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Summary: Charming Ode To Nature And Rural People
Review: This is a love poem to all that's good about the Ozarks, with humble, caring people, mixed with provincial narrowness and a greater faith in nature than in people. It portrays the loves and times of several characters and shows their interconnectedness with the earth, moths, trees, and wildlife.
I listened to the unabridged audio edition, and Ms. Kingsolver's voice is straight from the mountains, soothingly soft and evoking exactly the right emotional response - much like Annie Proulx did with her spare text in Shipping News.
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Summary: Entwines fictional characters with info on the laws ofnature
Review: This book, like others by Barbara Kingsolver, started a bit slow for me, but by the end I was devouring it. It is actually 3 stories in one: the independent naturalist who finds romance where she doesn't want it, the suddenly widowed Lusa who finds strength in herself, and the cantankerous old man who finds friendship where he least expects it. I was at first disappointed when I realized that the characters were not actually going to interact with each other, but through various circumstances it all comes together at the end.I THINK THIS SHOULD BE A MUST-READ FOR ALL STUDENTS OF BIOLOGY. Each of the 3 parts of this book has more information about the laws of nature than I learned in college, yet it is woven so intricately into the story that you are left wanting to get outside into the hills without knowing why.
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Summary: My Favorite 'Beach Book'!
Review: I loved this book. I want to read it again next summer, just to revel in it once more. In the natural 'scenery' that Kingsolver presents along with the life stories she weaves throughout the narrative, I learned much about birds, bugs and other critters while taking in the richness of the lives of the human characters. They all 'fit together' and enhanced my summer reading experience. I just picked up two of her other books, and I can't wait to begin with them soon.
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Summary: A moving, sympatico appalachian novel, with enviro overtones
Review: I'm a big fan of this book, not because it's so typically left-leaning (per some other reviews), but because it's sympathetic to every character, right, left and center--even the "villains." Even the 80-year-old creationist former science teacher gets a hug. BTW, One Amazon reviewer thinks "creationist science teacher" is an oxymoron, but this guy obviously didn't grow up in the bible belt (where Oral Roberts built a medical school that also taught the laying on of hands...I couldn't make this stuff up.) It is also nice to see how Kingsolver manages to connect big, controversial political issues and science with the everyday lives of farmers...and no, I don't think this stuff was propoganda or preachy. It actually fit with the story ...And maybe I'm just a sucker for melodrama, but I was teary-eyed at the end of the book. A really worthwhile read (Highest endorsement: I checked it out from the library, but bought it to keep and share with family after...)
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Summary: Another excellent novel from Ms. Kingsolver
Review: I would highly recommend Prodigal Summer. It isn't nearly as good as The Poisonwood Bible, but then, masterpieces of that caliber are rare. Kingsolver's writing style improves with each novel, and her insights on human relationships are profound. The characters in Prodigal Summer are vivid, realistic, and memorable. The novel is not without its flaws, however. Whether or not you agree with Kingsolver's environmental views, the manner in which she presents them is preachy and becomes tiresome. Structurally, the novel is rather disjointed, and the plot lacks cohesiveness. If you get the chance, I would particularly recommend the audiobooks version of Prodigal Summer. It is read by Kingsolver herself, and no one else would be able to make the southern Appalachian accents ring as true.
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Summary: An absorbing, thought-provoking read.
Review: Entomologist Lusa Landowski's year-old marriage to farmer Cole Widener ends with his death, as the summer of Barbara Kingsolver's fifth novel begins. That leaves city-reared Lusa to learn by herself, quickly, what she was trying to learn slowly with her husband's help: how to live on the land (something she always dreamed of doing), and how to fit herself into his large and contentious family (something that she, the only child of aging parents, never imagined). On a mountain above the Widener farm, Deanna Wolfe - a wildlife biologist almost 20 years Lusa's senior - lives in a primitive cabin and doesn't come down to civilization, even for vacations. She is the one authorized human resident of a game preserve, where she keeps the trails open - sends poachers packing - and watches the cycle of life and death, predators and prey, play itself out as season follows season. She's content there, but not enough to send an attractive wanderer named Eddie Bondo on his way. Retired agriculture teacher Garnett Walker III lives near the Widener farm, and works at breeding a blight-resistant American chestnut tree. That will be his legacy, now that his wife is dead and his only son estranged. If his neighbor and nemesis - organic farmer and free spirit (despite her own advancing years) Nannie Rawley - doesn't drive him crazy first, that is! What ties together these people from three different generations, except inhabiting the southern Appalachians through a summer that is truly "prodigal" in its bounty? What do "Moth Love" (the title for each of Lusa Landowski's chapters), "Predators" (Deanna Wolfe's chapters), and "Old Chestnuts" (Garnett Walker III's chapters) have in common? For each of Kingsolver's characters, this bountiful yet trying summer reveals unsuspected connections and teaches fresh (yet age old) lessons about nature. Human, and otherwise. As their lives reach turning points and summer ends, each discovers something new and startling - and wonderful! - about what being part of creation really means. An absorbing, thought-provoking read, in which the natural world becomes a living and breathing character all its own. Highly recommended! --Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of "Love, Jimmy: A Maine Veteran's Longest Battle"
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Summary: Take your time and savor this novel.
Review: Whenever I'm asked who my favorite authors are, Barbara Kingsolver always makes the list. Why? It's because she is consistently good. No matter the subject matter, her voice rings true and, excellent wordsmith that she is, the end result invariably adds something new to my mental storehouse from which I get my own abilities as a writer. She is lyrical AND down-to-earth. When she lets you see the heart of a character, you recognize yourself. That's why I love her books. There isn't one African American character in this novel, and yet I am able to identify with all of them. A good author has the ability to transcend race and class. I loved Garnett, and Nannie, and Lusa and Cole. All of the Wideners. The lady ranger, who found herself in lust with someone 19 years her junior, and then pregnant at 47! Why is it called Prodigal Summer? It's because of the way she brings three disparate story lines together at the end. How she brings lost souls back home again. Simply beautiful in every way.
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Summary: Good reading although not without flaws
Review: Prodigal Summer is my first introduction to Barbara Kingsolver's book. I find her an excellent writer even though I do not agree with many of her points on environmental or ecological issues, but the book itself is a joy to read and even on those arguments which I find contrary to my own belief but nevertheless it serves as mental nourishments to enlarge one's perspectives about nature and life. From reading the previous reviews, many reviewers have focused their reviews on characters development and relationship building in the book. I personally think Prodigal Summer is a very different book for one to review base on this kind criteria and it would be wrong that if we simply treat it as a tale of romance or a literary novel on relationship per se. It is much more than that, in this book, the stories about relationship are used to deliver her strong messages about ecological balance and wildlife conservation, friendship and adversity are used as a tool in advance her arguments to establish her scientific theory thus to further enhance her political views. I did not find Prodigal Summer an easy read like many other readers, although each story in the book was simply told through reviewing their personal conflicts, and only from those conflicts her arguments were been presented and examined and argued. For people whose main object in reading is to find excitement in a story should stay away from Prodigal Summer because you won't find any here. But what ranked this book above many others was because it being ordinary without being plain, where you will find much philosophical means to life from those simply told stories where although they might lack in plots and characters development but were amply accomplished by the implication they conveyed, not to mention her excellent writing as a compliment should itself almost guarantee to give many hours of reading pleasure. I gave it a 4-star because with all its merits, it did not give me a continuous reading pleasure as I sometimes find in some other books. I wouldn't call this book an UNPUTDOWNABLE because it is a book that means to make you think and argue, thus slowing down your reading time. And also, the stories themselves could be more interesting if some plots were developed. Enough said, I will definitely return to Barbara Kingsolver again for I have already bought The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees as for my definitive reading list for 2004.
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Summary: Good story, biological mistakes
Review: This book has a good story, but there are some huge biological mistakes in the book that made it hard for me to enjoy. I like her other books better.
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Summary: Her best work yet
Review: I'm a huge fan of Kingsolver's novels--have been ever since I discovered the Bean Trees, but I must say this is my favorite one yet. Actually this is one of my favorite books by any author. I think she taps into a lot of human emotion that others have neglected. Her characters are lonely, scared, flawed people, but they are characters that most people can relate to in some way, and while they seem to be drifting along separate and alone, they are all ultimately tied together. I think it is a wonderful story. I know I could read it again and again.
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