The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel

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Summary: the worst book I've ever met
Review: Barbara Kingsolver tries to sound important, while her work contains so little interesting elements that its almost a chore to read the book. Her plot is non-existant and her characters are semi interesting but still, not quite "real." Perhaps if Kinglsover took some classes in plot development then the book would have a half way decent and coherent story. Bad stuff all around, stay away from this book.

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Summary: Praising her political insights
Review: Many, I fear most, Americans will resist Kingsolver's insights into American intervention in African affairs. We don't want to admit our shameless colonialism, our arrogant assumption that all the world's riches belong to us. But, as she makes all too clear, our intevention is often skewed by national self-interest and frequently misinterpreted on the home front. We can learn a lot from an open-minded reading of Poisonwood Bible.

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Summary: THis book is perfect in everyway!
Review: Our bookclub just finished reading it and we were up until midnight discussing all aspects of it. The story is told on many levels and the voices are all compelling and realistic. It is a must read for everyone...I just orderd the Pen/Faulkner winner because I can't imagine any of 1998's other selections being better!!! This is a great selection for a reading group!

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Summary: Not only great to read, but even more wonderful to listen to
Review: Stories are for listening to as well as reading, and this novel is superb on tape. Read wonderfully by Dean Robertson (a woman) it will make the miles fly by! This story strongly lends itself to the ancient tradition of telling/listening. Get it unabridged. It is expensive (it takes about 16 hours to listen to) but one of the best I have listened to. I savored it, replaying parts of it over and over to catch the wonder of the prose. The "voices" of the women are distinct and engaging to listen to. As good or better than to read. Worth every cent! If you can't afford it, share the cost with a friend, but do LISTEN!!

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Summary: A WONDERFUL READ-MAMBO SNAKES AND ALL!
Review: POISONWOOD BIBLE WAS MY FIRST TASTE OF BARBARA KINGSOLVER, BUT CERTAINLY NOT MY LAST. HER STORY OF THE PRICE FAMILY, BABTIST MISSIONARIES TRANSPLANTED TO THE CONGO IN 1959 WAS EXTRAORDINARY. WHAT STRUCK ME MOST ABOUT THIS BOOK WAS THE AFRICAN VIEWPOINT. SO OFTEN WHITES MOVE IN SOMEWHERE TO "IMPROVE" AND ONLY DO DAMAGE. AS THE OUSTED MISSIONARY TOLD, THINK OF YOURSELF AS A BRANCH OFF THE TREE OF AFRICA. WHO AND WHAT CHANGES DURING THEIR YEAR IN THE CONGO IS THE REAL STORY.

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Summary: Human strength overcomes religious fanaticism and despair.
Review: Religious fanatic father,Nathan Price, brings family of naive wife and four, young "apostle" daughters from Bethlehem, Georgia to the Congo. Even though he seems to decide that one year mission service is his goal, reader senses that Nathan cares not for measured time in which to accomplish his goal of conversion. Rather, we see an evangelist who disregards the constraints of time in conversion process. Avoiding familial responsibilities and blind to ordinary needs of his own flesh and blood, the father abandons, mentally and emotionally, his wife and children only to be confronted by African medicine man and natives who reject his teachings. Through a slowly revealed evolutionary process, wife and children realize they must ultimately save themselves from their human destiny in the Congo. This story, told individually by characters, reaches its climax as female members either remain in the African continent under unusual circumstances, or escape the Congo for a better life in America. Truly the story is cathartic for anyone who has ever been abandoned or was forced to care for himself, but it expresses also, in its look backward, a means of accepting one's human abilities, needs and capabilities. The women free themselves from their father's "heart of darkness" and leave behind their strong inhibitions and the Congo. Religious impact upon the human psyche, grinding poverty and near starvation as well as responsibility to oneself in a time of darkness and misery add to the strong emotional impact of this story. Religious ideas which once strengthened moral convictions in these young people, become not simply underpinnings of their emotional character, but as the chidren mature, now become stabilizers which help develop perspective for growth. Bible verses no longer become forms of "punishment" but later become means of expressing one's personal growth --contrasted, in Adah's case with poetry of Emily Dickinson. Although the main story focuses upon one year in the lives of our characters, the final chapters reveal the strength of these women in later years - leaving no looming questions in the mind of the reader as to their adult destinies. What a story! Not soon forgotten!

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Summary: A complex, powerful story of one country's journey
Review: Kingslover's new book is her most incredible yet. The paradigm of country vs. family vs. God creates a spellbinding tale of misery and triumph, and how one decision can change a generation forever. I literally could not put this novel down. I have tremendous praise for the Poisonwood Bible.

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Summary: Steinbeck of the Congo
Review: I just finished reading this book. What a refreshing change of style from the average novel of today. Exquisitely researched, but it did not bog down in minutiae as a Clancy novel would. Although I don't agree with Kingsolver's apparent politics any more than I do Steinbeck's or Orwell's, she presents the story so compellingly that I didn't seem to notice (unlike Grisham's Street Lawyer which whined and preached from each page). Destined to become a classic. I'll not soon forget the Price clan, just as the Joads' live on in my heart. Thanks Barbara!

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Summary: A piece of work
Review: Exquisite. Although the African world may be what lures the reader in, the family dynamics is what holds the excellent story together.

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Summary: Wonderful character, political drama
Review: Although any writer with a huge political agenda to dump out in between plot and characters usually scares me to death, Kingsolver doesn't. Her earlier books deal mostly with Native American culture, supression, and injustice; now she takes on Africa in the Cold War. It's been called the war that wasn't a war, but we only mean it wasn't a war on the American front, and at last someone has brought to life the tragedy of the third world, the people through whom the Cold War was fought. Kingsolver has been criticized for attempting write 'what should have been a black woman's story,' but I find that she writes exactly what she, as a white American, can -- the story of the Congo through twentieth century American eyes. The division of worlds is excellently drawn, and the religious musings as well as the political commentary is fascinating. Still, the characters are, correctly, the core of the book. Their voices are convincing and their development is wrenching, as Africa shatters and sometimes rebuilds each of their lives in ways true to the individual. As Rachel's denial is preserved and Orleanna's shattered, as Leah finds her own way to flourish and Adah at last learns to deal with reality, I found myself seeing a piece of myself in all of them. Beautifully crafted work.