Rating: 
Summary: 4.5 Star Novel
Review: Engrossing, to say the least. Kingsolver does an excellent job of differentating between the 5 narrators' voices. Many readers might be tempted to avoid the multiple narrator device in this novel. Kingsolver almost strains to make sure that the five voices are indeed different, and they are, leading the reader to understand the wonderful complexities of the characters, without which this story could seem somewhat pedestrian. All readers will like some of the narrator/characters better than others and look forward to the next chapter they narrate --only natural-- as well as occasionally wishing that X character wasn't narrating again so soon. The three surviving daughers complement each other wonderfully; their points of view are believable and necessary to give at least three versions of Africa. The politics don't grate; indeed the political background might even have been developed a little more. Kingsolver is fortunately not longwinded in her descriptions and the 543 pp. are necessary to tell her story well. The last chapter is particularly well done. I bought this on the strength of its generally good reviews in the press and believe that the author's work certainly lives up to them.
Rating: 
Summary: Did Nathan Price get what he deserved?
Review: I agree with another reader; that we didn't get to know Nathan Price really. I did hate him. For his ignorance, his self-rightousness and his unwillingness to get to know the very people he was trying to "save". I suppose his motives were admirable, didn't he leave all the comforts of home as well? But what motivated him? What was he like at home in Georgia? What really happened to him? As a mother, I was frustrated with Orleanna for not getting her children out of there, no matter the risk or cost. But, I loved the chapters of Orleanna's. Barbara Kinsolver made you feel as though you were in her very shoes. My favorite character was Adah. I looked forward to her chapters, and her backward writing. I was a little disappointed when she was "cured". Rachel was too self-absorbed to be real. Leah had honorable motives, except that she was willing to starve her children for them. I loved Ruth May. I recommend this book AND I am a Christian who admires honest missionary work. But as in EVERY religion, we see fanatics. We must not judge an entire race or religion based on a few nuts. And there are more than a few.
Rating:
Summary: I am in awe!
Review: This is by far Kingsolver's best novel. I could not put the book down because for the first time since reading Irving's, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" I felt truly attached to a character. Kingsolver does a phenomenol job of conveying the hopes and fears of not only one, but five women. Each woman has her own voice and helps the reader to understand the desperate situation she is in. You can't help but feel a connection to each one. That isn't the only strength of this work. Kingsolver is also able to shed some light on the fanatical side of religion and how scary it can be when used for self-serving purposes. Being exposed to a continent of people who are so often misundestood and unfairly judged is also refreshing. I wish there were more novels out there that were not only enjoyable to read, but also educational. This is one of an elite class of novels which I truly wish I would have never had to finish...
Rating:
Summary: Truth and Pain through Adolecent Eyes
Review: One of the hardest things for some preachers to do is to discern their context. Nathan Price is quite literally 'blinded by the light'. His understanding of call and mission and God's revelation blind him to reality: he has no sense of the danger he has placed his family in and he cannot understand that the Word preached without attention to his context is poisonwood. Kingsolver's delicate and marvelous technique in telling the story through the eyes of a wife and four daughters is what keeps a person with this novel. The voices are real and distinct. In PB there is a primary difference between the female and male Price's. It is one of discernment and context. The women make a steady progression towards understanding the Congo-lese people, their context and God's revelation to them. Nathan never does. The way the girls see their alien world is pure truth at many times. And although we fastforward thru their adult lives - the ending of the Poisonwood Bible, is the most powerful statment of love and truth I have read in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: This was one of the most powerful books I've ever read. You know these people better than you know yourself. The descriptions of life in the Congo make you realize how much you take for granted, and at the same time, you appreciate the rich culture of the people who live there. Everyone should read this incredibly moving book.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I absolutely loved this book. I did not think it was slow - or difficult to read in any sense. And I am rather surprised that so many people ask why the girls didn't just leave. If any of you have lived similar lives - and did get up and leave - please share it with the rest of us.
Rating:
Summary: I Loved the book but................
Review: I was absolutely enralled with the book however I was left with a big question that left me hanging. Each chapter was titled with the name of the Price family member that "wrote" it. However, towards the end of the book, Ms. Kingsolver titled each chapter with the first and last name of the storyteller which included her current married name. However, the last entry by Leah no longer contained her full last name (her married name). I kept reading the book over and over again to try to figure out why her married name was dropped but I could not. Was this just an oversight (which I doubt) or was Ms. Kingsolver making a point that I failed to get? Leah seemed to be the most passionate about her marriage and its political plight and I could not understand why her last chapter did not contain her married last name. However, this book was fascinating and invigorating. It appears to be a story of well-intentioned moral obligation without any exploration as to the necessity of such an obligation. It is the story of someone trying to save civilization without any thought as to who or what needs saving. A lovely book with some very profound conclusions. We would all love to "save the world" but how many of us want to take the time to figure out what really needs to be done. A real eye-opener.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Since "Trainspotting"
Review: From the recent reviews, it is clear that this book is not for everyone. I nearly put it down on page three. There are many weaknesses in the writing style and the characterization. Apparently the historical and religious accuracy is also suspect. So why the 5 stars? For me this book succeeds on three essential levels: the prose is excellent, the story is engaging, and the first-person perspectives are full of insight. In many places the prose is glorious. I found myself re-reading sections just for the joy of the words. Sure, the voice of Rachel is annoying (shades of Adrian Mole?), but Leah and Orleanna have line after line of first-rate prose. Second, this novel delivers two great stories, beautifully woven together. The story of Leah and Anatole is in many ways more interesting that of the central tale of the perils of the family in the jungle. Finally, how many books deliver so many wonderful perspectives? To see through the eyes of a white woman that curses her lack of blackness, through the eyes of a mother that has lost a young daughter, a rehabilitated cripple that misses the "perfection" of her disabilities, a wife with a husband in a brutal prison,...and so on. I would have liked to have had a chapter or two through the eyes of Nathan Price. For him we are left to piece together the nature of his torments from third-person fragments. Overall, I enjoyed this book better than any book since "Trainspotting."
Rating:
Summary: Writing well is the best revenge.
Review: I feel like I'm from another planet when I read comments saying that the first half of the Poisonwood Bible is hard to get through. Are people serious? The four voices are witty, insightful, at times engagingly clueless, and all in the midst of the full force gale of FAMILY. Add being semi-trapped in the Congo, a place I knew hardly anything about beforehand but rapidly came to know very well thanks to Kingsolver, and this is a definite can't-put-it-down book. By the time the ants invade, if you're not completely into this story, please check your pulse. If anything, I was a little let down once they do leave their ramshackle place in the Congo. Once they get on with their lives, it's just another story about female angst. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, this is a lovely book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is great for those struggling with oppresion.
Review: The book starts with the description of many things, including each of the characters. After about two weeks of reading this book, (which is quite unusual for someone who can read 600 pages in two days) I am nearly at the end of this book. I have enjoyed the entire thing, thinking that everything has been added for some certain reason. From the descriptions of Nathan Price, i have come to hate him. I long to reach out and strangle him. But I find it obsurd that the Price Girls didn't just up and leave after he stopped caring about his wife and children. This adds to the book, but it made me hate him all the more. I think my favorite character would have to be Adah. On the outside she is supposed to be stupid, disfigured and useless. But if her family would look at what she could do, what she thinks of, they would see her as what she truly is. Magnificent. Ruth May was next. She captured my heart the way she rambled on about things that should not be said. But she said them anyway. She was brave through it all. Leah was next. At first I dispised her. But as she grew away from her father, and to see what exactly he was doing to their family, I like her even more. They way she stood up to him, and did what she wanted to do, inspite the fact of being a girl, inspired me. Even Rachel at some points I liked. Not for her beauty, or her selfishness ofcourse. But because she was so lost, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Barbara Kingslover writes a wonderful book.
|
