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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Fun and engaging story, kind of plays around the edges of magical realism without diving deep into it, and I liked the inclusion of the historical characters.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A beautiful book for challenging political times. I needed this book right now. Kingsolver’s writing is spectacular.
The anger that welled up inside me from Harrison's bad treatment concerning the red scare is a testament to how well written this book was. At first it took a bit too get a hang of the sometimes choppy literary style, but by the end of the book, I wanted Harrison to be a real writer.
I enjoy Barbara Kingsolver so much that I was disappointed to not love "The Lacuna" from the first page. It took at least a hundred pages or so for me to really get involved with the main character, Harrison Shepherd. I was finally hooked by Shepherd's meeting artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico City (I adore both of their work and actually had wedding photos taken in front of a gorgeous Rivera mural in the stairwell of the Pacific Club in San Francisco.) From that point, I really began to love this novel and by the time Shepherd begins working for the doomed Trotsky I was more than hooked.
There are some simply beautiful passages in this book and some difficult truths about the worst impulses of American society that are even now being played out in our news media and repeated by the maddening crowds and stupid ratings-grubbing "reporters." (Accusations of Socialism anyone?!) I'm so glad I soldiered on for the first hundred pages; I was richly rewarded by the next 400!
There are some simply beautiful passages in this book and some difficult truths about the worst impulses of American society that are even now being played out in our news media and repeated by the maddening crowds and stupid ratings-grubbing "reporters." (Accusations of Socialism anyone?!) I'm so glad I soldiered on for the first hundred pages; I was richly rewarded by the next 400!
Reading this while traveling in Mexico is top-tier.
Ugh, maybe 3.5 stars? I just don't understand how a book that has Frida Kahlo and Trotsky as fairly main characters can be so... dull? It was beautifully written but I kind of lost the will halfway through.