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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book has been on my TBR since 2009. I don’t know why I waited so long to read it, but I’m happy I read it when I did. After spending 3 years writing a dissertation that explores whiteness, I was able to notice Kingsolver’s own commentary and exploration of whiteness in this novel which I would’ve overlooked prior to my PhD. I found this novel fascinating in that regard and the fact that only one of the daughters is even cognizant of the power and privilege of her whiteness rang all too true. It’s only after she starts a relationship with a Congolese man that she becomes aware of it. The academic in me wants to write an article about it.
The reader in me loved this book for its rich character development, the use of multiple perspectives, and the fact that the father, Nathan Price, doesn’t get a voice while his wife and daughters do. I think I would’ve hated him even more if I had to be inside his mind. I blame him entirely for the death of Ruth May. His kind of Christianity is why I’m atheist.
Overall, an enthralling saga of missionaries in the Congo (Zaire). Highly recommend.
The reader in me loved this book for its rich character development, the use of multiple perspectives, and the fact that the father, Nathan Price, doesn’t get a voice while his wife and daughters do. I think I would’ve hated him even more if I had to be inside his mind. I blame him entirely for the death of Ruth May. His kind of Christianity is why I’m atheist.
Overall, an enthralling saga of missionaries in the Congo (Zaire). Highly recommend.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Decided to reread one of my all time favourites and it didn’t disappoint. The undoing of a family taken to the Congo in 1959 by their Baptist missionary father told from the perspectives of his wife and 4 daughters. It’s astonishing how different these perspectives are. Its so well put together, the characters (and I see the Congo as one) leap out of the page. There’s a lot to learn from this book, about Africa, colonialism and US intervention in particular. Well worth a second read 20 years later.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Barbara Kingsolver is incredible! I can’t imagine what it takes to write a book like this. If you like a book that focuses on character development this would be it! Long read but well worth it. Learned a ton about the Congo, that I knew little about. I also really enjoyed how she spoke about the US Foreign involvement in Africa and the harm that it caused.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
sad
slow-paced
This book druggggg on. It was okay but also like Little Women but Africa and not as good? Honestly just really sad.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a long book. Like, I get why it was long, but it was just SO LONG. I feel like some things could have maybe been sped up, especially at the beginning. Like the beginning was so slow, and then the end was so fast, which I didn't mind at all. I think the reason I thought the beginning was so slow was because the message that Kingslover was trying to get across was extremely explicit to me. Therefore, I felt that she kept drilling at a point she already made, making it a bit repetitive and boring.
I had to read this for my summer reading assignment for my AP lit class, so maybe that's why I am so negative about the book. Like maybe the fact that I had to read this book made me not really like it already.
I did like how you can see the development of each of the daughters and also Orleanna. Maybe that was one of the upsides of the longer book format. I liked how through the chapters, my feelings toward each of the daughters shifted. For example, I didn't really like Leah that much, then I began to feel sorry for her, and then she became my favorite, and then she started to piss me off again, and then in the end I was happy for her. I liked to see Adah's growth the most. I think in the end, she was my favorite. I also loved to see Adah's and Leah's relationship. Their lives were opposite and parallel at the same time, and I loved how Kingslover made a yin-yang sort of thing.
I think the book only really got better after the climax of the story occurred. After that, it was a downward slide to read.
Even though I said all these bad things about the book, I still was able to enjoy some of it. I loved Ruth May's section and Adah's lyrical writing, Leah's relatability, and Orleanna's strive to be a good mother. Moreover, I liked how Kingsolver handled Nathan and how she was able to show the hypocrisy of what he did. Another thing that I thought she did extremely well was how she incorporated side characters. She didn't make them seem like side characters at all, but rather people who had a past, present, and future. She made everyone in the story feel real.
I had to read this for my summer reading assignment for my AP lit class, so maybe that's why I am so negative about the book. Like maybe the fact that I had to read this book made me not really like it already.
I did like how you can see the development of each of the daughters and also Orleanna. Maybe that was one of the upsides of the longer book format. I liked how through the chapters, my feelings toward each of the daughters shifted. For example, I didn't really like Leah that much, then I began to feel sorry for her, and then she became my favorite, and then she started to piss me off again, and then in the end I was happy for her. I liked to see Adah's growth the most. I think in the end, she was my favorite. I also loved to see Adah's and Leah's relationship. Their lives were opposite and parallel at the same time, and I loved how Kingslover made a yin-yang sort of thing.
I think the book only really got better after the climax of the story occurred. After that, it was a downward slide to read.
Even though I said all these bad things about the book, I still was able to enjoy some of it. I loved Ruth May's section and Adah's lyrical writing, Leah's relatability, and Orleanna's strive to be a good mother. Moreover, I liked how Kingsolver handled Nathan and how she was able to show the hypocrisy of what he did. Another thing that I thought she did extremely well was how she incorporated side characters. She didn't make them seem like side characters at all, but rather people who had a past, present, and future. She made everyone in the story feel real.
emotional
medium-paced