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bonnieg 's review for:
The Lacuna
by Barbara Kingsolver
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 The whole Mother made me a homosexual line is appalling, outdated, and certainly not in keeping with Kingsolver's sterling liberal credentials.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.