The Poisonwood Bible (MP3 CD)
by Barbara Kingsolver
List Price:
Our Price: $12.03
You Save: $7.96 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $10.95 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Barbara KingsolverReader: Dean Robertson
Edition: MP3 CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged
Published: 2004-08-28
ISBN: 1593359020
Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD
Accessories:
Summary of The Poisonwood Bible (MP3 CD)
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them all they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil. This tale of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction, over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa, is set against history's most dramatic political parables. The Poisonwood Bible dances between the darkly comic human failings and inspiring poetic justices of our times. In a compelling exploration of religion, conscience, imperialist arrogance, and the many paths to redemption, Barbara Kingsolver has brought forth her most ambitious work ever.Oprah Book ClubŪ Selection, June 2000: As any reader of The Mosquito Coast knows, men who drag their families to far-off climes in pursuit of an Idea seldom come to any good, while those familiar with At Play in the Fields of the Lord or Kalimantaan understand that the minute a missionary sets foot on the fictional stage, all hell is about to break loose. So when Barbara Kingsolver sends missionary Nathan Price along with his wife and four daughters off to Africa in The Poisonwood Bible, you can be sure that salvation is the one thing they're not likely to find. The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village reachable only by airplane. To say that he and his family are woefully unprepared would be an understatement: "We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle," says Leah, one of Nathan's daughters. But of course it isn't long before they discover that the tremendous humidity has rendered the mixes unusable, their clothes are unsuitable, and they've arrived in the middle of political upheaval as the Congolese seek to wrest independence from Belgium. In addition to poisonous snakes, dangerous animals, and the hostility of the villagers to Nathan's fiery take-no-prisoners brand of Christianity, there are also rebels in the jungle and the threat of war in the air. Could things get any worse?
In fact they can and they do. The first part of The Poisonwood Bible revolves around Nathan's intransigent, bullying personality and his effect on both his family and the village they have come to. As political instability grows in the Congo, so does the local witch doctor's animus toward the Prices, and both seem to converge with tragic consequences about halfway through the novel. From that point on, the family is dispersed and the novel follows each member's fortune across a span of more than 30 years.
The Poisonwood Bible is arguably Barbara Kingsolver's most ambitious work, and it reveals both her great strengths and her weaknesses. As Nathan Price's wife and daughters tell their stories in alternating chapters, Kingsolver does a good job of differentiating the voices. But at times they can grate--teenage Rachel's tendency towards precious malapropisms is particularly annoying (students practice their "French congregations"; Nathan's refusal to take his family home is a "tapestry of justice"). More problematic is Kingsolver's tendency to wear her politics on her sleeve; this is particularly evident in the second half of the novel, in which she uses her characters as mouthpieces to explicate the complicated and tragic history of the Belgian Congo.
Despite these weaknesses, Kingsolver's fully realized, three-dimensional characters make The Poisonwood Bible compelling, especially in the first half, when Nathan Price is still at the center of the action. And in her treatment of Africa and the Africans she is at her best, exhibiting the acute perception, moral engagement, and lyrical prose that have made her previous novels so successful. --Alix Wilber
Business & Investing Books
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Money for Nothing: One Man's Journey Through the Dark Side of Lottery Millionsby Edward Ugel
HarperBusiness; Published: 2007-09-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.45
Price in other shops:
You Can Do It! CDby Jonathan D. Pond
HarperAudio; Published: 2006-11-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.05
Price in other shops:
China's Megatrends: The 8 Pillars of a New Societyby John Naisbitt, Doris Naisbitt
HarperBusiness; Published: 2010-01-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperityby Richard Florida
Harper; Published: 2010-04-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops:
Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insuranceby Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
William Morrow; Published: 2009-10-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.62
Price in other shops:
Attitude is Everything Rev Ed: 10 Life-Changing Steps to Turning Attitude into Actionby Keith Harrell
HarperBusiness; Published: 2005-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.31
Price in other shops:
Get Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Businessby Douglas Rushkoff
HarperBusiness; Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.55
Price in other shops:
Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Tradersby Jack D. Schwager
Perennial (HarperCollins); Published: 1990-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.74
The Truth About Money 3rd Editionby Ric Edelman
HarperBusiness; Published: 2003-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.36
Price in other shops:
J.K. Lasser's Taxes Made Easy for Your Home-Based Businessby Gary W. Carter
Macmillan General Reference; Published: 1999-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
The Lincoln Lawyerby Michael Connelly
Hachette Audio; Published: 2007-11-13; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $7.03
Price in other shops:
Sony D-NF340 CD Walkman & MP3 Player w/ FM TunerSony; Sony; Sony; Release date: 2009-11-30; Electronics; Network Media Player
Best price: $189.95
The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternityby William Paul Young
Oasis Audio; Published: 2008-07-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $10.46
Price in other shops:
The Lacuna CDby Barbara Kingsolver
HarperAudio; Published: 2009-11-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $11.25
Price in other shops:
The Poisonwood Bibleby Barbara Kingsolver
Harper; Published: 1998-10-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemptionby Laura Hillenbrand
Random House Audio; Published: 2010-11-16; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $22.98
Price in other shops:
The Bean Trees Low Price CDby Barbara Kingsolver
HarperAudio; Published: 2009-05-19; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops:
Life of Piby Yann Martel
HighBridge Company; Published: 2003-01-09; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $19.00
Price in other shops:
The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (P.S.)by Barbara Kingsolver
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2008-06-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.24
Price in other shops: