Rating: 
Summary: tale or treatise
Review: My sixteen year old son bought this book for me for Christmas on the advice of the sales clerk. He told the clerk that I was an avid reader and would probably like something with a christian theme. I can't imagine that she, the clerk, has any more of a clue than does Ms. Kingsolver. At first I was totally engrossed in the lives of these women. I am at once a mother, daughter and sister. And a child of the 50's. If this book were a tale of the entertwining of lives, the rain and shine of existence..one that could be told on any continent in any era, then the first part of the book was absorbing, even though the author does not include an ounce of how true faith can affect our lives. The second half left me wondering if the author was a man-hater, America-hater, dictator-hater...what? The entire history of mankind is filled with similar stories of injustice and outrage. However, I STILL was forced to look at myself squarly. So, maybe she got her point across anyway. If, as others suggested, she were to have written two separate books, a tale & a treatise, I probably would have only read the tale. And then, would I have asked my God, "What can I do?" or would I have just thought, 'nice story, a bit sad, but oh well, that's life". So, Ms. Kingsolver's book will not be soon forgotten by me, even though it wasn't a literary masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: How NOT to be a missionary
Review: This powerful story of one family's experience as white missionaries during the terrible days of the Congo's independence struggle with Belgium, is at once both a wonderfully engrossing tale of the character's struggles to survive on the edge of the jungle and a strong indictment of the hubris of western efforts to graft its own values onto an incompatible culture.The story is told from the points of view of the wife and children (3 daughters) of the American missionary (Southern Baptist) who has come to the Congo to spread the 'word of God' among the heathens. What this man doesn't know - about the culture he is dealing with, the land he must live in, the politics that will ultimately control his family's future - is legion. He takes the view that if he is sincere in his work, then 'God will provide.' While Alexander Campbell said that a Christian should be 'a fool for God', missionary Nathan Price is a fool in every other way as well. He blindly endangers his own life and that of his wife and children by his refuseal to learn even the simplest aspects of what any sane person should know in dealing with an unfamiliar land and culture. Tragedy, of course, follows. Nathan, perhaps, deserves it. But the suffering that is felt most strongly is that of his family, and each tells their unforgetable story in a unique, personal voice. Kingsolver's prose is perfect for the job. The language, by turns, is beautifully lush or painfully spare. There is humor to relieve the inevitable trauma(s) to come and a great descriptive passages that breathe life into the story's setting. The weakest character is Nathan, because he doesn't have a voice of his own, except the actions and words reported by his family - each of whom comes to fear or despise him as it is more and more clear that he is living in a fantasy world. This is a painful and emotionally heavy book, but also a very beautiful and significant piece of work. The ending will seem too muted and subdued for those wanting a solid wrap up, but it is perfect for a novel that looks back across a whole lifetime at events many years in the past.
Rating:
Summary: Insights on life abroad
Review: This book really rings true with those of us who have lived abroad-- not true in the sense of the same experiences, but true in the sense of the *kinds* of experiences one has abroad, and the principles and lessons each person extrapolates from those experiences. This book is unbelievably insightful, directing all of us to look inside of our selves and really think about who we are and what we are about: on the subjects of Western elitism, how we treat the handicapped, how we view the religious and cultural practices of our neighbors, etc. But, as the character Rachel vividly displays, there are individuals in this world who will never, ever, ever understand their cultural inappropriateness. All in all, a wonderful book, and a captivating manner in which to learn about the Congo.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: From the moment I opened this book, I could not set it down. This was a fascinating story that made me feel like I was really there experiencing everything that happened right along with them. I highly recommend this novel to anyone...I hope that you loved it as much as I did!
Rating:
Summary: Authentic
Review: She does a masterful job. As a person whose life experience is a (thankfully) distant cousin to the Price family's the only way to describe being young, not of the culture, and in Africa in a colonial context is through multiple voices. Simplicity, beauty, and the scent of Africa are contrasted with the hilarity of culture clash, and tragic politics which are touched unerringly and in turn by Kingsolver. All the women ring true. Nathan is a stretch but true of his era. Nelson rings true, Anatole is less so only because his character is weighted with an interacial marriage, a saintly tolerance, unbelievable prison survival and an extraordionary wisdom. Maybe Anatole wears the 'Politics on the sleeve' review above but to me the criticism is irrelevant if one reads for comfort. Technically maybe he could be rendered more believable but Kingsolver has done such a great job overall I still give her a glowing recommendation. If you read to be challenged and inspired and to feel connected this is a book for you. A must for any post-colonial.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm glad I didn't spend money on the hardcover edition.
Review: It is difficult to become engrossed in a book when you actually dislike most of the characters and the plot is thin. This book picks up in the middle, but it's too late by then to really grab you.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful Tale and great History Lesson..almost perfect
Review: I loved almost every aspect of this books. The chracters made you feel and the story and setting was beautiful. I thought that the authoer did a great job in weaving this tale. Unlike others..I liked the mixing of the politics and thought it was fitting with the story. My only complaint was that sometimes the characters were too stagnant. Rachel for example did not grow from her experience at all....she was so self absorbed it was almost unbelieveable. That made thigns a bit too predictable. But overall an excellent tale. I just picked this book up on a whim, and I was not disappointed. I even reccomended it to many of my friends.
Rating:
Summary: Most moving book I have read all year
Review: As a fan of Barbara Kingsolver, I was delighted to find that this book is as good if not better than all of her others. The plot and setting are very different and a refreshing change. The characters are compelling and incredibly well-written. I don't usually find this rotating narrative style interesting but Kingsolver does it very well. You can stop reading after page 385 as the climax is really the strongest part of the book. I read it in three days and think it is the best book I've read all year.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: An enjoyable book, but I have to agree 100% with the Editorial Review above. There is also too much reference to politics, which caused the story to lose focus - i.e. on the emotional and physical development of the characters. The story dragged on once I got past one third of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Long and Overrated
Review: I was initially intrigued by the premise of this book, having read over the years The Mosquito Coast and At Play in the Fields of the Lord, two books about earnest white people encountering cultures for which they were hopelessly unprepared. I got three-quarters of the way through The Poisonwood Bible and couldn't go on; it is overwritten in the way that much of Stephen King's work is, and this title could probably have been trimmed by a third. I haven't read any other work by Klingslover, but I hope her other books are better than this one. The premise is fascinating, the characters are nicely drawn, and the alternating narratives work up to a point, and then they start to become tedious. This book made me tired.
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