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Summary: Kingsolver's worst isn't that bad
Review: A fan of Barbar Kingsolver, I was on the waiting list at the library before this book even came out. I didn't find it nearly as enjoyable as her previous novels. As a Kingsolver book, it wasn't that good. As a book, however, I found it superior.Readers may have trouble reading Ada's palandrome-laden narratives, or sympathizing with Rachel, the beauty queen. THat was something I wasn't used to. Generally, all of Kingsolvers characters are slightly flawed, but likeable. This was the first book of hers I read where I genuinely disliked some of the characters. Still, it was good, but not up to my expectations.
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Summary: Kingsolver's Best -- A Contemporary Literary Masterpiece
Review: I have been a fan of Barbara Kingsolver for some time now; but I was wholly unaware of what awaited me when I read this book. Her use of mulitple characters for her narrative was masterful. You feel the same thoughts, same confusion, and the same agony that her characters suffer through in their transformation from somewhat backwoodsy small town folk to uncomfortable citizens of Africa. This book actually changed my reading style -- I'm usually voracious in my appetite for reading. I try to read as many books as I can cram into my free time. But Kingsolver forces you to savor every word, and it's nice to stop and smell the roses for a change...
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Summary: Liked it, but not as much as her other books!
Review: When I saw it in the book store, I decided that I had to buy it, even though it had not come out in paperback (not a grad student anymore). I've loved Ms. Kingsolver's lyrical descriptions, wonderful ways of showing the love of native people of the southwest and how her characters deal with community. I believe all she wrote about the political situation, the family of fundamentalist missionaries, the naivety, etc. A bit predictable from my point of view (mainline denomination pastor). She is indeed a great visionary. But I missed the small moments of love that enchanted me in Pigs in Heaven, Animal Dreams, and The Bean Trees, the ways that folk do redeem their lives with love. I guess I felt this didn't have the same measure. Yes, there is a romance, but this one left me untouched, and I'm not sure why. Do read it, but don't expect the same Kingsolver.
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Summary: An amazingly beautiful and riveting book.
Review: As a fan of Kingsolver, I was a little disappointed at first when the book did not seem to follow her usual pattern. But, I was soon swept up in the story and the characters and the emotions of the book. I rarely cry or laugh when reading. I did both with this book. It is tremendous.
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Summary: PULITZER Material!!!!
Review: Four years ago, after finishing Pigs in Heaven, I wrote Ms. Kinsolver telling her how much I enjoyed reading it and all her other great books and stories. She wrote back apologizing for the "crummy form letter" promising that it was a necessary evil so that she could devote time to writing her next book. Boy, was it ever worth it! I just finished The Poisonwood Bible and I'm thinking "PULITZER"!! It was simply marvelous. It had everything: a riveting plot line, thought provoking social and political commentary, terrific characters, humor, pathos, and even word games! It was quite an education. In particular, Rachel's character was brilliant. Her unintentional humor and malapropisms were needed between chapters of famine and flood. But she was also the representative of all of us who are either blind or apathetic to the havoc that our country wrought in other lands. Bravo, Ms. Kinsolver! I hope you've already started on your next novel!
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Summary: kingsolver does it again.
Review: Poisonwood Bible is such a responsible book in keeping with environmental, political, and human issues. The characters really hold your interest and you are pulled into the story from the first. I always enjoy Kingsolver's work and this may be the best one yet.
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Summary: A moveable feast.
Review: Barbara Kingsolver has deliverd on her most ambitious effort so far. Poisonwood Bible demonstrates Kingsolver's mastery of the narrative in the finest traditions of Louisa May Alcott and Little Women. Her sparse prose reveals her background as both a technical writer and reporter and is reminiscent of Hemingway's style of writing. As good as the Poisonwood Bible is, Kingsolver's best work has yet to be written. This narrative of four sisters and their mother adapting to life in the Beligan Congo of 1959 deserves more attention then will it will no doubt receive from the more traditional literati.
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Summary: poignant
Review: I was thrilled when I found that Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite authors had written a new book. I was not disappointed. Kingsolvers' use of a missionary's need to control and conquer all around him gave the perfect juxtaposition for the struggles of the Congo. The self-rightousness and deep-seated anger of Nathan Price should cause all of us to step back and consider what we do in the name of God.....and how in our zealousness we treat others. The voices of the girls ring in my ears.....and the anguish of their lives in my heart.
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Summary: This book will win one of the great literary awards for 1998
Review: I've always regarded Kingsolver as a good -- not great -- writer. I enjoy her books, but have never placed them on the shelf aside Beloved, Gatsby, Catch-22, The All of It, etc. This book, though, belongs on that shelf. In this, Kingsolver's greatest strength, her ability to draw characters so clear and interesting that the reader feels a sense of loss at the book's end, is at its zenith. The family who goes to Africa on the father's mission to save Africa is comprised of a superficial beauty, an introspective, angry genius, a guilty girl, and insightful child, an Eisenhower-era perfect mom, and a monomaniacal father. Together, they face incredible ignorance (their own), pestilence (straight from the old testament), racism, intolerance, social upheaval and a slow awakening of political understanding. The first 2/3 of the book are fabulous, the "stuff" of National Book Awards, Pulitzers, Nobels...The last 1/3 drags a bit...I think Kingsolver has problems in ending books because she likes her characters so much that she has trouble letting them go. This is fabulous, though. Don't miss it.
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Summary: All the problems of Africa explained in one novel? Not.
Review: Coming right out with it, I'll admit Kingsolver is a favourite of mine, and so I bought this book pre-publication. Her novels are good, her essays are fantastic, and the quality of her work would hold you if she were writing recipes. I am disappointed in Poisowood Bible, however; the characters are one-dimensional, the storyline awfully predictable, and the explanation of Africa's problems as spouted by one of the characters is breathtakingly simplistic. That said, this book kept my husband reading when he picked it off the shelf by mistake (his general taste runs more to Wilbur Smith!); although I don't think it is her best work, I will definitely wait for Kingsolver's next book just as anxiously as this one, as she can weave words and emotions and occurrences together in a fantastic web between two covers, no matter what the subject! Pat Chapin
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