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orangeblood 's review for:
The Lacuna
by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver has never disappointed. Poisonwood Bible and Flight Behavior were simply outstanding reads to me. The Lacuna is a much different style of storytelling, but no less brilliant. There are some mysteries as to how the story is pieced together in the first part, but it will come together as the novel progresses.
And the history you will learn! All of the historical stuff in the book is real -- only the protagonist is fictional. You'll learn about everything from the history of Mexico to the wild beginnings of the Communist Revolution to the sickening way the U.S. dealt with the Red Scare. I certainly knew that McCarthy and company wrongly accused many of being Communist sympathizers, but the extent of government lying and the idiotic way people reacted is an eye-opener.
As always, Kingsolver's writing is pleasure... I savor her words instead of reading over them. There are times she creates a sort of hypnotic buzz in me as I'm reading. Hard to explain.
The book is somewhat polarizing, as you'll no doubt discover by reading through the reviews. It just strikes the wrong cord with some. I can't promise you'll love it. I can only tell you I did.
Quotes:
“The crucial missing piece of the manuscript. There’s a word for that, historians use. A lacuna. So blame it on fate and history, if you want.”
*
An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty brain, shedding bits of color, a sentence or a fragrance, something that changes and then disappears. It drops like a stone to the bottom of the cave.
*
But anyone who rises, any greatness, attracts those who would cut it down at the root. Any fool knows that also.
*
“What do ye fear will happen?” There was no sound but the clock in the hall: tick, tick. “Mr. Shepherd, ye cannot stop a bad thought from coming into your head. But ye need not pull up a chair and bide it sit down.”
*
Indispensable Mrs. Brown. She has known all along the problem is not the grippe. But couldn’t know how her firm hand on my arm could make many things possible, including walking out the door onto that swaying bridge. “It appeared you needed steadying,” was her diagnosis.
And the history you will learn! All of the historical stuff in the book is real -- only the protagonist is fictional. You'll learn about everything from the history of Mexico to the wild beginnings of the Communist Revolution to the sickening way the U.S. dealt with the Red Scare. I certainly knew that McCarthy and company wrongly accused many of being Communist sympathizers, but the extent of government lying and the idiotic way people reacted is an eye-opener.
As always, Kingsolver's writing is pleasure... I savor her words instead of reading over them. There are times she creates a sort of hypnotic buzz in me as I'm reading. Hard to explain.
The book is somewhat polarizing, as you'll no doubt discover by reading through the reviews. It just strikes the wrong cord with some. I can't promise you'll love it. I can only tell you I did.
Quotes:
“The crucial missing piece of the manuscript. There’s a word for that, historians use. A lacuna. So blame it on fate and history, if you want.”
*
An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty brain, shedding bits of color, a sentence or a fragrance, something that changes and then disappears. It drops like a stone to the bottom of the cave.
*
But anyone who rises, any greatness, attracts those who would cut it down at the root. Any fool knows that also.
*
“What do ye fear will happen?” There was no sound but the clock in the hall: tick, tick. “Mr. Shepherd, ye cannot stop a bad thought from coming into your head. But ye need not pull up a chair and bide it sit down.”
*
Indispensable Mrs. Brown. She has known all along the problem is not the grippe. But couldn’t know how her firm hand on my arm could make many things possible, including walking out the door onto that swaying bridge. “It appeared you needed steadying,” was her diagnosis.