Rating: 
Summary: The Poisonwood Bible
Review: Well, at first I thought there is no way I am getting through this 500 page plus book that seemed incredibly boring. However, about a third through I got really into it. It is wonderful. My only problem was that I thought it was a little far fetched. I mean how much torture could one person take before running home to the US. However, it gave me a better understanding of the politics of Africa and the plight of its people. Very rewarding. I would highly recommend it for people who don't need that draw early on and are willing to give it some time.
Rating: 
Summary: Did not feed my need for a good read!!
Review: I must admit that when this book was choosen for my book club, I was more interested in the debate the book would cause, living in a conservative babtist driven area of the world, than actually reading the book. Forcing myself to keep going, I began to realize that it really didn't have anything to do with religion. To me, this book was a channel for the author's political opinion and memory scrapbook of the scenes of Africa, intermixed with four daughter's challenge to survive their parents. The four daughters are a riot- the best parts of the book focused on their individual growth and survival, being born in America and raised in the Congo. The weakness of the book was all the in depth information on Africa or the political upheavel. At times, I would re-read the page or chapter, thinking I had missed something. This is definetly a book that caputures Africa during a significant time in History, but I wouldn't recommend it- I can bet that everyone who reads it will go away with a different meaning.
Rating: 
Summary: Poisonwood Bible
Review: I have a funny rule about reading books set in a country other than the United States, I tend to have trouble relating and identifying with the subjects. In this case, I was so touched and in tune with the characters it was amazing. I was wholeheartedly sad to see the book end and by the end, was so wrapped up in the tale that I felt as if I was part of the family. It was truly an amazing book that I have recommended time and time again.
Rating:
Summary: Gets worse as you go along
Review: Great start and wonderful character development, but the book becomes tedious about midway through. In the intial stages I loved the parts about how the family was learning and adjusting to life in the Congo. Halfway through after the incident with the youngest child, the book seems to devolve into a laborious mass. The injection of overt political rants really shifts the focus away from the characters and onto the author who is obviously trying to make some statement (although one is never quite sure what her point is). In the end it becomes a chore just to get to the end. Even then, there really is no resolution in the final chapters, the book just comes to a stopping point.
Rating: 
Summary: the middle is meaty
Review: Kigsolver is very eloquent in her endeavor to capture the audience with beautiful prose. She tempts you to continue reading. The first 150 pages of this novel were somewhat boring. The last 150 pages of this novel were also somewhat boring. If you can get passed the opening then you can really sink your teeth the real plot, which is getting this group of women through their demented fathers attempt to make everyone else suffer for some slight he feels he committed almost 20 years beforehand. I enjoyed the book overall, but next time I'll read the condensed version!
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal !!
Review: Barbara Kingsolver has reached the zenith in her mastery or words and storytelling in this riveting book. I am not a big reader, but 500+ pages never moved so fast.Wordsmithing skills aside, I am surprised that some reviewers are turned off by the politics of this book, but then I am not surprised, because so few people in this country are able to acknowledge, let alone willing to attempt to change, the horrible, bloody record of the U.S. (and "civilized" Western powers, generally) in their relations with the rest of the world. (For those with a few remaining doubts, try the two part essay on Henry Kissinger in the February and March issues of Harper's magazine, to learn how one of our revered "elder statesman" is actually a war criminal who, through his deliberate actions, visited untold death and suffering on Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, East Timor....) Those who denigrate the book by saying that Kingsolver "wears her politics on her sleeve" are those who read fiction only to escape reality, as opposed to help understand it. Not only did I find the story fascinating, but Kingsolver's ability to move back and forth between personal politics and intra/international politics was dazzling, offering new insights galore. In particular, her connection of patriarchy as experienced by the women in the family to the U.S./Western militarism that is experienced by equally abused countries the world over should get Kingsolver a Pulitzer, if not a Nobel Peace Prize. One hell of a book, among the best I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Kingsolver's journey into Africa
Review: My first Kingsolver novel. Reading this book is much like the journey taken by the price family: Long, interesting, laborious, and ultimately rewarding. Kingsolver developes her characters incredibly well. We are annoyed by some, intrigued by others, and are moved deeply by their stories. Her characters never stray from their personality, and sadly, also fail to grow much (with the exception of the daughter with a disability--). But you feel as if you know incredibly well by the end of the book. Her prose and pace are even and her word pictures draw you in and you can see through her eyes, feel the jungle above you, hear the hum of the mosquitos, smell the dank air of the village. There are important lessons to learn in this book--one of open-mindedness, humility, and true Christianity; however in the end those conclusions are skimmed over and the focus settles on a political theme. Still the writing is excellent, the journey through the book a worthwile one.
Rating:
Summary: Don't pass this one up!
Review: A fantastic book. You won't be dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Missed the mark for me.
Review: In The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver demonstrates her ability create a setting and a feeling; in short, she has a true mastery of words. But The Poisonwood Bible just never pulled me in, and looking at other reviews, I can see that I'm in the minority on that note. Maybe I missed something. The story is about a family of missionaries (the parents and their four daughters) who travel to the Congo without a clue about the culture they've gone to live in for a year, and the expectation that it won't differ much from their home in the US. While there, the jungle and the culture and the politics of the Congo change the family, rather than the family causing the change they'd come to create. The way the story is developed is interesting, written much like a bible. Every event is told from the viewpoint of each of the five female characters, interesting, but for that reason, I found the book slow moving and slow to get to the point. It took until about halfway through the book for me to feel any pull to continue to the end, and when I got to the end, it was anticlimactic.
Rating:
Summary: Ambitious
Review: Kingsolver leads you into a richly textured collision of 1950's America and the Congo...a dynamic journey until halfway through when the device subtley, but decisively shifts from showing to telling. And what it tells is cynicism, rage, bitterness, sadness. I kept hoping for a glimmer of forgiveness but there was none to speak of. Nathan may have died but his same brand of single-minded blindness lived on in all of his daughters. Some of them just disguised it better.
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