Reviews with content warning for Ableism - The Poisonwood Bible

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

30 reviews

fpcat99's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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angelofthetardis's review against another edition

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This was a recommendation from a work colleague back in 2022, but it's only just reached the top of my TBR pile. We follow the four daughters of Baptist minister Nathan Price as they are uprooted from their every day existence in 1960s America and deposited in the Belgian Congo on the eve of its independence to support their father in his mission to preach the word of God.

While I think the writing is very good, the style severely lets the story down. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the daughters; one of whom is very young, another of whom is unable to speak and whose brain likes to process and interpret things backwards. It therefore feels like you're reading extracts from four diaries and trying to piece together the wider story from snippets of information the girls include. So as you can imagine, you don't actually get a lot of detail about the wider goings on; everything each girl says has themself at the centre of things. In some places, it almost reads like gibberish. It's clear a lot of thought has gone into the structure and the characters, but I just couldn't figure out what the story was meant to be about or why I was meant to care.

It also didn't help that none of the characters appealed to me. I got frustrated with the typical selfish teen behaviour of the eldest, the submissive mother and the idiocy and obstinacy of the father. Honestly, I think the only character that had even a modicum of appeal was Leah.

The attitudes of the characters reflect the period setting, so there is a lot of dismissal of Congolese culture as 'pagan' or 'idolatrous' compared to the zenith that is Christianity, a strong thread of xenophobia and a fair smattering of sexism and misogyny. And yet the author has managed to illustrate how moronic these attitudes are through the complete lack of understanding Nathan has for his surroundings. This was very cleverly done, but nevertheless does make for quite uncomfortable reading in many places.

It was certainly worth a try, but this was just too far outside my comfort zone to appeal.

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amsswim's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think this is going in not only 5 star category, but favorites and best books I've read categories. Not only was the story good, but the writing kept me engaged and seeking more the whole time. This author had such beautiful and realistic ways of making these characters come to life, as well as tie in real world implications and reflections.

You follow 4 daughters, their Mother, and Baptist Pastor Father deep into the Congo on their Fathers' mission to convert the people living there to Western Christianity. While the family goes through culture shock regarding that and their new realities, the country is self is trying to shed itself of Belgian colonialism. Despite it taking place in the 1960s, the story and the real world events occuring now still echo the exact same. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a more modern classic.

My favorite quote: "I found ... I had now wings ... I had lost my wings. Don't ask me how I gained them back, the story is too unbearable. I believed too long in false reassurances; believing as we all want to, when men speak of the national interests that it is also ours. In the end, my lot was cast with The Congo. Poor Congo; barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the kingdom"

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hleary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging lighthearted slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

-1 because it went on for too long.

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navayiota's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Complex, enchanting, heartbreaking.
I frequently felt too dumb to truly a preciate this book. A masterclass in writing strong, unique characters realistically, characters who will stick with you as you move on from this book. And in my experience, a step by step guide to comprehend your complicity in the world's tragedies, and a game plan to process, move on, and do something about it. Reading this book made me truly see the forest for the first time in my life. I have yet to understand the extent of what I've learned. I look forward to finding out.
It also pains me to imagine the kind of grief author experienced to understand grief this well, and to be able to put it to words so efficiently. It pains me more to know that there are people in this world who have experienced suffering double, triple, quadruple the size of this and had nobody to write their story down. At the end of the day, I know how good my life is.
If I could only keep one piece of knowledge from this book, it would be that now, I have the choice to not take my life for granted anymore. I will always be grateful for that.

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