefully not, for their disappointment will be severe. As each character is introduced within their environment, the resulting events are glaringly predictable. Deanna's sexual perplexity conflicts with her newly acquired environmental outlook. What prompted her to write a thesis on coyotes remains an enigma. Lusa, a transplanted farm wife from the city, MUST somehow end up with the farm, making a go of it in novel fashion. It seems to be a genetic trait, but again, the causes remain vague. The crusty old man, Garnett Walker III, is the most predictable of all, and the cruelest. Kingsolver gives us a shambling clown, self-contained, irascible due to his infirmities and in constant contention with the world. Kingsolver may find cataracts, memory loss and dizzy spells humorous, but it will be interesting to see her outlook if these afflictions strike her at that age. Her persistence in portraying all men as inadequate in one way or another has grown more than a little shopworn. Opening one of her books leads you inevitably into a mob of resourceful, enterprising women, all successful somehow even in the face of adversity. That adversity is always men - even when the failing is simply dying at "the wrong time." Walker is derived from the father in Poisonwood Bible, an over-Christianized geriatric who finds it difficult, strangely enough, to shed nearly eight decades of his upbringing. His "redemption" makes compelling narrative, but the genders could have been reversed without losing the impact. A young man is told to shove off, but, of course, only does so after his partner becomes pregnant. Formula stuff. Kingsolver's descriptive powers will entice her legions of fans to this book. The city element among them will nod sympathetically. Rural readers, even outside Appalachia, may be confronted with some unpalatable truths, but it's unlikely their views will be modified by this novel. It's a good beach read for those who want to relax and escape, but there's nothing serious to reflect on here. Such concepts are better sought elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Three stories, one area, one future
Review: I was not a big fan of Poisonwood Bible and was thus leary of reading another of her books. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has three basic story lines that are set around loving nature and folks learning about themselves. The characters all live in the same 'town' yet don't interact much in this book. The nature elements can be a bit long, but are helpful in defining the characters. The three storylines are independent of each other but have ties between them. I was able to envision how 'in the future' these folks would be relating to each other. It was a good book and well worth the read.
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Summary: Delightful Read
Review: My mother gave this book to me for Christmas and during this hot, sticky June week, I've been sitting on my porch, reading it. This is the first Kingsolver I've ever read and now understand what the hoopla is all about. Some of the characters really rubbed me the wrong way, but they were all well-written and round. There is definetely some ecological lessons and attitudes the reader is supposed to walk away with, but they tend to be subtley worked in. After reading this book, I will definetly read more Kingsolver.
Rating: 
Summary: Criticism of P. Knopick 's Review
Review: When blanket statements are made, as in Knopick's review regarding Kingsolver's political views, it is my contention that it must be footnoted as to where he obtained the information that generated his formation of such opinions. Otherwise, one receives the information as nothing more than slander. In addition, we probably would not read many an author if we knew and did not care for their politics, lifestyles, food choices, color of hair, etc. Get it?
Rating:
Summary: The Twining of Place and People
Review: A novel constructed out of three intertwining stories, set in the same no-longer-quite pristine-but-still-lovely Appalachian valley---close to each other in proximity and eventually spiralling inward in theme, as well. The "Predators" thread deals with an attractive, solitary, 40-something female forest ranger, who understands and cherishes the mountainside environment which she's safeguarding, and who's excited that a coyote clan may be moving into the territory. The "Chestnuts" thread centers around a stubborn, opinionated elderly resident of the valley, who's livelong dream is to breed a blight-resitant variety of the American chestnut, and who's constantly thwarted in his day-to-day life by his neighbor, a woman who believes passionately (and profitably) in organic farming. The "Moth Love" strand takes its metaphor from the pheromones used by butterflies and moths to find their mates, and it's the story of an "outsider" to the valley, a well-educated female entymologist who marries the son of an old farming family, and has to make a place for herself among her relatives and neighbors. Three strong-willed main characters, who don't really know each other, but who in fact are tied together with subtle threads. Lovely, intriguing metaphors throughout the novel of environmental interdependency, but Kingsolver never descends to a preachy tone, just lets her characters talk. A very nice novel, from one of my very favorite authors.
Rating:
Summary: Interpreting this novel...
Review: I was so entranced by one of Kingsolver's first novels, The Bean Trees, that I have read (or tried to read) each of her other novels/ collections of stories. I was excited to see this one on the shelf and dove right into it. Now I feel I have to put in my two cents about Deanna's character and the tone of the book as a whole. I don't believe that Deanna was "coldly written" or had "general hatred for people" as some have stated. It seems to me that Kingsolver was trying to portray her as someone who felt so deeply for nature, and so intimately connected with her little part of it on the mountain, that she was fiercely protective of it. Identifying more with the natural world - and indeed, loving it more - than life in the city, and most of the people who come with it, is something I can identify with. I grew up largely at our summer cabin, studied wildlife biology, and felt real pain when I saw the woods I first visited at 2 weeks of age being logged. It doesn't mean I hate people - it just means I love nature, and even more so after I've studied it and seen some of it destroyed.
I do agree that this book came across a bit too contrived and too structured like an ecology/conservation textbook. I also have read "Hope is the Thing With Feathers", one of the books Kingsolver mentions in her introduction, and some of the passages in this book (about the heath hen, for example) read as if they were put in as references. As far as thinking her decriptions were too perfect, well, I guess I see her as wanting to extoll the beauty of nature. Her other books don't get into the grimy reality of nature/human existence (although the Poisonwood Bible does to an extent), so I didn't expect it here. As far as the romantic content of the book, I don't think it can be dismissed as pandering to the Harlequin Romance novel crowd. Those looking for a book entirely without sexual content will be disappointed, but I found this aspect exciting. You'll also notice that including this in each story emphasizes both our "animal" nature as well as our innately human weaknesses. It was Deanna's recognition of her human desire for another person, for company outside of the creatures in the woods, that made her so frustrated and disappointed in herself. Then again, this "weakness" provided her with a gift and a new chapter in her life. I would summarize my comments this way: I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the book as weepy environmentalism/romance. And it definitely ranks as my second-favorite Kingsolver book.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to par with Poisonwood
Review: I have very mixed feelings about this book. At times, Kingsolver's ecological preaching was over-powering and took the place of real plot or character development. But then, I'd read a magnificent passage that would take my breath away. She really is a phenomenal writer-elegant, yet approachable. Of the three slightly entwined stories, I, like many reviewers, preferred "Moth Love". Lusa's tale was the most emotionally interesting, and there was evident character growth. The "Old Chestnuts" were cute-ish, but a bit cliched. "Predators" was my least favorite. Deanna was over-bearing and her continual cycling between lust and guilt grew tiresome. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE is one of my favourite books. I think Kingsolver's a bit off the mark with PRODIGAL SUMMER, though she can still occasionally stun the reader with brilliance.
Rating:
Summary: I see nature differently
Review: I really enjoyed this book and was so glad that I read it. It was thirst quenching somehow. I felt like I bonded with nature and was even inspired to go camping/hiking in the nearby Smoky Mountains soon after finishing this book. It's just a sweet reminder of the balance and beauty of nature.
My ONLY complaint was the silly love affair between Deanna Wolfe and Eddie Bondo. (I didn't need to know that they were having sex during their conversations. I would be reading a Harlequin if that's what I was looking for.)
Still, I recommend this book. It really was refreshing. After reading it, don't be surprised if you think twice before stepping on a spider or swatting a hornet's nest down!
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Words, Not Enough Plot
Review: I love Barbara Kingsolver for two reasons. One, she simply writes beautifully. She continues to do so in this book. Secondly, I usually love her characters like they are my friends. On this account, she succeeds less well. Lusa is interesting and likable. However, Deanna is insufferable and humorless, and Garnett and Nanny are just tough to get close to. But my biggest problem with this book is just that there was too much of it. Too many words. Too many descriptions. Over and over and over again with the moths and the trees and the insects. Doesn't she have an editor who advises her to take out one third of it? (I have this question a lot regarding novels of late). More is not better. I have come to expect a little "preachiness" from Ms. Kingsolver, so I don't complain about it--there just should have been less of it. There was not much of a plot. And the sex scenes belonged in another book altogether. I am giving her three stars for beautiful language, the characters in the Lusa storyline, and the idea of the book.
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