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Summary: The Poisonwood Bible
Review: The book was highly recommended by a friend. Unfortunately after several attempts to read the book I gave up. At no time was I able to develop an interest in the story or the characters. Ophrah and my friend enjoyed it. As for me -- as far as this book is concerned I chose poorly.
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Summary: Politically Correct Kingsolver
Review: If you want to be preached to by our culture read "poisonwood". Kingsolver does us a disservice by feeding us the usual politically correct bull. She unashamedly promotes her agenda that is in lock step with the general culture of our land. Anti-Christian and anti-life. I knew it was coming but I had to wait till about page 500 before she outright promoted contraception as a possible end to African troubles. She, of course, didn't make me wade into the book any length before she showed her hostility to Christianity. Her intellectual smugness was too much for me to take throughout the book but I perservered not liking a book to defeat me. I closed it five pages before the end in protest.
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Summary: vEry good book!
Review: This book is very good and very complex.
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Summary: Moderately interesting first half but way too long
Review: Even the moderately interesting first half was way too long and repetitive; the author essentially told you in the first chapter what was going to happen, so it was just a question of how it was going to get there. It got there slowly.I was going to say it had the longest denouement I have ever read, but online reviewer "Ellen" expressed it better: "page upon page of endless bla bla bla-ing"
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Summary: Dried wood
Review: i began this novel capitavited by the themes. africa, missionaires, the congo in the time of independence, religiosity, politics, culture immersion and dissonance. i was unfamilier with barbara kingsolver's work, but the general happy hailing the novel was receiving in the press, and the richness of the subject, pushed me to purchase. i have to say i'm disappointed. i don't know where to begin. to have such a great story, one harbored for years inside her, as kingsolver has said, and fed with her own experiences as a child of African medical and public health workers, and to result in such a wash of pop style and excess, is a regret. just some thoughts. her editor should be fired. since this book sold well, i doubt they will be. a good author was betrayed by the editor and herself. the writing much of the time is popular(as in, go with the first word you think of while writing), at best. occasionally, it is flagrantly bad and irritating. most of the characters, in fact, are seriously underdeveloped. a hard achievement in 543 pages! kingsolver spends to much prose describing the mix of cultures, often repetitively, and with only surface insight or circumstance, or the easiest angle view to achieve. astonishingly, the few actual events of the novel that occur (as in plot) are left minimally tended. particularly, one deeply saddening loss. the political exploration is the simplest of presentations, even on the character level. i could go on. indulgent to poor writing, excessive description, pop psychology, a casual, anti-intellectual writer, few actual situations and events driving the narrative(i felt like i was reading a screenplay in paragraph form), and an endless redundant, descriptive style. i would suggest not reading this. save your time. i would recommend 'the catastrophist' by ronan bennett, which i read right before 'poisonwood bible' a recent novel of the congo at the time of independence. sharper, literary writing, a good story and a good presentation of complicated politics manifested in personal lives, both black and white, african and european. sorry, ms. kingsolver. this reader knows writing novels is hard work. (that's why i'm willing to pay so much money for them). you're a success. with talent like yours, don't squander it. don't let another great idea for a novel get so compromised. find a new editor(a tough one) and if it takes an hour to write a good paragraph, stick to the same one for a whole day! then maybe we'll be reading kingsolver in fifty years. if that's not what you want, maybe you can option the screenplay, but get a percentage of the profits. it made bruce willis a multi-millionaire!
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Summary: Powerful
Review: Upon reading the opening sentences of The Poisonwood Bible, I immediately felt surrounded by jungle. I could sense its conflicting nature - lush, bountiful magnificence coexisting with harsh, strangling decay. But The Poisonwood Bible is by no means merely a travelogue. It is so much more than just the journey of the Price family (Nathan, Orleanna, and daughters Rachel, Leah, Adah and Ruth May) to the Congo. It follows the family's journey into disintegration, and the paths each member chose individually to take from that point forward. Ms. Kingsolver's prose is graceful and ripe with imagery and symbolism. Every sentence is a joy to read, with not one unnecessarily chosen word and she brilliantly creates a unique voice for each narrator. There are scenes that stay with the reader long after they've been read. A couple of times, I actually had to put the book aside for a few days, somewhat overcome by my feelings, until I felt ready to come back to it. I disagree with reviewers who felt that the book carried on too long after the Price family's departure from Kilanga. I found it fascinating to learn what each woman took with her from the Congo, and how the experience shaped their entire lives. This is a glorious piece of work. Do not miss it.
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Summary: a masterpiece of contemporary fiction
Review: By far the best novel of the year, Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible is not only her best work yet, but it is also the best book I've read in years (and I read a lot!). The story starts off a bit slowly, but soon you will find yourself attached to the characters and emotionally involved in the text. I seriously could not put it down. Don't let the general subject (the lives of a mother and her four daughters doing mission work in Africa) scare you off. Kingsolver's story is simultaneously beautiful and treacherous, joyous and heart-wrenching, complex and yet wonderfully simple. Reading it is doing yourself a favor. If you liked her other works, you MUST read this. If you've never read Kingsolver before, read this and become a devoted fan.
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Summary: Loved it; Bit Disappointed with End
Review: This book was definately a 5 Star for the first half - I couldn't put it down!! Although I have an interest in politics of Africa, I found the last part to be a bit dull and even preachy. It is like reading two separate books. Even so, the first part is so rewarding, I would strongly recommend it.
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Summary: An amazing story!
Review: Truly one of the best books I have read in a very long time. Ms. Kingsolver is more than adept at putting feelings into words, and matching words with feelings. The story is about a family living in the Congo with an extraordinarily insane father whose sole reason for being there is to change the Congolese into Christians. With that goal in mind, he is oblivious to the slow, torturous ordeals of his family, and remains oblivious to the steady destruction of their lives. The trials faced by mother and daughters are so uniquely described you will find yourself absorbed. I took this book with me everywhere I went, I could not be without it. It's a beautifully woven tail. I could smell Africa and the Congo, and I have never been there. I could taste the manioc, and I don't even know what it is. Mostly I could feel the hearts of the family in peril. This book is worth much more than five stars, and you should rush right out and buy it today.
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Summary: Engrossing and Informative
Review: This book is not only artistically well written, it provides a wonderful glimpse into Africa from 1959-1990s. Of the six characters in the book -- Preacher Nathan Price, wife Orleanna, and daughters Rachel, Leah, Adah and Ruth May -- five narrate the story. The reader knows almost from the beginning that one of the daughters will die; Kingsolver does an excellent job of building the suspense, as each of the four children seem in some kind of danger at one point or another. But the suspense is not melodramatic; as the family tries to adjust to the Congo, their previous values and expectations fall by the wayside, and for some of the characters, danger lurks all around. Kingsolver captures perfectly the lack of Western understanding of Africa; Nathan Price is determined to 'save' the natives, whether they like it or not. His refusal to examine the natives on their own terms brings tragic results, and turns the village of Kilanga -- as well as the women in his own family -- against him. The characters are drawn beautifully, and added to the narrative is a powerful analysis of the role of the US in Africa and the self-destruction the Congo went through (and is still going through today, as the Congo has become " Zaire", then Congo again, etc). An excellent book.
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