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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
3.6 stars.
I can tell I'm not in the same 'camp' as Kingsolver: I don't have a hard stance against viewing television in my home. I've never spiraled into deep, personal grief over an international incident involving immigration. The majority of my food is not grown within 10 miles of where I live. I don't believe middle eastern tensions would be solved by simply selling missiles and giving the money to the hungry citizens. But perhaps all of these differences make me a good reader for these essays. Sure, there were moments I was annoyed by her stances but there were also moments of this book I felt encouraged, persuaded, or challenged. It left me with some thoughts to ponder. And it's worthwhile to read essays by someone who has different interests and opinions.
I can tell I'm not in the same 'camp' as Kingsolver: I don't have a hard stance against viewing television in my home. I've never spiraled into deep, personal grief over an international incident involving immigration. The majority of my food is not grown within 10 miles of where I live. I don't believe middle eastern tensions would be solved by simply selling missiles and giving the money to the hungry citizens. But perhaps all of these differences make me a good reader for these essays. Sure, there were moments I was annoyed by her stances but there were also moments of this book I felt encouraged, persuaded, or challenged. It left me with some thoughts to ponder. And it's worthwhile to read essays by someone who has different interests and opinions.
I love Kinsolver, but this collection is a bit uneven. When it is good, it is really good. When it is less good, well, you know.
I'm giving this book 5 stars, knowing I'll need to read it again (and again) to fully appreciate its wonder. I glossed over some of the deeper parts, but there were plenty of points that got my full attention. I loved reading this book. I feel like Barbara Kingsolver comes from my world. Some of her expressions remind me of my mother, and her ideas/arguments/musings make a lot of sense to me. This is a well-thought, well-read, caring woman who is showing off a whole new kind of patriotism.
This book is worth reading and re-reading, for sure!
This book is worth reading and re-reading, for sure!
A fantastic volume filled with thoughtful essays and well-constructed reasoning on natural living, logical pacifism, women, raising children (in particular, daughters), wild spaces, politics, and the like. Kingsolver is clever and funny and poignant. She is well-articulated and her arguments are thought-provoking.
We read this back and forth to each over the course of some time, mainly on long drives. Many of her words hit home.
"What we lose in our great human exodus from the land is a rooted sense, as deep and intangible as religious faith, of why we need to hold on to the wild and beautiful places that once surrounded us." -- 39
"Poems are everywhere, but easy to miss. [...] There are dusty, lost poems, all over my house" -- 229
"compassion involves not just the heart but the hands" -- 249
"Americans who read and think are patriots of the first order. [...] There are as many ways to love America as there are Americans, and our country needs us all." -- 241
We read this back and forth to each over the course of some time, mainly on long drives. Many of her words hit home.
"What we lose in our great human exodus from the land is a rooted sense, as deep and intangible as religious faith, of why we need to hold on to the wild and beautiful places that once surrounded us." -- 39
"Poems are everywhere, but easy to miss. [...] There are dusty, lost poems, all over my house" -- 229
"compassion involves not just the heart but the hands" -- 249
"Americans who read and think are patriots of the first order. [...] There are as many ways to love America as there are Americans, and our country needs us all." -- 241
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Beautiful writing, as always, and which shown brightest when she wove her point in with a story from her own life. The more philosophical essays I regrettably found kind of tedious, slipping into preaching to the choir. As small wonders go, Kingsolver is a masterclass in using small, everyday things to draw us to the universal, but the third of the essays that tried to stay at 10,000 feet were not that. I don’t regret picking up this collection, though, because when it’s good it is very good.
Couldn't make it past the second essay. The book reminds readers how much is very wrong with the world, and why would I want to read about that during my relaxation time?
This is a great collection of thoughtful essays on environmentalism, family and country. Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors. I first read her fiction and love how she develops characters and makes you intimately know them. It is so easy to get lost in her books. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I also enjoyed her non-fiction. She talks about responsible living, why we should do more of it and how she does it. It is inspiring.
informative
reflective
medium-paced