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Summary: Gorgeous story sticks to your ribs like oatmeal!
Review: About a year ago, I read _The Bean Trees_ in a few short hours and was left amazed. In so many ways I found myself sticking up for Taylor, when I wasn't identifying with her. She is a strong woman without being some sort of overly symbolic feminist stereotype for the 90s. LouAnn was absolutely hysterical in that neurotic, Woman's Day-reading, cellulite cream-buying, housewife way, even if her character was a bit overdone. I especially loved the subplot involving Esteban & Esperanza. I wanted to hold that frail little woman in my arms and sing her lullabies in Spanish, yet I found myself jumping on Taylor's bandwagon, wanting to hurt silently and subtly along with her in her little crush on Esteban. I could go on and on, but I'll be nice and refrain from doing so. All in all, I think this is a beautiful story, and I love that it's assigned to classes to read! So many people slam Barbara Kingsolver for being unrealistic, feminist, overly political and boring. It's their loss, I guess. I'm not a feminist, nor am I over political or boring. So maybe I'm a little unrealistic - where's the harm in that? Maybe there are people out there who live as charmed and off-kilter life as Taylor...
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Summary: Deep and insightful
Review: This book was phenomenal. Barbara Kingsolver had an incredible sensitivity in writing this book. The plot and the characters were beautiful and realistic. Kingsolver thoughtfully approached the issue of importance--is the little child whom no one wants, is abandoned, and sexually abused as important as the person who "has their life together"? I would strongly recommend this book. Please read it with an open heart, and over look your prejudices.
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Summary: These are positive and negitves!
Review: I read the book The Bean Trees. But I really didn't like it all that much. I really don't like reading either so I guess that also counts. But if you like reading this is a good book to read. But if you were to choose this book to read for a book report don't chose this one. It's basically about this girl who adopts this child that use to live somewhere else. The girl's name was Turtle, and she was an American Indian. In the book the narrator, main character or whatever was born in Maryland and grew up in Nicholas Co. Here in Kentucky. WOW! But then she moved far away.
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Summary: It was really good but there was room for improvment.
Review: This book was really good. If you like the family books and I f yuo like the real down to earth bookd then this book would be perfect for you. I love to read about others familys and their conflicts and the way the look at the world. The looked at the world as if there were a lot of things that they disagreed with but they still carried on and helped them through the worst. The way thast she looked at the world was all about the way that she chose not to get pregnant and make that decision in life. So if you are a family person then you will love this book.
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Summary: Surprisingly not you run of the mill English class book
Review: The Bean Trees is an excellent book to read just because it shows what life is really like in this crazy world. I was expecting this book to be one of those long, boring, have-to-do for English class books, but the Bean Trees was just the opposite of that. The first part of the book was not the usual describe everything at once beginning that most people expect. The Bean Trees was interesting because not everyone was decirbed at first through the normal means, showing the character's appearance, but was described by telling an event in a character's life. The plot was first started with main character, and then it switched to the main supporting character. By the author switching back and forth between the two characters you can get a sense that their paths will cross at some time in the story. The paths of these two have changed greatly by the time that they do meet each other. At the beginning, you expect some thing to happen later in the story, which is true but it is changed just a little from your prediction. Throughout the story the themes of family, and a the political theme continue to mix many time sin the story. The family theme in this book is the main one by showing that strangers can become family. The political theme is showing us, the ignorant, know nothing of the happenings in foreign countries like the Guatemalan killings. The main character, Taylor Greer, is a poor girl from Kentucky at gets away from her little town in Kentucky. She is naturally independent by the way that her single mother raised her. When Taylor bought a car, she had been taught by her mother to fix a car if she ever needed to do so. The main supporting character is Lou Ann. She is not very confident in herself and has a low self-esteem. Lou Ann is this way because of the way her husband treated her after they were married, and moved to Arizona to live. Lou Ann becomes more independent after she and Taylor meet. These two when they meet have children; Lou Ann has Dwayne Ray, her son, and Taylor has Turtle, her adopted daughter. Taylor got Turtle by some lady in a bar giving Turtle to her there. The author's style is not the normal style of the most of the books I have read, like Tale of Two Cities. The story is not what keeps you attracted to the story it is the extended metaphors and similes, and the other various ways to describe some thing.
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Summary: Barbra Kingsolver's style is what keeps this story going.
Review: Barbra Kingsolver author of The Bean Trees truly keeps this story alive with her excellent style and the strong theme that is evident throughout this book. Her weaknesses in this book are her character developments and a weak plot. Overall this was an enjoyable book to read that kept me entertained. The story started out very catching with a story of a girl named Taylor preparing to start out on her own with very little money right after high school. After that Kingsolver keeps it interesting by combining the story of Lou Ann with the story of Taylor so that eventually their paths cross. Kingsolver throws many things into the story that both Lou Ann and Taylor have to deal with such as a abandoned baby, a one-legged rodeo husband, and illegal refugees that affect everyone's lives. The story keeps you entertained and is a joy to read. Kingsolver uses a strong family theme throughout the story and adapts it to fit with the characters. The theme of family isn't the normal one, it shows that you don't have to be related to people to love and care for them and consider them your family. She uses two examples of this type of family in her story first of all we learn of Lou Ann, Taylor, Duwayne Ray, and Turtle. They all love and depend on one another and consider themselves to be a family. Also we learn of Mattie, Esperanza, Estevan, and all the other illegal refugees who live in Mattie's apartment. They care for one another and take care of each other just like a normal family would. The author's uses great style and keeps the story entertaining and upbeat. She keeps the story flowing and easy to read. Kingsolver uses realistic dialect to make the characters come alive and to make them seem real. She also uses figurative language like similies and extended metaphors to indirectly help understand what is going on. She also uses symbolism to represent certain parts of the story that she finds important. She uses the song sparrow to represent Turtle and to show what developments she might make throughout the course of the book. Her style is her best feature through the course of the book. Most of the main characters go through major changes throughout the course of the story. Lou Ann changes from having very low self-esteem to being more confident and believing in herself. Taylor a major character in this book develops a sense of independence and develops feelings of love to her new family. Turtle is maybe the most dynamic character in this story. She goes from being completely untalkative to being like a normal little kid. Over all the characters seemed real and true. This story was entertaining and an interesting story to read. Barbra Kingsolver keeps this story going with a great sense of style throughout the book. Overall I reccommend it.
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Summary: This book has brilliant political and family views.
Review: For the english portion of my communications class in high school, we were told to write a book review of The Bean Trees. A novel written by Barbara Kingslover. During this book review I will be discussing the plot, theme, character analysis, and author's style. The story tells about a young girl named Taylor Greer. She takes a '55 volkswagon bug and sees where it will take her. On the way to her unknown destination, she recieves a baby by a mysterious woman. She takes the baby with out really knowing what she is doing. She ends up moving to Tucson. She winds up living in a house with another woman whose husband has just left her and she had a baby of her own, Dwayne Ray. Taylor ends up working in Jesus is Lord Tires with Mattie as her bus. Mattie has a sanctuary above her buisness. Esperanza and Estevan are two people running from their government of Guatamala. Later in the story Tayloe decides to take Esperanza and Estevan to a safe place and on the way she decides she is going to try to find Turtle's aunt so she can give Turtle to her legally. She doesn't fine them so Esperanza and Estevan act like her parents and let Taylor adapt her from them. At the end of the story Taylor and Lou Ann figure out that they are a family. The author use many themes in her story and one major theme is family. Everything that happens in this story had something to do with family. Taylor and Lou Ann become a family through out the story and figure it out that they are at the end. Lou Ann describes family as knowing everything about each other good and bad sides. The politcal theme is very strong also. It also plays an important role in the story by using the immigrants form Guatamala. The main characters in the story are Lou Ann, Taylor, Turtle, Mattie, Esperanza, and Estevan. Lou Ann started out with a low self esteem to being confident and sticking up for herself. Taylor was strong willed and confiednt from the begining and became more sensitive through the story. Mattie likes to help people through hard times. Turtle was extremly quiet but then became rather talkative through the story. Esperanza was extremly emotional and quiet. Estevan was brilliant and strong. The author's style was brillant and well put together. She used a lot of figuaritive language. She knew when and where to put in the politcal points and she explained everything in detail. She used a strong theme and stuck to that one through out the book. I thought that this book was pretty good and overall I gave it four stars. This story took people from entirely different worlds and meshed them together. They discover each other and help them discover themselves.
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Summary: The Bean Trees is an excellent book in my opinion.
Review: The Bean Trees is an excellent book in my opinion. I read it for my 10th grade English class and really enjoyed it. It's about a young woman who leaves her Kentucky home to escape becoming pregnant at an early age and to see what else is out there. When she gets to Oklahoma, a woman puts a baby in her car and says take her. Taylor, the young woman, now had the burden of this young child. The rest of the the book deals with her learning to become a mother, fitting in, and realizing the hard decisions you have to make as an adult. There are many themes in The Bean Trees. One of the main ones, in my opinion, is family. Throughout the story, Taylor has to learn how to be part of a family. Her father had left her and her mother when she was young so she doesn't know what a complete family feels like. When she reaches Arizona, her final destination, she meets Lou Ann. She becomes her new roomate.Lu Ann also has a child named Dwayne Ray. She and her husband, Angel, have gotten a divorce and he had left them so Lou Ann is also searching for a "family." So, this novel also deals with Taylor, Turtle (her baby), Lou Ann and Dwayne Ray learning how to become a family. Taylor, who's original name was Missy, is a very independent, outspoken person. She's never needed help from anyone before so when she gets Turtle, she has to learn how to get help from other people and become more interdependent rather than independent. Turtle is a small child about the age of three. When Taylor first got her she thought she was two but later in the book she finds out otherwise. Turtle is indian and was abused sexually by her aunt's boyfriend. You find out more about that in the book. She is a very quiet person and clings. She got the name Turtle because she would grab on to something and not let go. Just like a mud turtle. She learns how to open up throughout the story. Lou Ann was a very insecure person. She had an extremely low self-esteem and didn't try to do anything with herself. Taylor helps her to open up and not be so critical. She also has another trait. She is terrified that any little thing could kill Dwayne Ray or Turtle. Eventually she becomes less paranoid and relaxes a little. Barbara Kingsolver has a unique style that adds interest to the book. She uses a lot of similies to help us better understand what she's talking about. For example, "Edna was so sweet we just hoped she would cancel out Virgie's sour, like the honey and vinegar in my famous Chinese recipe." Kingsolver also uses symbolism. One of her most common is birds. She uses other symbols but these appear the most. Again, for example, when Taylor takes Turtle to the doctor to get checked out for her abuse earlier in life, she looks out the window while the doctor is telling her all the horrible things that had happened and she sees a mother bird making a nest within a cactus. The bird doesn't seem to realize it's danger as it zooms past the spines, it is only concerned with making a safe haven for it's family. So as you can see, The Bean Trees is a very inspirational novel and it's fascinating how Kingsolver ties everything in at the end. I recommend it for all and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Summary: A absolutely enjoyable book with an teriffic theme of family
Review: I read the novel The Bean Trees for my high school english class. I found the book to be very well written. It was enjoyable, making it easy and fun to read. The story begins in a town in Kentucky with a girl named Missy. Missy she wants a change and decides to take a road trip. She owns a junker of a car that has no starter or windows. She is going to get in her car and drive until it will take her no farther. Where ever she stops will be her new home. She ends up in Tuscon, Arizona with a new name, Taylor. By this time, a child has been thrust into her arms. Not knowing what to do she takes the child. There are many people in Tuscon that offer Taylor guidance, comfort, and support. She is offered a job from Mattie and a place to live with Lou Ann. She comes to terms with reality and finds that she wants to keep Turtle ownly she does not know how. Taylor is faced with a tough problem. The main theme of the story is the theme of family. In the book many people come together to form families. Most of the characters have only known each other for a short time but over that period of time they have grown in love and respect for the others. Taylor and Turtle, the child abruptly thrusted into Taylor's arms, were welcomed into Lou Ann and Dwayne Ray's home. At first it was lead your own lives, i will not bother you if you do not bother me arrangement. However, after time they had grown into a caring loving family that helped each other out. There was also the family of Mattie, Esperanza, Estevan, and the illegal refugees. They all lived together and took care of each other. The last family was Edna and Virgie. They both relied on each other. Missy was the main character in the story. Her mother was supportive. She would tell Taylor she was just as good as anyone and made sure Taylor was self-sufficient. Taylor was Native American, hard-headed and determined. She loved her mother but was very independent. She was brave, impulsive, and free spitited. We also encountered Lou Ann. She was friendly but self-conscious. She had low self-esteem but it grew over time. She eventually developed a sense of humor. The author's style of the book was for the most part was straight forward. Kingsolver offered realistic dialect for her characters. She had common enelevated diction. She offered political and family themes. She used figurative language, but not much imagery. She offered lots of symbolism and related it to nature, such as bird, cactus, song sparrow, cereus, rhizobia, vegetables, and turtle. She had integration along with realism.
Rating:
Summary: The Bean Trees is Good
Review: The Bean Trees followed a young woman's journey through life. Missy, a poor Kentuckian, learns the hard way that lifes adventure comes at a price when she is given an abused child to raise. Together, they must survive. The author, Barabara Kingsolver, writes of the joys and pains of life. The plot was quite complex, but it can also be summed up in one word: life. There are many themes to this book, one of which is the political. It tells of the ignorace of Americans and their inability to care for the crimes and injustice of the world. The characters spanned a great spectrum, from the one legged Rodeo Rider, to the immagrant smuggling used tire salesman. I must give this book 3 stars because I am into genres other than sci-fi. Her style was great and The Bean Trees was good.
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