Rating: 
Summary: An inaccurate view of Congo / Zaire
Review: Reading other reviewers celebrating all they "learned" about Africa from this work of fiction is distressing. I lived in the region for 8 years and find this book inaccurate in many ways. Perhaps Ms. Kingsolver shares the attitude that Farley Mowat expressed when he said that he "never lets facts get in the way of the truth". Kingsolver's relativist "truth" is politically leftist and anti-religious, and she is apparently, like Mowat, not prepared to let facts get in her way.
Just to name a few points:
-The rebels that are portrayed kindly in this story, presumably because they were anti-western and anti-capitalist, were in truth bloodthirsty terrorists of the worst kind. They killed the father of a friend of mine, a doctor in Stanleyville (Kisangani) for no reason, in cold blood. They murdered thousands of their own countrymen as well.
-The migrations of the army ants are not at like they are described in this book.
-To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, "I knew missionaries in Congo. Missionaries in Congo were friends of mine. Ms. Kingsolver, your characters are NOT missionaries in Congo." The main anti-hero in this story may or may not be plausible as a fictional character, but I am certain that no real character even remotely like him ever made it to Congo. What is the sense of talking about "learning" anything true about Africa from a fantasy?
Rating: 
Summary: Poisonwood Bible
Review: This is the first book I read from Barbara Kingsolver. I enjoyed it immensely. I became absorbed in the plot and couldn't wait to learn what would happen next. I laughed and cried (It's not often a book brings tears to my eyes). Each character had their own individual, interesting personalities in a poignant adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Over-Rated
Review: While she tells a mildly interesting yarn about a missionary's family, Kingsolver approaches the complexities that are Africa in an insultingly patronizing way. She draws on the "noble save" theory of Rousseau and romantically glosses over what corrupt and vicious Marxist governments have done to the people of this beseiged continent in the last few decades.Pure pap.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy the book, borrow it from the library
Review: I enjoyed Kingsolver's novel. The story was well written and captivating. However, it was impossible to ignore that Kingsolver is very much an anti-capitalist. She deplores the capitalist system in the US. Therefore, it would be highly insulting to this talented writer for her readers to PURCHASE her books and therefore increase her royalties. Rather than purchase the book new, buy a USED copy or check it out from your local library. That way, you can enjoy the story, without the author becoming soiled by monies from the dirty, capitalist system which she does so despise. Additionally, you should be aware that this author is the same woman who in the 15-October edition of the LA Times was extremely critical of the US/UK efforts in Afghanistan.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many voices
Review: By telling the story of a missionary family in the Congo at the time of Mobuto's rise to power, Kingsolver makes a valiant effort to inform and interest the reader in an event that Americans have little understanding. But in her use of different narrators (The four daughters of the missionary and his wife)Kingsolver fails to convince the reader that her narrators are speaking in their own "voices." From a far too precocious 5 year old,the tomboy and her crippled genius twin, whose knack for palindromes and clever word play only distracted from the narrative, to the eldest child who seems to get less intelligent as time goes on, each character becomes less believable as the book continues on (and on and on...)A great book may have been written about this time of upheaval, this is just a missed opportunity.
Rating:
Summary: Surprised me !
Review: I found the "voices" of the mother and daughters of interest, and particularly enjoyed the unfolding stories and self-discovery of the mother and her three surviving daughters. Orleanna Price right to the end was bent on ways of seeking forgiveness, presumably for the death of her youngest, Ruth May, and most interestingly linked 'loss' with 'salvation'; Rachel was always pre-occupied with her own personal survival and of course profit or gain; Leah with becoming 'one with Africa' primarily as a means of accommodating her childhood experience; and Adah coming in her maturity to realise that a 'partnership with Africa' was to be preferred rather than follow her father's attempt to cure, conquer and change the world he found himself in. It was possible also to think of each of the characterisations of the mother and three daughters as possible metaphors for international attitudes to Africa during both the colonial and post-colonial periods. A thoughtful epic which might in my view have been condensed into a shorter read.
Rating:
Summary: Cutesy and Grating -- A Failure By Kingsolver's Own Standard
Review: Kingsolver herself has written, in the introduction to the 2001 volume of Best American Short Stories (which she guest-edited), that she abandons any book or story which gets wrong basic facts and settings. Under her own analysis, Poisonwood Bible is a waste of time. Kingsolver has absolutely no ear for the dialogue of either teenagers or little children. The chapters written in the voices of the oldest and youngest daughter are painful to read -- full of forced malapropisms and an excruciatingly exaggerated take on Zappa-esque Valley Doll-speak. These glaringly contrived and unrealistic voices are so intrusive, and so grating, that they forced me to abandon the novel halfway through, which I rarely do. Too bad, because otherwise the book was relatively enjoyable. As for the reviews that rave about it being the best American novel of this century or whatever, all I can say is this: if you read those reviews, how many of them display basic competence with grammar and English vocabulary?
Rating: 
Summary: Like five books in one
Review: This is one of the better novels I have read as of late. The story begins when Nathan Price, a missionary, drags his wife and four daughters to the Belgian Congo in order to "save" the natives from eternal damnation by baptizing them in the river. The problem is, they do not want to be saved and even fear the river due to the crocodile situation. Meanwhile, the story is narrated by five different characters, the wife and each of her four daughters. The amazing thing about the book is that it works at all. You would think it would be tough to follow and confusing since it involves five different points of view, but Ms. Kingsolver pulls it off beautifully. The story flows almost effortlessly from one character to another without a break in the telling of the plot. She always seems to choose the right words to make the story work. I also must praise the research done on this novel in order to get the historical facts about the history of the Congo so right on the money. This is like a history lesson on the Congo except it is not revisionist history. It tells the truth and it is not always so flattering to the US. This novel took a lot of courage to write and publish, thanks to the First Amendment.
Rating: 
Summary: a slow go
Review: this book is very well written, and original in the use of several perspectives to tell the story. also, it is interesting as a historical novel. personally, i need more narrative drive to me hooked.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough to keep my interest...
Review: I am usually really into Barbara Kingsolver's fiction. But for the sheer reason of boredom, I couldn't get past the 4th chapter. She tells the same details over and over again with a different character's voice. I tried REALLY hard, but this didn't do it for me. This is a book for devoted Kingsolver fans who want to read it just for that or for the hype that it got from Oprah. Depressing subject matter, drawn out story, and a whole lot of foreshadowing without much action.
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