Prodigal Summer
by Barbara Kingsolver
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Book Reviews of Prodigal Summer
Book Review: Dog Days of Summer
Summary: 3 Stars
I began Prodigal Summer anxious for yet another thoroughly enjoyable read from one of my favorite authors. From the time I read my first Barbara Kingsolver novel, The Bean Trees, I've been amazed at her ability to make me care about the characters, to make me laugh out loud at the folksy humor laced throughout the narrative, and to capture my imagination with the twists and turns of the plot. In some ways, Prodigal Summer continues that tradition. The characters are just as lovable and humanly flawed as any of her previous characters. There's still plenty of humor. Unfortunately for me, though, the plot never firmly establishes itself. The story is told by alternately focusing on three main sets of characters - a reclusive Forest Service worker and her mysterious friend, a grumpy old-man farmer and his difficult neighbor, and a recently widowed farmer's wife and her overbearing in-laws. Kingsolver goes to great lengths to show how these seemingly separate groups of people struggling through their own lives are tied together by their natural surroundings. The problem is that this is the only real central unifying element of the story.
For me, the "we're all connected" angle is too obvious and yet too annoyingly vague to adequately tie the stories together or to capture my imagination. The result is a mildly enjoyable yet less than satisfying novel that I admittedly just "didn't get."
Book Review: Coyotes, romance, and Japanese beetles
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel, which tells three intertwined stories set in the fictional community of Egg Creek, somewhere in the Southern Appalachians, is my favorite of Barbara Kingsolver's novels (so far). Her characteristic knack for evoking the spirit of places is intact in this book, and she spins a tale that inspires passion and ecological conscience. From a sense of the mountains of southwest Virginia to the blight that killed off the American chestnut to the life cycles of Japanese beetles, Kingsolver deals with a variety of topics fluidly and with a genuine sense of purpose. Although some of the dialogue in the story comes off as didactic, this was no more a problem for me than the fiction of Wendell Berry or Barry Lopez. The beautiful narrative, the sassy dialogue, and the humanity of her characters easily overshadows the sometimes instructive nature of her writing (and, by the way, what she has to say about ecology is true!). This book is so well-wrought that I would definitely teach this book to my high-school students, if not for the sometimes explicitly ... content. Even then I just might risk the wrath of some of my students' more conservative parents, knowing that the lessons conveyed in the book are that important and ripe for insightful class discussion. Besides, a little talk about... never hurt anyone.Book Review: An exquisitely beautiful book about survival
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a book you can read over and over again, finding something new to appreciate each time. I've read every book Barbara Kingsolver has published, including her non-fiction and poetry, and this is undoubtedly one of her best efforts.I LOVE the way that the three main narratives in Prodigal Summer are linked together in incredibly subtle ways. A more predictable novel would have had these different stories all come together at the end in some tidy package, but that would have ruined it. Instead, the reader slowly begins to see how these separate lives are connected to one another, even when the characters themselves don't realize it. Kingsolver doesn't hit you over the head with these ideas, so it takes a careful reader to appreciate all these connections, and I'm compelled to start reading this book over again from the beginning to see what I missed the first time through.
Anyone who was disappointed by this book just utterly missed the point, and needs to start over again, SLOWLY. The women in this book are awe-inspiring. It's not a book about coyotes, or moths, or chestnut trees, or anything that simple. It's a book about survival, and about the intrinsic interconnectedness of all life. Approach this book with an open mind, and you might learn something important.
Book Review: Kingsolver just beat her own record for personal best.
Summary: 5 Stars
Awesome, awesome, awesome! For those who didn't like this book, I say you missed the point. Kingsolver once again uses her wonderful talent to "speak" through different characters (as in Poisonwood Bible). In this case, there are three main characters (and many strong supporting characters)- Deanna, Lusa, and Garnett- through whom she spins her tales. Ironically, all of the main characters are fiecely independent people, devoted to nature, who discover their need for human connection. Their stories, while separate and distinct, intersect at the conclusion of the story. The book was fascinating in that Kingsolver can spin multiple stories on multiple levels simultaneously in a stunningly deep and insightful way. (And not just stories about human characters). This book was so rich in thoughts and ideas, I think you will probably need to read it several times to take it all in. It was about procreation and creation, interdependencies and independence in all of nature. She beautifully shows that we humans are very little different from our animal, plant and insect brethren. Her writing was vivid, descriptive, and made nature one could smell, taste, and touch through her words. This book is a monumental achievement. How will she ever top this one?Book Review: I'll never look at the world the same again!
Summary: 5 Stars
Intelligently written and researched, the author imparts knowledge with a flair that takes you on a journey through three main scenarios that she ties together skillfully, leaving you not only enlightened but entertained.The main theme is ecology and environmentalism. It is presented through the eyes of Deanna, a park ranger, studying the return of coyotes to the Zebulon National Park in the Appalachian Mountains. Then there is Nannie Rawly who owns the largest organic apple orchard in the valley below and has a cantankerous old man for a neighbor who isn't happy unless he has a gallon of pesticides in hand. Finally there is the story of Lusa, a city girl and only child, who marries a farmer with a large family that views her as an outsider.
Kingsolver takes these characters and weaves a beautiful tale that unfolds with grace and ease. This book has a bit of everything, love, loss, courage to face the odds, and even a bit of lust. I am amazed at the way the author left me thinking about the balance of nature and how any given action has a world of consequences in the grand scheme of things. She shows both sides of the spectrum leaving you with a feeling of justice requited. An impressive book and certainly worth the time.