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By Diane , Armchair Tour Guide · 3 posts · 1370 views
last updated Jan 18, 2013 07:12PM
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What Members Thought
It took me a really long time to get into this book. If it wasn't written by Barbara Kingsolver I don't think I would have continued reading. To me, the first half of the book was long and drawn out set up for the second half of the book. During this time, the narrarator is living in Mexico where he works in the household of the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and thus becomes acquainted with the Soviet exile Lev Trotsky. There were a few interesting parts in this section of the book, but
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While it took a while to feel really swept up into this book, after page 100 it was a fantastic read. Loved everything about it: the details of Coxey's army, Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Trotsky, McCarthyism. While I was taken with the crafting of sentences occasionally, I think Kingsolver's real gift here is the layeredness of the text. How many Lacunas can we count? The lacuna in his ocean swimming hole, the ones we don't know about people, the lacuna at the heart of 1950s American McCarthyi
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A book to be savored, page-by-page, at your leisure. I had a hard time rushing through this to finish it by the library's due date. At first, it seems like it's not going to be very interesting or engaging, but have faith, the story will unfold and become very satisfying. Much of the story is a not very subtle comparison between our present-day politics and the situation during the World Wars and after. (Interestingly, the story is about a fictional author who writes books that are not very subt
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Aug 29, 2011
Stacey
marked it as could-not-finish
As a huge fan of Barbara Kingsolver, I was excited my fav bookstore's audiobook library had this so I could listen to it on my endless commute . . . but it puts me to sleep. I may try again in paper form down the road, but for now, it's a major disappointment.
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Could have been 200 pages shorter.
Nov 09, 2009
Ching-In
marked it as to-read
Dec 09, 2009
Jen
marked it as to-read
Feb 19, 2010
Jessica
marked it as to-read
Jun 23, 2010
Deedee
marked it as to-read
Nov 11, 2012
alana
marked it as to-read
Jun 25, 2013
Pamela
marked it as own
Aug 15, 2014
Mansir
marked it as to-read
Feb 05, 2018
Idit
marked it as to-read
Sep 01, 2018
Ann
marked it as to-read
Sep 06, 2018
Lisa Rosen
marked it as to-read
Jan 09, 2021
superawesomekt
marked it as bibliocurious
Apr 02, 2021
Colleen Chi-Girl
marked it as to-read
