Rating: 
Summary: Worth the Effort
Review: I found this book hard going initially. The characterization of the children is a little thin, and I needed to constantly refer back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself just whose point of view was being expounded. It also seemed to take forever for "something to happen" - and it could have done so half way instead of two thirds the way through. But eventually something certainly happens and from that moment on the excitement is gripping. When the daughters mature into adulthood, their different characters develop to the full, and we can all relate to one if not parts of all of them in the manner in which they handle the complexities of their lives. Thereafter the book becomes brilliant, intensly thought provoking and disturbing. I don't recommend many books - but this one I have recommended to many people. It is of particular interest to anyone who has experienced, in one form or another, an over zealous Christian upbringing.
Rating: 
Summary: A complex tapestry . . .
Review: The Poisonwood Bible is the type of book that may seem daunting at first glance. The subject itself may be intimidating--a family of missionaries journeys to the Belgian Congo in the midst of famine, political turmoil and war. But despite the complexity of the subjects, this book is a delightful and engaging read. Another author may have bogged the reader down, but Kingsolver makes learning about the many issues in this book a wonderful, effortless experience. This book educates the reader about an abundance of issues, especially the political climate in Africa during the 1960's. I learned many, many things from this novel, and I grew to love the characters. I did not want this book to end--that is my highest recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: Haunting Yet Beautiful
Review: The Price family are a missionary family that are in the Congo to spread the Word. Kingsolver does a beautiful job describing each of the 4 daughters reactions to their situation. I really enjoyed Rachel because she was so real to me. The other 3 girls point of view are also interesting. Finding themselves in a foreign land, with all the wrong things they have toted from home. There is so much pain here, from both the land and the father of the Price family, and of course the people of the land. After reading this book I feel as though I have been to the Congo and lived it right alongside this family. Such injustice for these people is unthinkable. You will also find a lesson in history. A wonderfully written book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Great Story
Review: It is not necessary to go on and on and debate the merits of how this story is told and what meaning is emphasized at the expense of other meanings. It is enough that this is a really good book and a really good story. It is worth reading from so many angles and dimensions. It is captivating. It is tough to put down. History learned and viewpoints expressed are bonuses.
Rating: 
Summary: Guilty without trial
Review: The growing legion of feminist writers are taking us along some disturbing paths. Earlier demands for 'equality' have been replaced by the 'FemiNazis' approach of judging and condemning men who are denied a defensive voice. Historically, male writers may have overlooked or patronized women, but rarely presented them as arch-villains. Kingsolver assembles four daughters and a wife as Star Chamber prosecutors sitting in judgment of man selling Jesus in the Congolese jungle. Dragged from Eisenhower's America to an African village, the wife and girls heap scorn on Nathan Price for his failure to comprehend the new setting while they deftly learn to cope. Closing the last page brought disappointment at not learning the motivation for Price's bizarre behaviour. What torments drove him to such a narrow outlook and single-mindedness? The sliver of evidence about Bataan was grossly inadequate. It's tempting to contend Kingsolver can't grasp a male viewpoint.Fortunately, this book has too many redeeming features to condemn it for feminist bias alone. Kingsolver's descriptive powers are a seductive force. They lead the reader from the narrow personal issues expressed Orleanna and her daughters to the weltanschauung of America's imperialism. From the abrupt culture clash opening the story, Kingsolver goes on to grant Orleanna and her four daughters an increasing sense of African realities. Their growing awareness raises the stress between Nathan and his brood. He cannot perceive what they learn - Nathan's dogmatism has no place on this stage. They find ways to circumvent his rigidity, even his favourite draws away from him over a question of survival. Finally, the loss of one of them triggers the diaspora of the rest. Nathan is abandoned to continue his failed mission. The real missionary here isn't Nathan Price, however. It's Barbara Kingsolver. Using the Price family to portray the spectrum of American views of other cultures, she strives to educate Americans about the follies of their own self-righteousness. Aware that the phrase 'globalization' is but flimsy camouflage for "Americanization", Kingsolver fathoms the resentment of the Kilangan villagers toward Nathan as a small symptom. It is an example of the growing enmity of the remainder of the world to Americans imposing on other cultures. Kingsolver uses the later lives of the daughters as an observation platform to make today's generation of Americans aware of the legacy of missionarying geopolitics. Nathan comes to a fiery end. Will Americans come to understand why their ships and embassies are bombed? These are but sparks heralding a greater conflagration to come. Given the overwhelming power America exercises, there will be no trial weighing its transgressions. But there will be judgments. Self-righteousness clouds vision and judgment; Kingsolver's effort, beautifully crafted as it is, may be lost on those who most need to perceive it. If the general tone of the reviews here is representative, her powers of description may have overwhelmed the message. Pity, it's a message that needs to be heard clearly. Recent political events suggest too few are listening.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing, brutal, honest
Review: I grew up ten miles from Zaire, in a mining town in Zambia. I was there when this part of history was unfolding and heard all the dinner table talk. Kingsolver has done a brilliant job of capturing part of the complicated story of Africa, with all its beauty and its pain. The main lesson I learnt about anyone's reaction to Africa, and this book, is that it all depends on who they are and what is of interest to them. Barbara Kingsolver has used each of the characters to represent the typical views of Africa. There is the materialistic foreigner who is always above the locals, relates every experience to their American experience and wants to get what they can, rather than believing that they should also give something. There is the person interested in the ecology and medicinal value of plants. this is the colder, academic view of studying the physicality of Africa without getting emotionally involved. There is the person who wants to trully understand, respect and BE part of Africa and the people, and so on. Each of these characters use their particular lense to examine the same situations with very humerous results. It does make a farce of one missionary's efforts and even religious beliefs, but that was using just one character. In actual fact, this does reflect the many people in all professions who came to Africa and were just as optomistic, inflexible and downright blind - read Africa House about Gore-Brown which is truth, not fiction. Barbara Kingsolver's missionary was trying to do a noble deed, he just went about it the wrong way. A succesful missionary described in the book had embraced local ways more. Kingsolver was just showing this all too common pattern of behaviour in many outside people who came to Africa to 'show how to do it' - whatever that 'it' was. These people, great and small, rarely made much change in Africa and the old ways continue, rightly or wrongly. I read the book as I was leaving Africa to move to Canada and laughed out loud on the plane as I flew over the ocean. I found myself nodding my head and chuckling during the first half of the story, as the one culture (American, first world) moves to another culture (Africa, third world) and judges that culture through their own biases. It was then very amusing when that third world view goes to the First World and has their turn of criticizing the 'superior' country. They hate the lack of smell in the sterilized supermarket, the huge homes, the lack of community and caring, etc. I certainly hear similar comments from new third world immigrants here in Canada about how cold and selfish the First World folk are. I think Kingsolver has written about very real reactions on both sides - Third World and First World. These are all superficial 'takes' though. We all know (if you have been educated in the First World, you SHOULD know) that having the advantages of the city with its infrastructure and technology means losing other parts of a slower, simpler life. Books such as Simple Abundance are all about struggling to get back to that simpler way. I think Kingsolver was not judging but rather being a social anthropologist observing and holding up a mirror to the First World and five of the most typical reactions to Africa. She uses each character to parody each First World view in a fresh and very compelling way. She offers fast moving, blurry images. At the very least, they were entertaining and for me, offered much comfort as I left my beautiful homeland forever.
Rating: 
Summary: lots of promise, but no delivery
Review: I picked up The Poisonwood Bible hoping that it would be a good old-fashioned historical epic. While it started out rich and interesting, the five-person narration soon grew wearying. The characters are not fully developed at all, and except for their annoying tics, seem to blend into one another. We never figure out what motivates them, why they move in such different paths. When the novel begins to stretch out over the span of decades, it stretches thin. With all the political commentary, it becomes a mere "and then this happened." While I believe that there is room for political commentary in novels, I don't believe it should be there at the expense of a sound structure, coherent storyline, likable and realistic characters. I learned only a little about Africa because it was framed in such long, factual paragraphs which read like news broadcasts. I wanted more from this novel. I wanted to understand how this family found a way to integrate their African experiences into their personalities even after their horrible ordeals. Instead, I was mostly glad that they managed to escape. In this book, Africa reverted back the stereotypical "dark continent" or Conrad's novels...
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I've Ever Read
Review: There are books, and some of them are good books, some of them are not. Then you have literature, and only a few books can fall into this category; Snow Falling on Cedars, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and now, The Poisonwood Bible. I have never read a book that consisted of such beautiful writing. Does anyone write a better sentence than Barbara Kingsolver? Those of you that find this book too wordy don't realize the complexive beauty of her writing style. This novel can be rated with the best works of the 20th century, and maybe surpass some of them. Kingsolver tells the story from the viewpoints of five individuals, a mother and her four daughters and details their experiences on their father's mission to Africa. But of course things do not go as planned and as stated very early one of the daughters falls to death and the chain of events sets of the discourse and downfall of the family. Redemption, a main theme, is discussed in this book with each character searching for it, even the reluctant Adah. Reading this book is reading a masterpiece, and don't kid yourself that it's "too wordy" or "too descriptive", because if you feel this way than you cannot appreciate the beauty of writing.
Rating:
Summary: A Family Saga
Review: This novel is a family saga that does not rise above its Africa-in-despair theme. The Price family comes to the Congo to evangelize the indigenous people, but as it turns out the Price family needs to be evangelized themselves. For all the references the family makes to the Bible, they really don't know God or even some of the true meanings of the words in the Bible. This is a sad story that does not pick up the pace to go somewhere plotwise until midway through the book. The best attribute of the book is that it delves into five different mindsets which is probably just one mindset split in five pieces.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book On Tape
Review: I am a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver, and once I "got into" this book I could not stop listening. I have the book, and began to read it, however, once I saw that they had this book on tape at my local library I checked it out. The book was slow to bein with and took time to engulf my thoughts. However, once I would put it down, I felt the need to read more. Therefore, listing to the tape, was a way to sit back relax and ENJOY. I would highly recommend the book, but for the reader who's eyes need a break, try listening to the novel. It will capture your heart and attention. Molly R. RAVESHOTS>COM
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