Reviews

This novel has me torn, for I really responded to it conceptually but thought its themes were telegraphed too clearly. Ideas around genetics, biology, animality, attraction, conservation, and rural life are all things of intimate interest to me as someone who grew up in between heavily industrialized farms and native tallgrass prairie (and as someone whose parents had kids later in life). But for better and for worse, the influence of Victorian social problem novels (more obviously present in Kingsolver's later Dickens’ retelling Demon Copperhead) is clear here. Prodigal Summer is largely made up of various pairings of two characters having ideological arguments that function as a fairly obvious vehicle for the author to philosophize on the novels themes. This reminded me of many novels written around England's industrial revolution, where individual characters would act as a dramatization of larger conflicts between small farms and industry, country and city. But in a novel like Gaskell's North and South for example, I felt more forgiving towards the obvious narrative devices because the characters backing these conversations up felt richer and realer than they do here.

Though ultimately I do appreciate that Kingsolver draws influence from the more outwardly political novels of the Victorian era rather than the (more limited in my opinion) Georgian and Regency comedies of manners whose influence can be seen in so many contemporary stories across literature and film. I cannot connect to that genre as easily for both formal and political reasons— the lack of scenic description and the emphasis on dialogue results in a privileging of social relations, culture and the constructed and we lose sight of other ways of being. Namely nature and the tangible, which will always be intertwined with culture wether it is recognized or not. It is past time, in our thinking as well as in our art, to move away from an understanding of the world where the semiotic rules all, and here Kingsolver, at least, seems to agree.

dbartelt's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

dorothyhollander's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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