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Summary: Very moving, very beautiful.
Review: Kingsolver does the world an important service by putting politics right out there in this novel, but it does not compromise the beauty and power of her story.
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Summary: the voices make the novel
Review: Has anyone noticed that the five women - the mother, the adolescent beauty queen, the intelligent tomboy, the bitter cripple, and the little girl - are parts of a whole - the various "characters" that make up a woman's psyche? Their perceptions, taken together, make up a full picture of their situation; taken separately, they are hopelessly slanted and biased. This is one of the factors that makes this novel so universal in its appeal; whether you're interested in the Congo or not, it has interesting psychological overtones.
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Summary: A Kind of a Minimalist Historical Novel
Review: I received this book as a gift and had never read Kingsolver before. What a wonderfull surprise to discover someone with such a keen sense of voice and an eye for the wonders of Creation. I lost a lot of sleep tearing through this novel. I opted instead for another chapter or two of her dream-like evocation of a Congo reasserting itself in the face of the Western world. You will never forget the characters created here. Nor will you see Africa the same way again.
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Summary: Kingsolver's masterpiece
Review: A plot summary doesn't do this FANTASTIC novel justice. If you want synopsis, read the critics, if you want an honest, just-finished-it-minutes-ago opinion, I say WOW. Of all Kingsolver's work, this is, by far, her finest work. She combines riveting plot with unique literary style and lush settings. This is a book that will stay with you for days, weeks, to come. Astounding!
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Summary: Kingsolver at her best
Review: Being a long time fan of Barbara Kingsolver, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of "The Poisonwood Bible". Advance publicity made me aware it was not set in the southwestern United States like her other novels and I wondered if her wonderful style and use of language would translate as well in a new setting.My concerns were unfounded. Kingsolver writes about what she knows, and as she tells us in the author's notes, she spent time in the Congo as a child with her health care worker parents. "The Poisonwood Bible" is Kingsolver at her best. Her use of the five female characters as the alternating voices of the novel works beautifully. The reader experiences the events of the story through many different perspectives, the sum of which is a insightful look at life in a country that is effected by a harsh climate and extreme poverty complicated by interference from foreign governments. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story accompanied by information that is thought provoking. It will make you appreciate the advantages we take for granted in the United States.
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Summary: An absolute Must-Read
Review: When I first read about what Kingsolver's new book was about, I wasn't thrilled with the subject matter. But I have read all her other books so I thought, why not? I couldn't have been more surprised. I loved this book, couldn't put it down and will recommend it to everyone I know! I loved the different characters telling of the story and I learned a lot about the Congo (I knew nothing before). This is a wonderful book that I haven't stopped thinking about -- it's a book that you're sad to have end, a rarity these days.
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Summary: "The purpose of art is to inform" : this book qualifies
Review: Kingsolver's literary expedition to the Congo of 1960 is spell-binding, dramatic, frightening, and hilarious. The best of any work by Kingsolver that I have read, and I like ALL her work. Angrier and more strident than some of Kingsolver's previous works, The Poisonwood Bible reaches deep into many issues, including colonialism, political idealism, religious fanaticism, and the enduring bond between humans regardless of cultural origin. Flaws? Occasionally, one of the Poisonwood characters, beautifully wrought, will let loose with a non sequitur political polemic. If you've read Ayn Rand, you'll have had this experience in spades. Kingsolver's characters, when they do break loose to mouth Kingsolver's own views, do it much more articulately, and (mercifully) MUCH more briefly. A wonderful read, don't deny yourself the pleasure of it!
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Summary: An absorbing and stimulating novel
Review: This novel is quite a departure from Kingsolver's previous work, and the subject matter more difficult, but after the first chapter, it was thoroughly engaging.
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Summary: poisonwood bible is pulitzer material
Review: This is by far Kingsolver's best work. The character are multi-layered as is the novel. The imagery of the plants and animals is much more vivid than in the previous novels. I would agree that the latter portion of the book is too overtly political and if this is ever brought to the screen (which I believe it WILL be) I wouldn't be surprised to see the movie end when the mother and daughters leave the village.
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Summary: Interesting and imaginative--but not the whole story
Review: Barbara Kingsolver provides an interesting perspective on missionary communities, as imagined through the eyes of a secular, progressive and politically correct American writing at the end of the twentieth century. Her technique of using the "voice" of the various children (as well as the mother) of a particular missionary family is especially compelling. That said, some sections are either exaggerated or "tone deaf" when it comes to capturing what it is really like to be raised in such a community. At least two other recently published books, also available through amazon, provide insightful, first hand perspectives on such an upbringing: "Swimming in the Congo" by Margaret Meyer (Milkwood, 1996), who was herself raised in a fundamentalist missionary household in Congo; and "Some Far And Distant Place" by Jonathan Addleton (University of Georgia Press, 1997), whose father, like the protoganist of "The Poisonwood Bible," was a Baptist missionary from rural Georgia. Both these books provide interested readers with an "insider's perspective" on missionary communities that is understandably missing in Barbara Kingsolver new work.
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