Barbara Kingsolver
Thu, 2001-03-15 15:18
#1
Barbara Kingsolver
Has anyone out there read 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver. Crazy name, crazy lady! In any case the first two thirds of it make one of the best reads I've had in ages - although I think it tails off at the end.
Why isn't this book better known? It's a strong polemic on American/Western imperialism in Africa, especially the Congo. It's wonderfully researched and beautifully written. I'd love to enter into a conversation with any other people wh've read this book - so get reading and get back to me!
Deborah Spiers
She is doing a South Bank literature event on 16 June in the evening if you can get there. I too loved the first 2/3 of the book. I felt that the final third was too hurried and lacked the love and attention as the earlier chapters. Though I did wonder if this was deliberate because of the traumatic effects that the African experience had on their lives - basically shattering the close knit family to pieces. It might have been better to have ended sooner and to have written a sequel. She uses the different narrative voices so brilliantly and is a master at description. It is a very painful book and should be more widely read in the UK - it was one of Oprah's choices in the US and sales went through the roof.
Carly Svamvour
Why would you say she's a crazy lady? That woman makes a whole lotta' sense ...
I really like the flow of her work - I like the way she educates the reader as she unfolds the yarns ...
WildCityWoman
Oh, thanks for posting Poisonwood Bible.
I'll never forget that story - what an introduction to Africa.
It was the kind of story that made me sorry when I read the last page. I can never get into something else after I've liked a book that much.
I'm now reading Prodigal Summer - a lot of nature in that one.