Rating: 
Summary: Relatable to my life
Review: Much of this book made me think deeply about my own life. Being the child of a missionary family whose father dragged her mother and siblings to the 'mission field', with his religious zeal, I felt many times I was in the place of the daughter narrating the story at the moment. From trying to bring Jesus and Christianity into the life of the 'heathen' without giving a second thought to the ways and traditions the people already lived by, the arrogant assumption that Christianity was far superior to what they had and we are there to save them, to the slow realization that perhaps your previous beliefs simply are not the right ones for this place and peoples, and the slow transformation to an abandonment of your childhood religion and belief system to adopting that of those around you who seem to live their lives without the hypocrisy you see in your parents or other religious leaders.
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Summary: Read it. Reread It. And then read it again.
Review: I enjoyed this epic so much; I read it twice and very well may read it again. I must admit that the first time I picked up Poisonwood Bible I was interrupted a few times and couldn't keep straight all the voices. (Kingsolver tells the tale of a missionary family's experience in the in the mid-20th century Congo in five voices: a mother, and her four daughters.) But once these colorfully drawn characters embedded themselves into my mind, it was to hell with the interruptions! Each character is unique and propels the story forward--the history of the village and the country's fight for independence unfolds. I couldn't put it down. Kingsolver is a master at her craft and this effort ranks in my favorite top-ten books of all time. I can't think of a higher recommendation than that.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I personally had never read one of Ms. Kingsolver's books until this one. I chose to read this one because it came highly recommended to me. If you know nothing of the book it is about a missionary family sent to the Congo to help bring a small village back to God. The Price family is led by the dominating minister followed by his subservient wife and their four daughters. The book tells of thier trials and tribulations over the course of thier lives in the Congo, all while the Congo fights for it's independence from Belgium. I personally found this book to be a big disappointment. Not only was it one of the most boring works I had ever read, but when an author tries to force their political views on me, I tend to reject them. I feel that the book might have been a bit better had her political views not been stated in every other chapter. I also found it very confusing when each chapter was narrated by a different member of the Price family. If an author wants each chapter narrated by a different person, the reader should be able to differentiate the characters from one another. I personally would not recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: preachin ain't just for the preacher
Review: While I found the story and characters compelling I grew very tired of the preaching...from Leah. I agree that Kinsglover was giving the reader her very one sided perspective of the many woes of the Congo..interesting but not why I chose to read the book. The best of the book comes from the various stories from Adah I believe. And, I really wanted to hear from Mrs. Price again. I would have been interested to know how she felt about her departure, her children, her tragedy, and the splintering of her girls. It occured to me that the struggle Rachel and Leah live with and through in their own ways, is the struggle to understand.
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Summary: A powerful and moving look at our sins in Africa
Review: Barbara Kingsolver gives us a powerful picture of what the white man has done to Africa over the course of 500 years. She pinpoints the first 3/5 of her novel in the last few months of the Belgian Congo, circa 1960. She puts a misplaced and misguided missionary family in the deepest Congo and through them brings to life Africa's sad relationship with the West.The remainder of the novel brings Africa and Kingsolver's surviving white characters up to recent times. Africa has gotten into the heart of each of them as it surely got to the author. Her concluding chapters reflect her love for the Continent, her understanding of it, and a small but brave hope for Africa's future. The reader is richer for what Ms. Kingsolver has learned. What might have been a perfect read is despoiled just a little by the author's angry politics. There's a feminist dislike of all things white and male throughout the book, and her conservative characters are simple-minded and selfish while her folks leaning left are predictably intelligent, thoughtful, and kind. And while she frequently rips Dwight Eisenhower, she never mentions the Kennedy administration by name. Kennedy's record in Africa and the Congo was at least as terrible, probably more so. That said, this book remains an enlightening and entertaining read. Its 543 pages go by much too quickly.
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Summary: An instinct for storytelling.
Review: It is the rare contemporary writer who knows how to tell a truly good story. There are a few who come to mind. Barbara Kingsolver is right up there, and The Poisonwood Bible is a good reason why. Two writers who match Kingsolver with their instinct for telling a story are Joan Leslie Woodruff and Louise Erdrich.
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Summary: A Very Well Written Book
Review: This book is very well written and the author's wording is wonderful. Her ability to describe is incredible. It makes you feel as if you have not just read a description of what she is writing about but instead that you are in it and feeling the very essence of it. By telling the story through the eyes of the various members of the Price family she really illustrates her story well. The story line itself is very solid and will linger with you even after the story is ended. Though it is very well written and the story behind it is very well written, it took me a long time to get into it. I do not know why this is but after talking to others who had read the book they agreed that though it may take awhile to truly get into the book it is one that is worth it because gradually it seems to draw you in keep you there even after you have finished.
Rating:
Summary: A phenomenal work...
Review: As in many of her works, Ms. Kingsolver displays a descriptive gift that seems to blend scientific examination and poetic exploration of her subject; in this case, this includes the family, the village, the Congo, and the continent. The different members of the family seem to pretty well represent a cross-section of westerners reactions to living in Africa, with each member being well-developed (or as developed as possible), and, even as a westerner who lived in Africa for over a year, I learned quite a bit about African history. Ms. Kingsolver does not make any real mystery of her ideologic leanings, but the book is not meant to be a documentary; none of her books hide her views on politics, life, and people. Even in the rare instance in which I don't agree with her, her views are certainly thought-provoking, and her writing is always fantastic.
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Summary: A wonderfully melancholy strange book...
Review: It took me a little longer than usual to finish this book because of two reasons: it's length, and its pace. Being an English major, naturally I love reading all kinds of books, but my main diet (for outside class reading) consists of Stephen King novels. Where it normally takes me about three days to finish a King novel, this one took me about two weeks, but don't get me wrong; it wasn't boring or sluggish. In fact, it was so rich and chock full of information that I had to read it bit by bit in order to digest it properly. Don't you just hate to rush reading your books? Well, this one is captivating enough that it would hold your attention till the end, but also not too nerve-wrecking that you just HAVE to read it through the night... and end up looking like a chinese panda the next day. So what else can I say? Grab a hot cup of tea, curl up on the sofa, and get ready to be thrown into the world of the endearingly crazy Price family while they battle the forces of the untamed Congo!!
Rating: 
Summary: Completely Overrated
Review: I don't normally write Amazon.com reviews, but I was shocked by the praise heaped upon this book and had to comment. I found it an utter disappointment. I have read much of the acclaimed literature to come out in the last few years - The Corrections, Empire Falls, The Human Stain - and these books leave Poisonwood Bible in the dust. I am part of a book club that is a diverse group of people and NONE of them found this a satisfying read.
I should say, first, that I was initially quite fascinated by the book. I think Barbara Kingsoliver has a beautiful writing style and the premise was interesting and had much potential. The first half of the book I enjoyed. Ms. Kingsoliver should have stopped while she was ahead. I found the rest of the book self-righteous, unrealistic (not in a suspension of disbelief kind of way - I have no problem with imagination - but in a way that I found the characters acted in ways that were contrary to their character) and boring. I had to force myself to finish it. ...
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