Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary!
Review: Even a voracious reader (such as myself) can sometimes be unaware of a new voice in the land....
I was unaware of Barbara Kingslover, until about a month ago, when a friend of mine handed me a copy of "The Bean Trees," mentioning that I "might like it."
To say that I "liked" it is extreme understatement ... This is a book I wish I had written....
It's all about the beauty, the glory, the heartaches, the joys, and the realities of being a woman alive in the world today -- without heavy-handed political harangues or in-your-face proselytizing. Instead, this book is filled with wisdom, warmth, out-loud laughs and a quiet, satisfying inner recognition of all that is truly wonderful in a woman's mind, spirit, heart and life.
I've found a friend in Ms. Kingslover. I wish she lived next door
Rating: 
Summary: Sweet and Touching
Review: I just finished reading this book for my comp. lit. class ,and it's absolutely one of the best novels I've ever read. I found that Barbara Kingsolver's style of writing in "The Bean Trees" is very much like the style she used in "The Poisonwood Bible" (also a book I recommend). She becomes her characters, in a way, and makes everything she writes about seem so real. You feel involved in the story, as if you're there with the characters. I'm sure many people could relate to the way her characters talk and think, the things they talk about, and the experiences they have. These elements are what make Barbara Kingsolver's novels such engaging page-turners.
"The Bean Trees" is about a spunky, spirited, Kentucky born girl named Taylor Greer. She was raised by her mother in a poor, rural Kentucky town--- a place she desperately wanted to leave. She manages to leave Kentucky in her early twenties and heads for the open road. She's not sure where she's going, but figures that almost anywhere is better than Kentucky. She travels in a beat-up '55 Volkswagen that requires a push to get moving.
She ends up in Tucson, Arizona with a three year old American Indian girl she names Turtle, given to her by an Indian woman who told Taylor to "just take it" (referring to Turtle). Realizing that she's now a parent, Taylor knows she has to be more responsible. She takes a job at "Jesus Is Lord Used Tires" in Tucson, which also happens to be a sanctuary for Central American refugees, and finds a roommate, with whom she becomes good friends.
The story follows her new life in Arizona and different relationships Taylor forms, most importantly, the one she comes to have with Turtle.
This book is so touching and real, yet it maintains a wry sense of humor. You get to know the characters and become attached to them. Toward the end of the book, I came close to tears, as Taylor had to say goodbye to two good friends. Despite this, the ending leaves you with hope.
Rating:
Summary: Heart-warming and intelligent work of fiction
Review: For me, this was one of the best books I've ever read. I usually stick with a sure-fire bestseller like "Da Vinci" or "Bark of the Dogwood," not wanting to miss what everyone else is talking about. But I happened across this great read and HAD to write a review. It's a very well-crafted novel. Each character was well defined and had their own personality. There were no two personalities a like in this novel. The characters seem to change as the story goes on, and they eventually grow on you. My favorite character was Taylor. Taylor ended up with a child whose name she did not know. She eventually named the child "Turtle" due to the fact she wouldn't let go of objects. Taylor then entered Tucson Arizona where she had two flat tires and had to stay for a while to come up with the money to fix it. Here in Tucson she ran into another lady named Lou Ann. The story goes on, but you should really read it yourself to get the feel. Iwould recommend this book to anyone and everyone. There were many times when tears would fill my eyes with the heart-felt things that Taylor would say. Sometimes I thought it was myself talking. I believe that everyone was put here for least reason: to love. If you have to read a book, this one is it. Would also recommend "Bark of the Dogwood" and "Catcher in the Rye."
Rating:
Summary: The Bean Trees: Metaphors and Similies
Review: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver is a book rich in metaphors and similes. It is a story about a young girl who escapes her small town, where most young people drop out of school, and the girls get pregnant. For Missy, these are not options. She buys herself a car and heads out for maturing experiences. Her first decision is that since she is starting a new life, she needs a new name, so she calls herself "Taylor." As she is driving, she tells herself she will stop and live in the city in which her car breaks down. This doesn't happen because along the way, she picks up a passenger, a little Native American baby. Now she has herself and the baby to worry about. She stops in Arizona and loves it. So, she decides to stay. It is in this town, she discovers friendship, love, responsibility, maturity, and the true meaning of family.The physical descriptions in the book, while at times, may seem over done, are truely what make the book a vivid, potent journey. Before Taylors journey begins, she is working in a hospital and one of the girls she went to school with, but got pregnant and married, is brought into the hospital covered in blood, and Missy says she was, "...like a butcher holding down a calf on its way to becoming a cut of meat" (10). She also witnesses a tire blowing up and says, "... Newt Hardbine's daddy flying up into the air, in slow motion, like a fish flinging sideways out of the water. And Newt laid out like a hooked bass" (15). Then when she gets to Arizona, she see rocks that were "...stacked on top of one another like piles of copulating potato bugs" (47). These are just a few of the similies that enrich the story. She also uses metaphors in abundance to create a picture. She compares driving in traffic during a hail storm as ...moving about the speed of a government check" (49). Kingsolver uses metaphors to compare some of the characters' lives. Taylor says "...but I had to give her credit, considering that life had delivered Sandi a truckload of manure with no return address" (89). In comparing a park she loves to visit, Taylor says, "Constellations of gum-wrapper foil twinkled around the trash barrels" (148). The best description comes in the combination of metaphor and simile in the description of the night-blooming cereus: "The petals stood out in starry rays, and in the center of each flower there was a complicated contruction of silvery threads shaped like a pair of cupped hands catching moonlight. A fairy boat, ready to be launched into the darkness" (249). The pictures are that vivid. If you need a book that is rich in description using similies and metaphors, read The Bean Trees.
Rating: 
Summary: Random [...]
Review: This book is horrible, when I read it I cried at the obserdity of it. It starts out with the main charactor driving in a car, she stops at a bus stop and suddenly recieves a small native american child for no reason. The child's name is Turtle, she's at least three but because of sexual abuse looks like an infant. Again ridiculous. Unfortunately this book doesn't stop there, for about ten chapters she just complains and complains about how hard it is to find a man and raise a kid, tear. In the end the novel simplely implodes with no real conclusion. [...]
Rating:
Summary: Not So Hot
Review: For some reason we were made to read this book for english, and it is a horrible example of how books should be written.
It was written with absolutly no climax, un needed characters, and parts that were incredible unrealistic, yet teachers think that it teaches us somthing. The only thing this book tries to teach us is that all males are bad, and that illegal immigrants should be aided in their quest to illegally stay in the country.
One of the biggest characters lou ann gets 2 or 3 chapters about just her life, only to be hacked out of the story, never to be heard from again. There are several other characters that could have been ommited completely, and the basic, boring, plot wouldnt have changed at all.
The "challenges" the characters faced in the book were all brought upon by themselves. At any time taylor could have refused to take care of turtle, or refused to help the illegal immigrants, or moved back to pittman county. Lou ann could have stopped associating with angel and she would have been a lot better off, but she doesnt, so i have no sympathy for her.
FINAL WORD: This is a completely horrible book that should not be read by anyone, i am insulted that this was printed, as it is a disgrace to those who work hard, and publish books with actual substance. The whole thing is full of blatent disregard for the real world and those who inhabit it, right down to the title, because beans grow on plants.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I wouldn't be sincere if I didn't give The Bean Trees the credit it deserves by merely stating it was just on my top ten list. This book is by far my favorite, which may seem like it is hard to say considering the amount of wonderful literature that is available to me. This is one of the books that I can read over and over again, never tiring of the plotline, always getting anxious near the end, and always feeling a sense of relief when everything turns out the way it does. The main character, Taylor, decides to leave her small town in Kansas and hit the road. When she does, she is handed a child and takes her under the care of her wings. She names the child "Turtle" because of the way she clings on to her like a mud turtle. With Turtle, Taylor heads out to Tucson where she meets many wonderful people, some of which I strive to be like in my own life. Barbara Kingsolver has created a story of compassion that falls nothing short of incredible
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down . .
Review: I don't have much to add to the numerous other favorable reviews here, but I did want to give it the 5 stars. I enjoyed this novel immensely. I read it in one day. The characters were real, well-developed, and easy to care about. The story, too, is touching but not so drenched with sentimentality that it veers into melodrama. The main plot and the sub plots merge gracefully at the end into a very satisfying conclusion. Kingsolver has given us an excellent read here.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing book
Review: I found this book completely by accident while looking for something else in the stack of a used book store. Isn't it funny how sometimes the best treasures are discovered this way?
I read so many books, and while I enjoy most of them, it doesn't happen often that I find one that completely takes me over. I read it cover to cover without stopping. The characters are extremely well developed, to the point that you can almost hear their conversations, accents and all, right there in the room with you. Kingsolver also dove into some beautiful themes: abandonment, human rights, poverty, the fighting spirit and love, and wove them into a charming story.
This is one book I'll be reading again.
Rating:
Summary: I have read this book at least three or four times...
Review: This is the first book I have ever read by Kingsolver. The title caught my attention. For some reason, I loved this book. The other books, of Kingsolvers, that I have read haven't pulled me in as well as this one.
This is a great read. I can't really tell you while, but it is well worth a try!
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