Pigs in Heaven

Rating:
Summary: ¡ÚDisappointing¡Ú
Review: I had really really enjoyed reading _The Bean Trees_.
The characters, the plot, the writing...everything was so mind-capturing. That's why I wanted to read _Pigs in Heaven_ when I heard that it was a sequel to _The Bean Trees_. However, I was very disappointed. Overall, it was an okay book. I had expected the storyline to move through smoothly, but it felt like a roller coaster...lots of bumps and turns. Certain character who seemed to be of importance made their "grand entrance" into the book, such as Lucky, Rose, Franklin, and Barbie, but exited quietly. It would have been so much more interesting if they had "finished up" their roles in the story. Especially Lucky, who was the actual beginning of the story, and Barbie, who seemed to have had a big influence on the characters. I also didn't like how the focus shifted a little from Taylor and Turtle to Cash and Alice. Which, in my opinion, was a totally unnecessary result. The only reason I finished reading the book was because I had started to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Turtle stole my heart... again...
Review: Barbara Kingsolver's sequel to *The Bean Trees*, *Pigs in Heaven* falls short of the mark, but it was still an enjoyable read. The intriguing plot will keep readers interested, but I felt the characters kept me at arm's length. I couldn't get inside Taylor's head as I did with the first novel.

Taylor and Turtle save a stranger's life at Hoover Dam and almost instantly, they are on the national news and even snag an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. Unfortunately, Turtle's unusual adoption catches the attention of a Cherokee Nation attorney, Annawake Fourkiller, still mourning the illegal adoption of her twin brother. Annawake determines that she must pursue the legality of the adoption, which sends Taylor and Turtle on the run.

Overall, I thought the novel was a quick read, but I just wasn't crazy about the characters in this go-round. Definitely read *The Bean Trees*, and *Animal Dreams*, my favorite Kingsolver novel.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, clever, creative
Review: Another of Barbara Kingsolver's high-level novels to which one can easily relate, Pigs in Heaven is an amazing work of writing that tightly grasps the reader right from the beginning and never lets go. The characters are all extremely well-developed, and it is astounding to discover the ingenious connections between several entirely different people in the plot. There are so many depths to this resonant piece that it must be read several times for all of the details, descriptions, and clever bits of humor to sink in. In this book, Kingsolver beautifully weaves the conflict between two distinct cultures, and although the resolution to this battle is slightly predictable, it leaves the reader satisfied. Pigs in Heaven is a compelling novel that touches both the heart and the mind.

Rating:
Summary: Great story but.....
Review: Barbara Kinsolver is one terrific story-teller. I have read all of her books. But this one is not my favorite. I loved the colorful characters and delicious descriptions of people and places, but I found the plot a bit contrived. Of course, it is fiction, but I thought it was a little too neat the way the characters were finally connected. Too cute. Still, I loved the book! I read THE BEAN TREES first and so I HAD to read this also. Her more recent novels, THE POISONWOOD BIBLE and PRODIGAL SUMMER, I think, are simply sensational.

Rating:
Summary: Slow - Not a Page Turner
Review: I agree with all the other reviewers! However, let me make one observation. All the other reviewers that rated the book highly appear to be women. This book is an "adventure"/journey/sojourn
of a woman and I found it very, ahhh, "Oprahesque".......people who like Oprah's picks will like this book. I read the predecessor to this book, know the characters from that book, and enjoyed this story less. Don't give up here on my review because Kingsolver had some choice nuggets in this book that I will discuss farther down. I found the book very slow going, not a page turner at all. The characters are quirky if not downright eccentric. The plot is really really out there. Mom and daughter watch man fall into Hoover Dam??? Then go on Oprah?? Whoda thunk? Then an Indian lawyer spots them on TV and decides to go after Mom? Sheeesh!

What I do like is the author's insights into human nature and keen observations on the human condition. She puts these into tiny "nuggets" of expression and sprinkles them lightly throughout. I just wish they were sprinkled a little more generously I guess.

Here's an example: I thought the Author's description of Jax, Taylor's boyfriend, and their relationship was great. Jax really is crazy about Taylor but Taylor is lukewarm at best about her feelings for Jax. Unfortunately, this is a minor thread in the story. Jax says: " Sex will get you through times with no money better than money will get you through times with no sex".

Also, Taylor's mom, after joining the Cherokee Nation and attending her first Indian Stomp Dance reflects on feeling completely included in something for the first time in a long time in her life. Those insights into the human condition are what I love in Kingsolver's writing. I guess I want more of those nuggets of her observation. The nuggets were few and far between.

Rating:
Summary: Great writters can make anything readable
Review: I think that Ms. Kingsolver's writing techniques are wonderful. She has the ability to keep your interest no matter what the subject matter. I think she could talk about dust on a counter top and make it interesting. Also the way she can switch back and forth from character to charachter, take you through many different stories and points of veiw, and then wrap it all up very nicley at wonderful conclusion in the end is pure artistic talent. This way of writting Kingsolver has is quite noticable in this sequal to her novel, The Bean Trees, which also shares this style. Though The Bean Trees is probably higher on my list than Pigs in Heaven, They are both beautiful peices that compliment one another. Barbara Kingsolver writes so well in my opinion that you don't necessarily have to read the first book to enjoy the sequal, but it might give you a better apreciation of the main characters. I have to admit just form reading the summarys of these two, I was not interested at all, but once I read them I was happy to say that I had. Kingsolver will make you laugh, cry, experience joy, and even get angry ect... all for the love you will feel for the characters Taylor and her daughter Turtle in Pigs in Heaven.

Rating:
Summary: "Bean Trees" Sequel A Bit of A Letdown
Review: First off I have to say that I think Barbara Kingsolver is a great writer. She writes with deep felt emotion and feeling, creating well rounded and fully realized characters that you care about.That being said I felt "Pigs in Heaven" was a bit of a disappointment. Revisiting the characters she introduced in "The Bean Trees",Kingsolver weaves the story around young Turtle's American Indian heritage and her adoptive mother's paternal claims on her.One of the things I didn't enjoy was that she moves the narrative from first person to third which seems to be a device to introduce an entirely new set of sympathetic voices to add to the custody conflict. And although I can understand why the choice was made, it still made me feel somewhat removed from Taylor, the central voice of the previous novel.To me the book felt like three separate stories that were tied together instead of one solid narrative.Ultimately the story raises some interesting points about race and family, managing to be both provoking and moving if not quite as sucessfully as it's predecessor.

Rating:
Summary: PIGS IN HEAVEN
Review: We read and are reviewing the book "Pigs in Heaven" by Barbara Kingsolver.
This was a beautifuly written novel. Ms. Kingsolver has an amazing way with words. The way she turns a phrase is memorable and endearing. The theme that runs through this story stirs up many deep and far reaching feelings and ideas. This moving piece of literature reminds us all that it is not the outside, but what is on the inside that makes individuals special. This internal personage is also what connects us all to one another in very unique and eternal ways.

Rating:
Summary: A Life of Love Taken Away
Review: The beginning of this book starts off with a lady complaining about her husband. Who would have known that it would've ended with a mothers' love for her child? This story consisted of love, friendship, and family with a mixed with a little bit of Indian culture. It portrays a young Indian girl who has been adopted by a white woman not by choice, but by obligation. Turtle, in turn, becomes a hero to a mentally challenged man when she saves his life, which later turns out to be a disaster because Annawake Fourkiller, a Cherokee Indian lawyer, wants to return Turtle to her Cherokee Nation. In turn, Taylor runs away and this is just the beginning of Turtle's fate. This book added many insights to the Indian people whether it be Turtles' dislike of milk or a legend of the pigs in Heaven. It makes you ask the question, "How can a child be taken from what she has grown to love, and then given back to what hated her in the past?"

Rating:
Summary: It¿s no ¿Poisonwood¿ or ¿Bean Trees¿
Review: When I found a hardcover edition of this novel on sale I thought, "What a Deal!" After reading "The Poisonwood Bible" and "The Bean Trees", I was sure Pigs would be a real treat. After finishing "The Bean Trees", I remember wanting the characters to stick around a little longer, move next door even. "Pigs In Heaven" is Kingslovers attempt to continue to breathe new life into her former characters.

In this account, Turtle witnesses a man "disappear" into the spillway of Hoover Dam. She tells Taylor what she's seen, and Taylor is left with the challenge of convincing adults that there is truth in what the child is saying. They finally meet a groundskeeper who is familiar with the man, based on the description provided by Turtle. Upon the groundskeeper investigation of the story, he learns that it's true. The man (Lucky) is rescued and Turtle and Taylor become heroes with celebrity status.

They are invited to be on the Oprah Show where the talk show host is featuring children who have performed heroic acts. While on the show, Taylor reveals the story of how she came to be Turtle's (a Native American child) mother. A Native American attorney, Annawake, whose twin brother was taken from their tribe as a child, is watching the show and becomes concerned that Taylor has violated a tribal law by adopting Turtle without the permission of the tribe. Motivated by the loss of her twin brother, Annawake sets out to locate Taylor to find out if she received tribal permission before adopting Turtle. Threatened by the possibility of loosing Turtle, Taylor flees their home with Turtle in tow.

The makings of a good story, were it not for the languid pace and flat language. The novel, up to the point that I stopped reading it, is absent of any conflict that captivates. If the second half of the book is any better than the first, I commend you for sticking it out. If you haven't started the book yet, be warned, it's no "Poisonwood" or "Bean Trees".