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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
After reading The Poisonwood Bible, I had an inkling that my new life's purpose should be to read every Barbara Kingsolver book. The Lacuna has verified that goal. Majesty in prose. An emotional odyssey. Read this one.
This tale spans so much, and so lyrically. I became enamored early, mostly because of the Mexico City/Trotsky/Frida angles -- hard not to hook someone with history as interesting as that.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Just found this heavy and slow. I know I didn’t give it much time but the story is about what, exactly….? Too muddled in the beginning.
I was totally taken with the main character in the book--HS. Not totally sure about the letters from Mrs. Brown, but it was a fun read.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
For a book so steeped in the power of words, it's incredibly difficult to describe. Much like the tide in the lacuna, its central themes rise insidiously and powerfully. It speaks with care and nuance about the passage of time and the circumstances that dictate what becomes of a life.
What I found most striking about this book how vivid a picture it paints of Cold War Era America, The Red Scare, and McCarthyism. I found it very perturbing the level to which Americans descended into fear - into a modus in which "talkers are rising above thinkers." It hits unnervingly close to home in the current political climate and gives me more pause than I would like to admit.
One of the many charms of this book is that it finds indelible moments of charm, humor, and profound insight even despite the great sense of longing and loneliness that many of the characters in the book feel. It answers and yet leaves unanswered powerful questions about what it means to have lived and we will be remembered once we're gone.
The Lacuna is haunting both in the things it says but most especially in the things it doesn't.
What I found most striking about this book how vivid a picture it paints of Cold War Era America, The Red Scare, and McCarthyism. I found it very perturbing the level to which Americans descended into fear - into a modus in which "talkers are rising above thinkers." It hits unnervingly close to home in the current political climate and gives me more pause than I would like to admit.
One of the many charms of this book is that it finds indelible moments of charm, humor, and profound insight even despite the great sense of longing and loneliness that many of the characters in the book feel. It answers and yet leaves unanswered powerful questions about what it means to have lived and we will be remembered once we're gone.
The Lacuna is haunting both in the things it says but most especially in the things it doesn't.
This book took me a while to get into. When the real news is bad I tend to not want to read things also depressing, even if they are fictional. However, I kept at it and am so glad I did. This is historical fiction, and Barbara Kingsolver really did her research. I learned so many things I did not know before about our own American history. I kept thinking, "Holy crap, did that really happen?" and then I would look it up and it had. I also loved the way she brought Frida Kahlo to life in this story. Finally, I really appreciate the different ways she challenged herself as a writer in this story. The story is told from many perspectives and formats, from diary entries to letters from others. In addition, she writes as a writer writing about a writer, and the sentences that writer puts together are often beautiful and poetic. This is definitely something I would recommend and something that it turns out is very illuminating to our current times (Polio epidemic, McKarthyism, the Depression...).
This took a bit to get into, but then it got better and better. I really enjoyed it - great story.