Rating: 
Summary: a hole at the center
Review: With all the fancy stylistic posturing to which Kingsolver resorts to tell this story, she denies a voice to what should be the most interesting of her characters: the father who brought them to Africa. Without any intimate knowledge of him and his motives, we have to take them for granted, which is smug. Are we deprived of him because he's a man (arbitrary) or because of a complete failure of imagination at the heart of the structure?I think this is why the book is much too long and self-indulgently "cute" - Joseph Conrad's tight construction would have been a better model.
Rating: 
Summary: A rich tale
Review: Barbara Kingsolver's book uses the literary style of having several characters tell the story from each perspective. That is something the reader needs to know at the outset. It was a maddening experience for a hundred pages or so. Then the book fell into a rhythm. This story of the Congo in the 50's and 60's concerns a preacher and his family. Nathan Price uses his minister to cover up guilt from a World War II experience and his wife and four daughters pay the price. The novel is full of African lore, language and ecology. The story itself comes to a climax a little over halfway through. The denouement was long and tedious.
Rating: 
Summary: The Poisonwood Bible
Review: This is the first Kingsolver book I have read and it was compelling. First of all, she develops each of her characters in depth by having each of them tell their portion of the story. Secondly, she paints such a magnificant picture of life in the Congo that the reader can't possibly leave this book in ignorance. I don't think I would like to live under such primitive conditions but I certainly do have a deeper appreciation for the cycle of life that is so entirely different than my own. I found that this book gave me great insights into what I have in my own life.
Rating:
Summary: A Book that Begs for a Discussion Group
Review: The five Price women, mother Orleanna, daughters Rachel, Leah, Adah, and little Ruth May tell of their trials the year their father Nathan took the family to the Congo in answer to his mission call. Each of the women tells of her experiences, but this disjointed style does not tie a story together. Each person tells their version of seperate incidents. While the others may refer to an episode, the reader only gets one person's perspective of the incident. A perplexity pervaded as to how the story tied together. By the end of the book, the conclusion was that the story is how the time in the Congo affected the futures of the Price women. Recently it was suggested that this is more of a literary work--the richness of the words and the pictures they paint are the story. Quite true. The reader needs to savor the prose and not rush through the book looking for the tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Credible characters
Review: I read this book on flights to and from Europe and throughout my visit there, so my reading was more disjointed than usual. I found it difficult eventually to follow the Congo politics, which may have been due to sleep deprivation and my own sensory overload. I did enjoy the characterization of the zealot Baptist father - surely there is no more fervent advocate of the way things should be done than a Baptist missionary - and his long-suffering family with their myriad perceptions of the Congo. I was particularly touched by Leah, the idealist, whose belief in her father dissolved with agonizing insights into his true character. Kingsolver did an excellent job of allowing us to understand how these parents evolved into the people they became. The entire family's naivete about the father's "mission" and their evolving part in African life had far-reaching consequences that are well portrayed.
Rating:
Summary: Sneak a peek at someone's diary!
Review: Have you ever had thoughts of taking a peek into someone's diary? Just sit and while away the afternoon, absorbing someone's written secrets without their knowing? How about reading five of such accounts? How about five people's secrets who just happen to have had an unusual life experience? Starting to sound interesting? It's called "The Poisonwood Bible." Kingsolver creates a story about a family of Southern American Baptist missionaries who opt to go into the Belgian Congo in attempts to convert the natives of the area to Christianity. You can only imagine it would be as well received as if aliens landed a spaceship right here on earth and tried to convince us all to believe in their own diety, "Spaz." We'd just look at them, roll our eyes and shake our heads, "no, thanks." Still the missionary family tries to bring them to believing and suffers the consequences of being western-world white people on a continent where nature isn't known for being friendly to foreign forms of life. Four young girls (teenager to toddler) and their middle-aged mother are the keepers of the diaries. For every strange person, experience or culture shock they come across, the story is told from five perspectives. The characters grow up in the Congo, while watching their father and his stern belief that he will succeed in bringing these African savages to Christianity, or die trying. Unfortunately, we never get to read from the diary of the father, but we well know that in a house full of five women, a man can NEVER be heard! Mind you that I mention that Kingsolver "creates" a story, here. The opening credits of the book immediately remind you that it is completely fictitious and she has used artistic license with African history to blend story and history conveniently. If you are obsessed with attention to the correct detail of African political history, you may find this creation somewhat annoying. Recall that Kingsolver is trying to entertain us, not educate us. Dear reader should appreciate the story for being told by someone who knows how to tell one. I certainly enjoyed it. I hope you do too.
Rating:
Summary: I fell in love with this book.
Review: I knew as soon as I started this book I would love it. The first book I'd read by Kingsolver, I didn't know what to expect. Now I know that it is by far my favorite of her novels, if not my favorite novel. As an American who lived overseas for much of my childhood, I had a special understanding for what the main characters were experiencing. However, I have shared this book with many people, both those who've had overseas experiences and those who haven't and all have raved it (even my boyfriend who rarely reads books about women). Some say it gets off to a slow start but I was captivated from page 1. I recommend this book highly, especially to anyone who has spent time in a "third world country". It is a rich story, the kind that makes you wish it went on forever.
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Summary: this book has universal appeal
Review: I am a Korean. For many Koreans, our image of Africa is of "monkey culture": primitive people running around in the jungle. Koreans (especially Korean Christians) could learn a lot from this book. Both in the way that the complexity of African culture is depicted, and by comparison to our own unhappy experience with colonialism and being subject to foreigners.
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Summary: Amazing
Review: The Poisonwood Bible is by far the best book i have ever read. The title is what caught my attention and then once I started reading it I couldn't stop. The story takes the reader into Africa and fills you with it's adventurous, funny, and emotional plot. While you reading it you feel a certain connection with the characters and you feel that you know each one. This book is impossible to put down and you don't want it to ever end. The Poisonwood Bible is definetely worth your time to read.
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Summary: The Poisonwood Review
Review: The Poisonwood bible is the story of one family's struggleswith eachother and Africa. The father, a zealous Pastor feels he mustconvert the African people of the Congo to Christianity. The familyendures the struggles of famine, starvation, lonliness, and death, allin the name of Jesus Christ. Kingsolver does an excellent job withdeveloping her characters. Adah, one of the four daughters, isblessed with the mind of a genius, but no one knows it because of hersilence. She is independant and strong. She adapts the best in theCongo. The story follows [their] lives ... even after they leave thecongo and its hardships. The story is not so much about their livesin the congo as it is about how that life affected them. It wasincredibly written and very moving. The reader develops relationshipswith the characters. The reader can be moved and entertained at thesame time. The Poisonwood bible is definitly worth reading.
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