The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) ***** ever further into strange and familiar lands

[livingbyfiction]

I really like Barbara Kingsolver's name.

Also, she can write.

I usually wait until I am done with a book before reviewing it, but in this case there is a mystery, so perhaps the review is best before journey's end.  A family with four daughters goes to the depths of the Congo as missionaries in the 1960s, and right off the bat the mother lets us know

Comments

[livingbyfiction]

It's finely crafted, is what it is. The heat, the oppression, the backwards astuteness, feels like Faulkner. Their family name, by the way, is Price. There is a price to be paid, and something precious to be gotten.

[froggandie]

I haven't read this book, but I did read a rail against it one time. The main complaints were that B.K. is too "nice" and write about such obviously-defined moral issues that no one dares to write bad reviews about her books, that the women in this story are too smart from the outset and really don't have any particularly new revelations over the course of the story, and that the Congolese are given no higher place in the story than African wildlife.

It stuck w/ me b/c it was so harsh, but, again, never read the book, and it's obviously quite popular.

[lesliesage]

Yeah, I remember you saying that in Morocco. But man, I tell you she can write. I just don't understand how that guy sees those women as flat characters, and it kind of irks me still; you start with a pile of utterly dependent, subservient women, and end up with something rather not. The whole point is that they don't need more intelligence, they only need spines; it's not surprising to me that a male reviewer couldn't even see the wife's leash and collar, much less its absolution- just clear and simple, "they started out smart; what was the problem." Not that they all become women-and-gender professors; that wouldn't say much about the human condition. And speaking of which, the inhumanity, manipulation, and sticky condescension of the reverend (and the American population and western governments) is held in constant comparison to the non-delusional intelligence, practicality, and capability of the Congolese, and I'd say much more about the politics, involvement, and character complexity of the Congolese if it wouldn't spoil the

[froggandie]

I can't agree or disagree, but you can determine for yourself:

http://www.amazon.com/Falling-upwards-essays-defense-imagination/dp/0465078001

[froggandie]

P.S. I will say, though, that Lee Siegel doesn't hit home w/ his other review of "Sex and the City."

So, maybe you're right about the woman-character hatred.