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Gisele Theriault
I almost gave up too, but the last half made it so worth it!
Diaph
Regardless of how you were counseled, there are no rules in art. And this is Art! "Read" the audio book in the author's voice.
Diana Skelton
I really loved this book enormously and am wondering how far you got before abandoning it because the layers come together powerfully by the end. Most of the characters enchanted me, and I particularly loved what their lives had to say about the historic events they were living through.
Kim Skwira hoffmann
I was thinking of abandoning it as well. I'm just so bored!
Viv
I almost abandoned it because I couldn't stand the style of writing - unpolished diary entries; but I kept going because I found the stories fascinating. I actually liked the protagonist and his whimsy mother.
Cynthia Osterman
I loved this book, I was transfixed into Harrison Shepherd's world. I loved the ending, it made me tear up.
Casey
I've abandoned it at least twice and I'm trying to get through it again currently. I just discovered that the main character (no idea who's telling the story, tbh) runs into Frida and Diego. I want to love this. I love those artists, I love Mexico, I love food and kooky people and culture and I LOVE Kingsolver's other books. I'm miffed.
Karis
Nope. I loved it. I can see how it would be easy to feel disconnected from HS, as he makes it a point to disconnect himself from his own story telling (even about his own life). I felt like it was a little slow at the beginning, but the more I read, the more I fell in love with the people he fell in love with, which made me love him more.
Vicky Boackle
I loved this book.It was slow going but there were always wonderful payoffs as you read. I loved the unique way it was written,no plain jane book here.I got wrapped up in the characters.Especially Frida,VB,Lev and Mr.Shepherd.Bravo to Barbara Kingsolver!
Robin Cunninghame Graham
I loved the Poisonwood Bible and really struggled with The Lacuna. I found the first half dull and almost gave up, but I'm thankful I didn't as the last third is worth the effort of hanging on.
Nathan Chattaway
I progressed steadily through the first 2/3, then got stuck for over 2 years. I finished the last couple hundred pages today and it finishes well. There are some insightful yet pithy comments from Shepherd's lawyer regarding atom bombs, mcCarthyist anti-communism not being the same as political opposition to Communism, and the market-driven rise of professional list-makers and informers within the US at this time. Worth hanging around for, though it's clear at the 2/3 mark that the plot is narrower in scope than the buildup might have led you to presume.
Chase Insteadman Mountbatten
I'm more and more realising that tell is better that show. I didn't feel this problem at all while reading the Lacuna.
Alex Hallatt
I struggled with it for the first half - it was only my interest in the history and the Mexican culture that kept me reading. But it gets really good!
Meri McCoy-Thompson
I agree. It takes SO LONG to get into this book. I read another book about 1/3 of the way through, just to have a relief from the "show." But for me, after I got into it (during the Mexico City sojourn) I really loved the characters. And because you are with them SO LONG (it does feel like an eternity in the beginning), they actually stay with me. I feel like they are companions for life. So the payoff for me was actually SO WORTH IT. ;)
Karen Downes
Halfway through and stuck there for months on end. I just am not engaged with this book, nor with the characters, though I have tried... really hard. And I loved Frida Kahlo LONG before she started appearing on cotton tote bags and water bottles and t-shirts.
Pat
I agree with Viv: I had a hard time getting into it, but was rewarded for sticking with it. Definitely not Kingsolver's best--I remain partial to her early novels--but well worth the read.
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