Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
As much as I loved previous BK books, I’m not loving this one. I don’t care for her as the audiobook narrator — that’s the biggest turn off. A lot of other reviews say the first part is boring, but it gets better if you stick with it. I just can’t. Maybe I’ll read the paper book someday.
I'm a little undecided about this novel. Certainly it is a 'big' book, with characters drawn from America's dalliance with the left during the thirties; but the conceit of the main character's secretary, Violet Brown, is rather unnecessary. It might have worked in the hands of A.S. Byatt, but not here. What emerges is not a political novel but a story of alienation, and there are more than enough of those!
This book was pretty good. I'd probably give it more like a 3.5 than a 4 (but goodreads doesn't have a half star option so I rounded up). I found the story interesting, and well written, if a bit slow moving. I decided to read this because I live in Asheville and had just visited Mexico City, so it was interesting to see those two places through this story and from the writers point of view. I found the latter part of the book a bit scary too in how the politics of that day are so closely resembling what is happening now - fear and xenophobia abound. I'd recommend this if you like historical fiction type books.
Brilliant. I struggled through the first third of it, perservering only because it had come highly recommended by someone whose judgment I trusted. It got better! Much better! The last third was fabulous and really enlightening. Another great book from Kingsolver (has she ever written a dud?!). The sort of book that makes me wish I could write too. Makes me wish I had even a tenth of the imagination that Kingsolver does. Worth a read.
I'm not sure how this got onto my "to read" list but I'm sure glad it did. I had no idea what is was about when I started listening to the audio version and was wondering where the story was going for the first hour or so. But as the story progressed I decided I liked Harrison and when his story crossed with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera I was hooked. By the end I was sad to there wasn't more.
Kingsolver states that Harrison Shepherd and Violet Brown are truly fictional characters woven into the tumult of the early 20th century but their story and the seamless fit with the rest of history makes one wonder...
Very well written and well narrated by Barbara Kingsolver.
Kingsolver states that Harrison Shepherd and Violet Brown are truly fictional characters woven into the tumult of the early 20th century but their story and the seamless fit with the rest of history makes one wonder...
Very well written and well narrated by Barbara Kingsolver.
This was, as expected, a very good book. The amount of detail and research on the topics was impressive. It also spurred me to read more about some of the secondary characters in the book, and make my own decisions about whether or not they were really as presented in the book. The main character sometimes got lost in all of the drama and dramatic characters around him. It does, however, speak to the power of her writing (as expected) that I became really emotionally involved and frustrated with some of the events. I felt like Joey from "Friends", and wanted to put the book in the freezer because it was so scary! Another Kingsolver book worth every page.
Barbara Kingsolver - great author. Well done, amazing plot twist at the end.
wowsers, struggled to get going with this, but pays off big if you stick with it
This is a hard book to review because I truly disliked the first 100+ pages and slogged through them only because I have liked Kingsolver's past work enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. So what do you do with a book where you hated about 20%, liked a good deal, and loved even more? I am going to opt for the 3 star, but it really is more a 3.5.
So why was the beginning so insufferable? First and foremost much of it existed to buy into some ridiculous pure Freudian explanation for homosexuality. I truly said aloud with in the first few pages, "ah, they are going to make him Gay." I was so hoping I was wrong. The whole Mother made me a homosexual line is appalling, outdated, and certainly not in keeping with Kingsolver's sterling liberal credentials. Second, a fair portion existed to introduce the lacunas (lacunae?) and define them for those like me who did not know the word. Sure this ends up being sort of important, but they could have been introduced in a single page when Harrison is already living with the Rivera/Kahlos without taking away from anything. Do that, and tell us he learned to cook from a servant, and forget the (silly) roots of his sexual orientation and we knock out over 100 pages of unbelievably boring crap. Then we jump into the good stuff fresh and eager and unexhausted.
The rest of the book is wonderful. The characters, the relationships, the historical observations and connections. Wonderful. I particularly loved the portion set in Mexico where Harrison developed his relationships with Frida Kahlo and Lev Trotsky, but the American years were compelling as well. There was a certain Forrest Gump quality to Harrison's journey which made him an unwitting participant in the early to mid century evolution of Communism, but it worked for me. And as always, it is worth noting that Kingsolver's prose is gorgeous.
So...recommended with the caveat that if you skim the first 100 pages you will enjoy it more.
One more caveat. Avoid the audiobook at all costs. Kingsolver is a great writer but a terrible, awful, horrible reader. If I can find audio versions of my books at the library I like to go back and forth between reading and listening so I can use my drive time well (Atlanta peeps know there is a lot of time spent behind the wheel.) For this book I returned the audio and kept to my good old paper book. In 100's of audiobook listenings I have only done that one other time, (with a Sarah Vowell book also read by the author.) So stick to print (or ereader) and skim the first 100 pages and it will be all good.
So why was the beginning so insufferable? First and foremost much of it existed to buy into some ridiculous pure Freudian explanation for homosexuality. I truly said aloud with in the first few pages, "ah, they are going to make him Gay." I was so hoping I was wrong. The whole Mother made me a homosexual line is appalling, outdated, and certainly not in keeping with Kingsolver's sterling liberal credentials. Second, a fair portion existed to introduce the lacunas (lacunae?) and define them for those like me who did not know the word. Sure this ends up being sort of important, but they could have been introduced in a single page when Harrison is already living with the Rivera/Kahlos without taking away from anything. Do that, and tell us he learned to cook from a servant, and forget the (silly) roots of his sexual orientation and we knock out over 100 pages of unbelievably boring crap. Then we jump into the good stuff fresh and eager and unexhausted.
The rest of the book is wonderful. The characters, the relationships, the historical observations and connections. Wonderful. I particularly loved the portion set in Mexico where Harrison developed his relationships with Frida Kahlo and Lev Trotsky, but the American years were compelling as well. There was a certain Forrest Gump quality to Harrison's journey which made him an unwitting participant in the early to mid century evolution of Communism, but it worked for me. And as always, it is worth noting that Kingsolver's prose is gorgeous.
So...recommended with the caveat that if you skim the first 100 pages you will enjoy it more.
One more caveat. Avoid the audiobook at all costs. Kingsolver is a great writer but a terrible, awful, horrible reader. If I can find audio versions of my books at the library I like to go back and forth between reading and listening so I can use my drive time well (Atlanta peeps know there is a lot of time spent behind the wheel.) For this book I returned the audio and kept to my good old paper book. In 100's of audiobook listenings I have only done that one other time, (with a Sarah Vowell book also read by the author.) So stick to print (or ereader) and skim the first 100 pages and it will be all good.
This was a fascinating book for many reasons. I loved the style it was written in - mostly in journal entries by a man more interested in capturing the world around him than capturing his own thoughts - and I loved that the style evolved over time. The book was also interesting because it taught me a lot about the time - Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Trotsky, and communism in Mexico (and America) were all important parts of the main character's life journey, and Barbara Kingsolver stayed true to history as she wrote about them. I learned a lot about history, and I appreciate the very real, raw perspective that she was able to give that you do not always find in history books. Great book! Only 4/5 because it was at times slow.