Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating read!
Review: I have always been a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver, but I wasn't thrilled with Prodigal Summer. However, this one blew me away. I can't believe I waited this long to read it! The story is very interesting, but it is the narration that makes this book special. Kingsolver tells the story through five different narrators with five distinctive voices and personalities. Sometimes the narration can transform what would otherwise be a dull scene into a hilarious story. The Poisonwood Bible is the story of the Price family -- a missionary, his wife and four daughters -- as they travel to Africa. Each family member reacts to the lifestyle change in various ways. Self-discovery is the theme in the novel. None of the main characters will be the same when the book is over. Barbara Kingslover does a wonderful job with the narration. It is difficult to write a novel with multiple points of view, but Kingslover makes it seem effortless. This novel enthralled me. I couldn't recommend The Poisonwood Bible enough.
Rating: 
Summary: No way!
Review: The Poisonwood Bible was really well written. I liked how the book was written by each member of the family, as if it were a diary, and how they viewed the situations that were going on. This book deals a lot with family problems, death, religion, and political dilemma. The book portrays, the hardships of the Southern Baptists in The Belgian Congo, and Barbara Kingsolver sets up an image for you. For most parts I liked the book, "but" there are parts in the book that are very hard to read for the fact that it goes by rather slow. There are also good parts to this book, and you read through it very quickly because it is so captivating. I would definitely recommend this book, but watch out because it is rather long, 649 pages long.
Rating:
Summary: A really good book
Review: I know I'm probably the last person in the world to read this book, but until recently it hasn't interested me enough to pick it up. I think my aversion was due to it being an Oprah pick. I read a long with some of the books in the beginning, but they were all so depressingly sad that I had to stop. I dived through most of Poisonwood in one day and I'm pleased to say that I liked it more then I thought I would. The characters are interesting, and I love how Kingsolver tells the story in each family member's distinctively different voice. Seeing the characters through each others eyes made me realize how off our thinking can be about one another. One small act can make you think a parent doesn't like you, when all actuality they could be trying to protect you. Now with this book under my belt I think I can tackle some of the other Oprah picks still sitting on my shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinarily Overrated; Mindnumbing
Review: I read half of "The Poisonwood Bible," which is on the top of many must-read lists and purports to be "literature." I had hopes of gaining real insight into African culture, and to experience a well-written female narrative (like the voices of Atwood and Diamant). For the first time in 35 years of reading, I couldn't finish a book. Barbara Kingsolver's blathering feelings-oriented tome was, well, tedious, neurotic and sleep-inducing. By the middle of the book, I was hoping the Congolese would strangle the four female protagonists -- to put them out of their misery, for being such stupid pitiful "victims." The only victim, alas, was me the reader. The characters were one dimensional, and the tale of shoe-horned Western-Civ gone wrong too often told. Do yourself a favor, and skip this one, unless you're looking for a cure for insomnia.
Rating: 
Summary: What an opportunity
Review: I got the opportunity, as a senior in high school, to read the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and I wish I hadn't taken the opportunity because I completely disliked this book. The book is told through Nathan Price's four daughters eyes and although they all have different personalities and explain their views in different ways it still is a very slow read and hard to understand at times. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get into it. This novel does give great detail and gives a perfect visual of how life was in the Congo in 1959, but this doesn't cover up for the slow read. I don't recommend this book for anyone who just wants to pass the time but I would recommend it to someone who wanted to learn about Africa and its' culture because Barbara Kingsolver describes it perfectly. Overall I give this book two out of the five stars.
Rating: 
Summary: No Patience
Review: I am a type of person who has to get into the book within the first 40 pages. If I don't get hooked, I know that I will not like it. I gave "The Poisonwood Bible" three stars because it does have a good message, but I did not like how long it takes to get the point across. I recommend this book to anyone who has patience, but if you are like me and want to know the meaning of the book from the beginning, make another selection.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down-- well written, funny and amazing!
Review: I wouldn't have bought this one for myself, but it was a gift so I gave it a try. I've lost a lot of sleep reading it, and then layed awake several more hours thinking about the religious metaphors and hidden messages in the book. Kingsolver is a brilliant writer and obviously schooled in African history and the bible (I'm NOT by the way). The framework is in an interesting fashion with each character telling a part of the story (without Nathan), which gives it a biblical feel, except these chapters are all by WOMEN! The girls face their own demons in the story and their faith is tested in every possible way. The title, the characters and the setting were more thought provoking than anything I've read in a while. Its also surprisingly funny. For those who either didn't like it or thought it had no plot, I truly don't understand the complaints. Its a very complex book, so don't read it if you are looking for a casual distraction-- It deserves your full attention. I gave it 4 stars because the historical and political diatribe in the second part of the book (mostly from Leah and Ada) gets really, really old. Otherwise, I'd say the book is about as perfect as it can get.
Rating:
Summary: My Review
Review: The Poisonwood Bible was a fantastic book and I would reccomend it to everyone. The book starts out with a family who don't really know themseleves and don't know what they are capable of until almost the end. The women in this book have a lot of courage throughout the book although if you read it you may find as I did that I didn't like some of the characters. But in the end they all grew up and changed for the better and for the worse. But you don't have to take my word for it.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Plot? Rambling and Rambling to Nowhere
Review: This book was the 4th novel on my reading list this year and I must say, I had chosen some really good works until this one. The story is set in the Congo with a family from Georgia-Baptists missionaries-who are slated to stay in the Congo for one year. The year's events are portrayed/discussed by the daughters and mother of the family. This is the basic gist of the work. The overall difficulty I had with the book is that it rambles on too much. There is one level throughout the whole work (with the exception of the 'ant invasion' of the village), and that level can be rightly described as mundane. Where is the plot? What is the point? Kingsolver never gets around to any type of meaning in the work - other than the women get bitter at their father/husband for dragging them off to the Congo, and their Christian faith gets worse and worse until it essentially becomes their bane. This novel does not go anywhere. The reason I gave the novel three stars was for the historical content. Kingsolver provides some good basic history and political trouble of the Congo in the late 50's and early 60's. Otherwise the reader is left with a bunch of rambling women. There are plenty of other novels out there that have way more depth and substance than this one. I would highly recommend 'Les Miserables,' 'The Count of Monte Cristo,' or 'Moby Dick.'
Rating:
Summary: It is a STORY, and a good one at that
Review: I felt this was a really good story although initially I had problems getting through it because I hated the intolerance of the characters so much. Ms. Kingsolver writes persuasively and engagingly from each character's point of view throughout the story. So, if you are initially having problems sticking with the story, keep going, it gets better! To Ben from Derwood, MD, I'd advise you to remember that this is a work of fiction, that Ms. Kingsolver does not in any way say that all Christian men or all Christian missionaries behaved like Nathan Price. In fact, if you read the book, Price's predecessor did not behave at all like Price (gasp! they must be different people and different people can behave differently!) To say that one work of fiction can categorize and label all members of a religious faith (or any other group) is indeed an insult to the author's intentions and the abilities of readers everywhere to recognize individuals for what they are.
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