The Bean Trees : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: This book is an incredibly dull book.
Review: The Bean Trees is an incredibly dull book. It could not hold my interest for ten minutes. It is a plot-less book that follows the main character, Taylor, through post high school life. She leaves Kentucky for Arizona for a better life, but what it really did was make the book boring. The theme, or themes that I found, were family and political. The family has Taylor and Lou Anne trying to run a complete family, or household. It states that you don not have to be related to be family. The characters in this story were always changing. Taylor, who did not want a kid in the beginning, accepted one anyway. Lou Anne, another main character, her personality was constantly changing. Turtle, the kid, progressed in all aspects just by growing older. Barbara Kingsolver seems to want to exaggerate alot. Her characters seem close to real, but not quite. For example, when Taylor found Turtle in her car, anyone else would have attempted to give her back or away. Taylor just drove off with her. Unrealistic.

Rating:
Summary: "CRITICS GIVE IT TWO THUMBS UP, WAY UP!"
Review: I must say that before I even opened up to the first page of this book, I already had thought that it would be another incredibly boring novel that I couldn't relate too. Later my opinion was swayed after I found myself more and more involved in it. One of the most positive things about reading a story for and English Class it that you discuss and scrutinize the novel with other classmates and there fore understand more about the author's style and ideas. A short summary of the book reveals that a main character, Missy, later known as Taylor, is not satisfied with her current life style in Kentucky. She leaves there and sets out to go as far as her 1955 Beetle can take her. On her journey she unexpectedly had a small baby thrust upon her. While all this is taking place, another main character, Lou Ann, is having her own troubles. Her and her husband have fallen apart while Lou Ann is pregnant with her first child. From there the two characters develop as the book transpires. If you do choose to read this book you will get to find out about many of the other characters that they meet on the way and how they affect each other's lives. What many people might over look is that Kingsolver's novels also have political ideas in the theme that surface throughout the book. When picking up on these messages you often find yourself thinking about your life and the environment that surrounds you. She uses her books to stress key political problems and to help us pick up on ideas we wouldn't ordinarily think about. As far as character's go Lou Ann starts off with a low self-esteem and very unsure of herself. But later on she takes a dramatic turn with her new job. Taylor on the other hand is very determined, she knows what she doesn't want but doesn't know what she wants. She is very direct and doesn't beat around the bush. Kingsolver has a very unique style to her writing. She doesn't go into long paragraphs describing the setting and scenery. She lets the image come to you through dialogue and short descriptions. She is very realistic and writes everything how it would be in reality. This is good because it is easier to relate too. She also uses extended metaphors and similes to help better understand the story and which all ties in with the whole political idea. Quotes from her book helps us better understand the setting. "We crossed Arizona State line at sunup. The clouds were pink and fat and hilarious-looking like the hippo ballerinas in a Disney movie."

Rating:
Summary: I thought the book was good
Review: Overall, I thought that The Bean Trees was a good book. It touched on family themes and political themes. At some times, though it did need to me more exciting and often trailed off leaving the reader wondering why the part the author was telling was relevant. The way the author explains the story and uses the themes of the story most often people can relate their own lives to the lives of the characters and get something from the book. The basic plot of the story is a young woman whose name is Taylor, which is the main character, sets off to live on her own. She does not know where she is heading to but she just begins to drive. She stops at a bar for food and just before she leaves a woman comes up to her car and places a young child in her car. Taylor is not sure what to do but she just keeps on driving. The book goes on to tell about the troubles she faces, the people she meets, and what happens between Taylor and the child, which is later named Turtle. The book has two basic themes, family and political. The book has a strong sense of family throughout it. When Taylor ends up in Arizona she meets Lou Ann and stays with her. Lou Ann also has a young child and they become more like a family. They look out for each other and care for each other financially and emotionally. The book also has a political theme. While living with Lou Ann in Arizona, she meets her neighbors who are refugees. The book tells how they were forced to move to the United States and how their government was after them. The reader begins to think that we have it easy in the United Stated and that other people in other countries have it very rough. They have to move from place to place and they always have to hide from their government. Later in the book, the time presents itself when they have to move and Taylor takes the risk of helping them. The author gives detailed descriptions of the characters and often uses symbolism to describe the characters. Taylor named the child Turtle mainly because she noticed that the child always loved to cling onto things. In addition, Turtle was described as a song sparrow trapped in the house. She described this as her being scared, no one would help her, and the bird is not singing because it is trapped and scared. Taylor was described as a hard worker and strong willed because she never gave up and when she needed a job, she stuck to it to provide for Turtle. She wants a future for herself and she is looking for adventure. Lou Ann was another character that was well descried in the story. She was very lonely and she was looking for a friend or roommate. Lou Ann has a negative self-image of herself and her marriage failed. She also gained a lot of weight after her pregnancy that contributed to her low self-esteem. The author's style changes throughout the story. She uses metaphors and similes to describe certain characters and situations. In the book, Turtle was described as a singing sparrow because she was scared and no one was helping her. It also described her as being trapped and that Taylor is trying to help her but she does not know how. Another comparison is the cereus that the author explains in the story. This plant is a flower that only blooms one time a year. This symbolizes that there is only one chance for Taylor to do something right in Turtles life and that is going to Oklahoma and try to get custody over Turtle. In the book Taylor becomes very independent and begins to care for herself. She takes off away from everything she knows and starts her own life. This young child is thrown into her life and some way she manages to survive. She gets her own job and begins to take care of Taylor and provide for herself, while meeting knew people and building relationships with them. Turtle also changes throughout the story. In the beginning she is very quite and does not talk. Eventually she begins to talk and communicate with others. After she is almost kidnapped in the park, she starts to become quit again. In time though she returns to her own self and begins to bond with Taylor. In conclusion, I thought that the book was good. It touched on many topics and when the book was not traveling off it kept the reader wanting more. Some people could relate their lives to this book and how Taylor had to struggle through so much but still got through all the difficulties.

Rating:
Summary: I feel that The Bean Trees is a very interesting book.
Review: I feel that The Bean Trees is a very interesting and well written book. The plot was pretty good and very realistic. Although the theme didn't appeal to me. Possibly because I'm not into politics and I don't pay attention to the government. The characters in the story were extremely realistic and made the story a whole lot better. Another high point in the story is the authors style. Barbara Kingsolver did a nice job working her style, using similes, hyperboles, and metaphors, into the book. With all the things the author uses put together it makes the story a lot more interesting. The idea of a young lady trying to make it on her own then getting basically stuck with a child was a good plot for this story. Taylor wanted to be independent and she left her hometown in Kansas to go on her own. It was hard enough by herself, but when she got stuck with a kid it made things harder on her. After she received Turtle she had to find ways to support them and people to take care of Turtle. Taylor has no choice really but to be cheap and take her daughter to a day care in the mall for people shopping. While she is at work. After you have read this story, you can think of how realistic this plot is. People struggle everyday taking care of kids and this book shows the problems people face in that situation in a very realistic way. Their are two themes brought up in the story. The family theme in the story, is the way Taylor and Lou Ann work together as a unit to get through their everyday problems they face. Lou Ann would stay home during the day and watch the kids while Taylor would work and then she would come home and make dinner. Another theme is the political theme brought up, which is the idea of refugees coming over from Guatemala and the way Americans help them to survive in our country. I didn't care too much for this theme, basically because I am uneducated about political topics. So it did not appeal to my liking. The way Kingsolver described the characters made the story a lot better. The characters were realistic and were described very well. Taylor is a hard worker, she was also very determined. She wouldn't give up Turtle to the government; she refused to let them take her. She was also looking for adventure. She took off from home in a beat up old volkswagon that barely runs and have to push to get started. Another main character was Lou Ann. She was very dependent, and she showed that by the way she couldn't really function correctly without angel around. Lou Ann also counted on Taylor for support. Towards the end of the story though Lou Ann changes by the way she gains more self-esteem. She likes herself more, and she even gets a new boyfriend. Mattie was is also a character that Kingsolver described well. Mattie is very helpful and loving. She helps the refugees and gets them to safety and food. She hired Taylor who was poor and gave her a new start. The authors style plays a big part in the way the story is looked at by people who read it. She uses her style by using metaphors, similes, and hyperboles. Barbara Kingsolver is an extremely good at putting little comparisons in the story. She uses a song sparrow to compare to Turtle. How it is little and weak and the bird clings to the screen; it is able to escape from the house. Turtle is like it because she clings to things and is small, but the comparison shows good things are to come when it escapes for it and Turtle. Another comparison is made when they see the cereus plant bloom. It shows good to come for all the characters Lou Ann and Taylor. Eventually good does come. Taylor finds a way to get Turtle to be her own legal daughter. Lou Ann also gets her life straight and is not depressed any more. A simile that is used in the story is when Taylor is describing her old high school. "Believe me in those days girls were dropping by the wayside like seeds off a poppy seed bun and you learned to look at everyday as a prize. At the end I felt that this book was really good, and had a great story line to it and I would recommend you read it. The plot, theme, characters, and authors style it made the story very good.

Rating:
Summary: A politically off story of feminism and illegal immigrants!
Review: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver was a fair attempt at a political novel. The only reason I gave this novel one star is that zero stars was not an option. Despite the fact that the plot was interesting and the storyline controversial, I found this novel to be difficult to become involved in. Perhaps the reason is that I believe a novel with strong political viewpoints such as this should not be in school curriculums, or perhaps it just did not appeal to me. Kingsolver's indirect statements about refugees and asylees and the American population's viewpoints intrigued me, because she basically stated outright that North American people are completely oblivious of the rest of the world, which is an untrue extreme generalization. The plot also failed to excite me. In my eyes, what should have been the climax was merely a smaller part at the wrong place in the story. This was Turtle's attempted kidnapping, an event that was over before it started. The official climax, if you would call it a climax, was what should have been the resolution. Another part of the story that bothered me was Angel's constant presence. Angel never actually posed any real threat, for it was completely Lou Ann's choice whether or not to go back to him, and she never did anyways, so Angel's repeated returns were unnecessary. Also, Kingsolver's portrayal of Virgie as being a stereotypical American was nonsensical, at best. She was a flaming racist and was not afraid to speak her mind to any immigrant that happened by. This is obviously not true, because only a small percent of us feel in such a way, let alone would have the audacity to be outward and open about those feelings. Kingsolver's theme of family and immigration viewpoints is a weak one, and I found this story to be uninteresting. Overall, this novel was a politically biased attempt at imposing extreme viewpoints of feminism and liberalism upon its readers.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent novel
Review: The novel The Bean Trees Is an excellent story written by a very capable author. Barbara Kingsolver creats very memorable characters in unforgetable places. That combinded with a smooth flowing plot makes The Bean Trees an easy novel to read and still gets the point across. The Theme of freedom and trusting in yourself is prevelent in this book. A young Kentucky girl, Taylor, leaves home in a broken down Volkswagon bug to seek her destiny and along the way picks up a traveling companion, a 3 year old baby.Another woman, Lou ann, is left by her husband and stranded with nothing except her unborn child.When these to ladies get together in the story they accomplish some pretty heafty goals. These characters are also accompaanied by Mattie, the tire woman that give Taylor a job and smuggles asylees into the country. Edna and Virge friends of Lou Ann who watch the children while they are at work. And Estevan and Esperanza Two asylees searching for a better life. The author style of this novel is free written. She uses every day language in the first person view through Taylor's eyes. Overall this is a very good novel excpet I don't like the ending very well. Thats why it only got 4 stars but it is definatly worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: This book is ok for people that do not read alot.
Review: The Bean Trees is about a women who has lived all her life in a small town in KY and finally gets fed up and heads west. IN OK she finds a surprise that now completely will alter her life. Taylor(Missy) had spent her life avioding pergnancy and now she had a kid and was all alone. This book is a must read. It brings up political issues that divid the nation. Refugees, immgernts, and asylees, should they be granted what Americans belive to be a privelage and be allowed to stay, or should they be kicked out and sent back to be attack or killed while Americans refuse to acknowalgde it.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible book: Weak plot, bad main events, very bad ending.
Review: I was forced to read this book for my English class and didn't have a problem with it when I started it. In the beginning of the first chapter she was in sixth grade and by the end she was alright all grown up, given a child, and had left home. The next sixteen chapters went by slow and boring. I had to force myself to keep reading this dull, poorly written book. I think that it could have been extremely more intresting and should not be given the credit that it has been given so far. I would strongly urge you to NOT read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful and Refreshing
Review: Refreshing and light, beautiful and drawn. Easy to read but keeps you attached. I appreciate the welcoming of all forms of motherhood in this novel. Would recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A simple formula.
Review: I realize that some may not appreciate this book for what it is: a profound story of modern love written in a refreshingly whimsical way. While this book may not rank with those of Dickens and Dostoyevsky it has much to offer the open-minded reader. Let me put it more simply: if you love the poem "Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manly Hopkins then you will probably love this book.