Prodigal Summer
by Barbara Kingsolver
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Book Reviews of Prodigal Summer
Book Review: Great characters, good story and an ecology lesson
Summary: 5 Stars
Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" was a huge success and that's a rough act to follow. But "Prodigal Summer" rises to the challenge and pulls the reader in with the same lush narrative voice that rings throughout all her work. I looked up the word "prodigal" in the dictionary. It has two different meanings. One is "exceedingly or recklessly wasteful." The other is "extremely abundant." Herein lies the rich theme of the book as it describes one special summer in a place that is a "wrinkle on the map that lies between farms and wildness." This is new territory for me. I live in New York City and I find the natural world fascinating, but yet a bit overwhelming. In this book, however, Ms. Kingsolver makes sure I understand it all.There are three interweaving stories. There's a wildlife biologist who works for the Park Service and lives alone in a cabin in the forest. She's been there two years and loves her solitary life; then she meets a young hunter. Down in the valley, there's a young widow who is learning about what it takes to run a farm. And a few miles away are some elderly neighbors who are constantly bickering about the world around them that they never expected. Each of these characters was so richly developed that I could anticipate their every thought while still feeling the tension of their grappling with each other, the environment and themselves.
The environment itself is a driving force. The wind on their skin, the scents in their nostrils, the air they breath, and their place in the natural world are not only described poetically, but move the story forward. There are facts in this book, lots of facts. I drank them all up as a person who has been thirsty a long time. Finally, I really understood what pesticide spraying actually does to the environment. The balance between all living things became clear to me. And I was filled with a wonder and appreciation for the natural world.
Ms. Kingsolver is preachy; there's no doubt about it. She wants to tell a good story, it's true, but she also has other motives for writing. She does that in all her books and Prodigal Summer is no exception. Here, she teaches us about the wonder and beauty of nature.
Book Review: Ms. Kingsolver's glance into Appalachia
Summary: 4 Stars
Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors. Pigs in Heaven, The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, etc. - all are excellent novels. This one is not her best, but it is still a lovely read. The book takes us to the Appalachian Mountains where we meet three characters whose lives intertwine without their knowledge over the course of one "prodigal summer."Deanna Wolfe, forest ranger in charge of Zebulon Mountain, has lived alone with minimal human contact on the mountaintop since her divorce. While I liked the character, she is the least developed of the three. We never really know what motivates some of her fears. Eddie Bondo, the man who threatens to change her secure existence, is even more shadowy.
Lusa Landowski, wife of Cole Widener, a local farmer, learns that everything is not always as it seems as she discovers over time that her husband's family's opinion of her is not what she thought. Lusa learns that in order to have a content life, she must depend on herself and her own instincts.
My favorite character was Garnett Walker, last scion of the Walker dynasty, whose family once owned everything. Approaching his 8th decade, Garnett learns, the hard way, to come to terms with aging, new ideas that challenge his lifelong beliefs, and the bane of his existence since his wife's death, his neighbor, Nannie Rawley.
While I agree that the ecological subcontext of the novel is a bit overbearing from time to time, it is the main topic that threads the three characters together, and is therefore necessary. Although industry is fast encroaching, these people all live in one of the few remaining parts of the country that is still basically a "hunting and gathering" society - so their ties to the land and all that lives on it are still strong.
Each chapter heading repeats as we return to each story line: 'Predator' takes us to Deanna's mountain, 'Moth Love' to Lusa's farm, and 'Old Chestnuts' to Garnett's orchard. I liked this approach to the book's organization.
Overall, the novel is a methodic, well-written glance into a disappearing culture few of us have experienced before. This is what Ms. Kingsolver does so well - takes us on journeys into new lives - and makes us believe we've really been there.
Book Review: Dear Ms. Kingsolver,
Summary: 5 Stars
I am writing to thank you for writing "Prodigal Summer."
How I happened to read your novel this summer is a small story in itself, really. I read one of those horrible "top 100 people" books recently, which was (if you can imagine) written with the intention of smearing and discrediting people the author didn't like. Weird, I know. Anyway, you were on his list. Can you believe it? Apparently the old saying is true, "there's no such thing as bad publicity." His slam of you got me (and I'll bet many others) curious. And so I returned his silly list-book and bought "Prodigal Summer" instead.
I really should write to thank the old guy. Without his nasty tirade, I might have missed this amazing novel, these three stories that are expertly woven together into a compelling and memorable tale.
Your readers are fortunate enough to travel along with you in this story, close by your side. There they witness (almost first-hand, or so it seems) life on and around Zebulon Mountain. Lucky readers see and experience all kinds of life on this mountain, several kinds of death, and the amazing connectedness of everything.
As an author you maintain an impressive level of invisibility. Your characters do most of the telling, through actions and words, and everything flows together in such a natural way that nothing feels forced or contrived.
Speaking of characters, they are all, in 'Predators' and 'Moth Love' and especially my favorite 'Old Chestnuts,' clearly drawn and distinct. They are likeable, often charming, even loveable, and in every case almost real enough to touch.
I could go on and on. I've read the book twice (once in print `wonst' via audio) and I'm certain I will read 'Prodigal Summer' again. Maybe next summer.
And by the way, while I'm heaping on the praise, good job on the Recorded Books, Inc. audio version, too. You're a very good reader! Not all author's should read their own books, in my opinion, but in your case I think it's a good thing. I've been recommending you to all of my friends.
Thanks again.
With Love,
Tebbiki
Book Review: A novel of environmental issues
Summary: 4 Stars
If I were to write a review having read only the first section of PRODIGAL SUMMER, I would have panned it. In highly descriptive prose, Kingsolver starts out with a middle aged woman (and forest ranger) being tracked by a much younger and of course good-looking hunter, the result being a kind of Joyce Carol Oates meets THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. However, I'm happy to report the novel strengthens tremendously as it unfolds.Kingsolver follows the lives of three characters during a particularly lush, hot summer in Appalachia, where American chestnuts and red wolves once flourished. Deanna, the forest ranger, is caught between her lover and protecting the den of coyotes he wants to locate and destroy. In the valley below, the recently widowed Lusa struggles with the ill will of her in-laws as she searches for ways to keep the family land her husband left her. And in another section of farmland, elderly Garnett feuds with Nannie over Nannie's organic farming methods, which Garnett disdains and sees as a threat to his own reputation and methods. Lusa's story is the most compelling, perhaps because Kingsolver reserves most of her opinions about the care of the environment for the other two tales, instead focusing on more personal matters. Still, the other two are told well, with strong, flowing prose. Kingsolver connects these three points-of-view mostly by the land they inhabit, but also by past histories. Although the main characters live out their dramas in isolation from the others, their lives touch upon one another in subtle ways and understandings.
This novel is heavily thematic, even occasionally dogmatic, so if this kind of writing leaves you cold, don't waste your money. However, if you're the type who likes a fictional journey coupled with political issues, this may be exactly what you're looking for. People interested in environmental issues as well as those interested in Kingsolver's progress as a novelist should read this book.
Book Review: Beware, ragweed sufferers
Summary: 3 Stars
Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" is as full of fruitful promise as are the fields, forests, and females of this ambitious novel. Aside from bogging down in awkward (and repetitive) "bio-ethics" dialogues in places, the pace is suitably quick and the interactions, natural and enjoyable. We follow three sets of protagonists, with each pair personifying some thematic element of what becomes Kingsolver's dual homage to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" and Al Gore's "Earth in the Balance." For the reader unaware of the concept of "Gaia," that is, of seeing our planet as a single cell of interrelated processes and systems, this narrative is a respectful introduction, albeit a bit heavy-handed at times. As usual, Ms. Kingsolver's gender bias sets forth the males as inarticulate predators whose only task is to scatter their seed to insure survival of the species. Be it coyotes, apple orchards, luna moths, or homo sapiens -- it's all sexual at base, with the males causing more trouble (after their initial contribution) than they're worth. This is the literary equivalent of "Who Let The Dogs Out!?" Conversely, the females are all nurturers of their various broods, stewards of their natural arenas, and inherently aware of their place in the eternal (and seasonal/lunar/diurnal) cycles. In essence, the parallel sound track is "I Am Woman" and/or "Respect." Predictably, the gender collisions create much of both the action and the comic relief.
The flora and fauna become an overarching character in that their various impacts on the humans often direct actions, fears, hopes, and even continuance itself. Ms. Kingsolver's lush Tennesseean landscape moves beautifully through the seasons as do the variety of farming tasks and produce. Reintroduction of species once hunted or blighted to regional extinction is a central plot engine and character motivation. There is enough pollen rising from the pages to set off the sensitive reader's hay fever....