Rating: 
Summary: An Amazing Read!
Review: Just days after recovering from the miscarriage of my first baby, I started reading this novel. My plans had been to save it as one of my "must reads" for this coming Summer, but after coming off days of bedrest, I grew anxious and openend the inviting cover. Four days and four hundred and something pages later, I have to acknowledge this novel as one of the BEST I have ever read. The author writes of captivating characters that make it difficult to put this book down. I laughed... I cried... I was comforted by her unbelievable way of touching a healing heart. I commend her for her talent, and highly recommend this to anyone who's been searching for that one book you know you will always remember.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: Fiction is supposed to take you to another world and give you the feeling of being in that world. I felt like I was with these characters and felt their pain and triumph and love.I highly recommend this book, especially as the summer months approach.
Rating: 
Summary: A different Kingsolver experience
Review: I can recommend readiing this book even with only giving it 3 stars. It's in a lovely setting, the characters are good, the story moves at a nice pace, and the overall feeling from the book is satisfying. I'm not sure I can quite believe the main characters actions at several times, and that I attribute to my personal likings. I think after reading Poisonwood Bible I was also expecting something other than what this story offers. It's different and experience.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful entwined story
Review: Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" has entwined three stories into a great novel of "extravagant procreation". Her scientific outlook at life in the Appalachian Mountains is a delight. The first story tells of a fiesty hermit forest ranger, Deanna Wolfe, who meets Eddie Bondo. Eddie is there to kill a new family of coyotes as Deanna tries to save them. During this entanglement, a romantic twist is involved also. The second story tells of a widow, Lusa. She tries to determine her life's next path while dealing with her in-laws. During this difficult time, Lusa creates a plan on saving the Widener farm. The third story tells of two elderly people, Garnett Walker and Nannie Rawlins. Garnett is old fashioned with the way he lives his life and does his farming. Whereas Nannie utilizes open-mindedness in her life with organic living and organic farming. These three stories all take place and overlap each other in Egg Fork in the Appalachian Mountains. I would recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book
Review: I don't like much contemporary fiction and didn't expect to like this one. The Poisonwood Bible was a good read, but all through it I kept thinking of works by Peter Matthiessen, Paul Bowles, Malcolm Lowry, and Paul Theroux. Surprise: Prodigal Summer was superb. Remarkable, poetic language, archetypal (not stereotypical) characters, evocative description, a fascinating plot of interlocking stories, and throughout a point of view about the real world and its problems. Others readers who object to Kingsolver as "preachy" probably have a hard time with Dickens, Dreiser, Norris, Dostoevsky, Stendhal ... This is a helluva first-rate writer, one of the most articulate alive, with heavy duty talent and informed, principled opinions, all evident in Prodigal Summer.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: After reading some of Kingsolver's other fiction, most especially Poisonwood Bible, I was very disappointed in this book. I read more than half of it, then decided not to waste my time and I quit.
Rating: 
Summary: Lush writing but the book is preachy and goes nowhere
Review: This book was so-so. Kingsolver's descriptions of nature were beautifully lush and engaging. The sex scenes were fantastic - carnal and earthy. However, the characters in this book were like cardboard, blurting out endless paragraphs of nature trivia like a machine. Do real people really talk like that? I don't think so! While I am eco-minded, I, as the reader, felt rather affronted by this continual pc babble. The three main female characters seemed like they all had the same "voice." I kept expecting the plot to climax somewhere, to build tension and prove her point rather than just talking about it (the whole show not tell thing). I was hoping maybe there would be some conflict with the coyotes to prove her point (i.e., a coyote kills one of the baby goats and the farmers of the valley go after the coyotes - or SOMEthing like that!). For a much better read on the conflict with "nature" vs. "man" I would highly recommend The Loop by Nicholas Evans. That novel has more tension, more plot, more realistic characters and love scenes. After reading Prodigal Summer and The Poisonwood Bible, I think I am through with Kingsolver. Her books just don't have enough drive to keep me interested.
Rating:
Summary: A bit too preachy for my taste
Review: Prodigal Summer is a very good novel that could have been even better had Barbara Kingsolver gotten off her soap box a bit. It tells three stories of people in a small county in Appalachia. The three stories ultimately become intertwined. The novel is extremely well-written; however, I believe her preaching is too extreme at times. The author's characters are all black and white -- no shades of grey. It is obvious which characters are "right" and "wrong" from the beginning. I only wish Kingsolver had let me figure things out instead of shoving the plot down my throat with such obvious characterizations. All characters come off as being almost stereotypical and much of the plotting is predicable. So why three stars? Kingsolver writes like a dream and Prodigal Summer is an enjoyable read. Read it with a grain of salt and you'll be fine.
Rating: 
Summary: BOORRING
Review: this book would be good if it were about 300 pages shorter. Kingslover manages to tell the most boring story in the world and strecth it to a 450 page story that goes absoutly no where. I am studying this book for my Contemporary Issues in Literature Class, so im not missing out on the themes of human vs nature, endangered species, organic vs. chemical agriculture and the slew of other things in this book. but GOD its the most boring thing i have ever read, it just goes nowhere. When i got to page 400 i found my self saying... "geez, when is the plot going to thicken, or more accuratly, when is the plot going to begin!" i do not reccomend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: My husband loved it; I didn't care for it
Review: I bought this for my husband on audio cassette and he LOVED it so much I picked it up and read it. It truly couldn't hold my interest. And I wanted it to. I really did. But the LONG LONG chapters and then the next chapter being a completely different set of characters, etc. that I had to interest myself in wore on me. I finished less than half of the novel and that is unusual for me. I almost NEVER leave a book unfinished. My husband, however, really enjoyed this tale. We are from KY originially and he enjoyed the references to the homeland. :-) Kingsolver has definitely done her research. She gave quite a lot of detail regarding the animals and their habits, etc. It was obvious she was very learned on the subjects her character was an expert in. She definitely drew precise characters and she knew who they were and what they would do. I appreciate her skill as an author, no question. And perhaps one of her other books will reel me right in. This one wasn't for me, but I can still say it is well written and my husband is not the only person I know who loved it.
| 
