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Summary: I couldn't put it down
Review: I recently hurt my back and was on complete bedrest. A friend recommended this book to me, and I'm glad she did. This is a real page-turner.
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Summary: Author needs to do more research
Review: The Poisonwood Bible is a good book written by a capable writer. I enjoyed this work of fiction very much. Ms. Kingsolver does an excellent job creating imagery, emotion, and characters. Her book is well crafted and helps the reader see the people of Africa and their culture in a different light. However, there are some serious flaws in her novel. First, her understanding of Baptist Mission Work in general. Ms. Kingsolver would have done well to contact Southern Baptists to consult about how missionaries are appointed, trained, sponsored and supported. Second, Ms. Kingsolver has the Rev. and daughters frequently quoting from the Apocroypha. This is totally out of character for Baptists, as these are a set of writings that most protestant demonations (and I suppose especially Baptists) do not view as inspired and are nearly totally unfamiliar with. The characterization of Rev. Price as a disturbed man, cruel and wicked, is a stereotype, and one we see far too often in modern writings. The novel would have had just as much power, perhaps even more, if he had been portrayed as an honorable, righteous, loving man who was so fixated on his mission that he did not notice the needs of his family. The portrayal of his cruelty and abusive nature hurts the story. Finally, I wonder, if Ms. Kingsolver's research was so seriously flawed in regards to the items I have already mentioned, I wonder how flawed her research on the Congo, the culture of the people, and the conflict she writes so well about might also be. Next time, Ms. Kingsolver writes a novel, I think she needs to research it a bit deeper.
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Summary: Easy Read -- an Excellent Novel -- I was Enchanted
Review: Kingslover jumps around in the book letting characters tell the story. This could be confusing, but it is done in a very careful way and you don't get lost. I was afraid that this book would be overrated but I was enchanted. I had just traveled to Africa and found her depictions accurate and thoughtful. I also appreciated the insight into a missionary's mind -- a curiosity of mine. I would strongly recoommend this book to anyone who loves fiction.
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Summary: In support of "primitive " culture
Review: The Poisonwood Bible is the best book I have ever read. The viewpoint of seeing the beauty of "primitive" society with such insights into humankind's arrogance about being "civilized" is why I loved the book. Being a Native American, I see the world different from Caucasian or African, so the racial aspects of the book for me were important. I recommend this book for anyone who is caught up in the fast lane & feels alienated without knowing really why. Even thought the African continent has contained & still does, a lot of suffering there is the link with humankind's origins and connectedness with people that elevates the notion of being "primtive" that is long overdue. Bravo! Barbara Kingsolver
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Summary: Reply to James Stephen Garrett's simplistic review
Review: Mr. Garrett, You forgot one other lesson we learned from Mrs. Kingsolvers book. White Men=Bad, White men= heartless and you prove that point by reading a deeply touching book without allowing your heart to hear what it had to say. All of Kingsolvers characters were fallible and it was simply a tale of humans making their way in extraordinary conditions. Each character related to these conditions in their own way without any one way being utterly right or wrong. I think that you missed the whole point by reading it with a cynics eye and you heart locked in a closet somewhere.
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Summary: "An Novel of Family Destruction and Rebuilding"
Review: The Poisonwood Bible taught readers so much about the Congo in Africa. I realized how lucky I am to live in such a rich nation. I was a little disturbed toward the middl e of the book when the father suddenly started acting more and more mean towards his family. I realized he had been a jerk through the whole book at that point. I would recommed this book to people interessted in learning the history of the Congo as well as one family's attempt to survive in the jungles of Africa. It really kept my attention and I'm sure it would keep yours too.
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Summary: Disappointed...
Review: I found the story very hard to get into and then I had to force myself to finish it.
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Summary: My Synopsis of The Poisonwood Bible
Review: No, this is not a new age verion of the Good Book. This is a story of a southern Baptist (white) family who travels to the Congo in the '40s and '50s on a missionary trip. The story follows the tribulations of being white, unwelcome, and unprepared while Belgium was controlling everything including the diamond trade. It is a very intelligent book, extremely well written and fully deserves all the praise it has been getting. It is mostly a story of the disintegration of a family -- 4 daughters, a tired mother, and a preacher father -- but is politically controversial enough to keep any reader interested.
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Summary: Eye-opening and compassionate
Review: I thought Barbara Kingsolver's epic story of the Price family's journey through the heart of darkness in the 1960s was an amazing commentary on the tyrannies of world politics and the reality of the brutalness of the African continent. The gripping story of a Baptist minister and his family as told through it's female members was made more vivid by Kingsolver's poetic and innovative use of English, French and Kikongo languages. Her botannical and scientific knowledge was put to good use in her amazingly lush descriptions of African vegetation and wildlife. While her account of the political situation the Congo was and continues to be put through was greatly oversimplified and romanticized, the basics of her message was startling and at the core of truth. Kingsolver is amazing in her insights into the African continent and its people. She opens our eyes to the fact that this great land will not be subdued despite the men who try, and its people are those that stare death daily in an effort to simply exist. Kingsolver offers so much in this novel to every kind of reader: social commentary, political history, religious debate, poetic description, and at the core a story to which we all as humans can relate.
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Summary: Kingsolver paints her characters well, without stereotypes
Review: Barbara Kingsolver does an absolutely masterful job in describing both her characters and historical significance of the period. Yes, there are "evil whites" and "good blacks", in the book, but there are also good whites and evil blacks. More to the point, noone is stereotyped. I particularly enjoyed the character Adah -- she was portrayed as having a complex personality, whimsical one moment, intellectual the next. It is particularly gratifying to me, as a person with a disability, to see such a complex characterization of a fictional character with a disability. Rather than circumscribe her personality, Adah's disability lends a subtle nuance to how she views others in her world. This is a wonderful book!
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