The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

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4 stars for enjoyment 5 stars for message

I must mention that until reading the afterword I didn't realise that Kingsolver had actually spent part of her childhood living in the Congo and that this book was written to highlight the devastation caused by the interference of America on this fledgling democracy.

I loved the early part of the novel where the family have first arrived in the Congo and are settling into their new roles as tourist attractions (due to being white) and missionaries (the whole reason they are there). I loved the switching narratives which reveal how all the female characters are adapting to their new lives. I liked the way the mothers section were largely reflexions looking back on what has happened and dropping hints about what was coming up, while each daughter was writing in the current time about their own experiences.

I loved the explorations of the native language, culture and superstition and how religion could be changed according to which God seemed to have the most influence on nature. I liked the way the family had to learn how to adapt and live like the native people and how they learned from them how to survive.

The later parts of the novel I found harder as they dealt with life after the mission had quite clearly fallen apart, the family are scattered and the relationship between the girls is strained. Instead of dealing with daily survival the focus now shifts to politics and outside interference. The Congo becomes a place of danger and outsiders are not welcome. While the political message is important it was not as compelling as watching the family survive together.

One thing that really struck me from the political side of the book was the idea of democracy, in the Congo a leader has to get everyone on board and this is done in successive debates until finally one leader emerges who everyone can support. This seems a much fairer system than 49 out of 100 people being unhappy with the choice and far more democratic.

There are so many great quotes in this book so I will just share a few here:

"We aimed for nothing more than to have dominion over every creature that moved upon the earth"

"Leba, the gods you do not pay are the ones that can curse you best"

"They understand that white people make very troublesome ghosts"

"If you look hard enough you can always see reasons, but you'll go crazy if you think it's all punishment for your sins"

"The death of something living is the price of our own survival, and we pay it again and again. We have no choice. It is the one solemn promise every life on earth is born and bound to keep."

"To an outsider it looks like chaos. It isn't. Its negotiation, infinitely ordered and endless."

I think this book would make an amazing BOTM and I would love to discuss with other readers.

[Diane]

Read in 2013
5/5 stars

I was hooked from the first sentence, “We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle”. Any one who uses Betty Crocker in their story is okay with me. I loved being in the Congo with the Price family. It was great to have the stories told from the female point of view, mother and four daughters. Oh Nathan Price, what to do with father. “Our Father has a bone to pick with this world, and oh, he picks it like a sore.” Orleanna Price, “The hardest work of every day was deciding, once again, to stay with my family. They never even knew.” She was quite the complex mother. For most of the book I laughed and shook my head at the Price family but then turn of events came and I burst into tears. I thought this was a fantastic story of one family's will to survive in Africa. “Stick out your elbows, pick up your feet, and float along with the crowd! The last thing you want to do is get trampled to death.” A good motto for life no matter where you live. Highly recommended and one of my favorites this year.

[Kristel]

Read in 2008; There is so much to say about this book. It is excellent. I love the way she puts words together. It is so poetic and says so much. I think this is a book that could be read over and over. I enjoyed her characters. I loved the characters of each of the girls, especially Adah but I liked how she presented Rachel even though she is hard to like. Learning about the history of Africa and politics and how it has impacted Africa was very interesting.

[Amanda]

Recently finished on audio: this was my first Kingsolver book and I gave it 5 stars. Absolutely enthralling. It is already described well above, but I did love so many things about it I find worth mentioning, such as:

- How clearly the book takes such a deeply understood stance against the colonialism perpetuated by people like Nathan and the colonial Belgians in turn, and articulates it in such a wonderful way. Like when the locals challenge why the government but not Jesus should stand for democratic evaluation, or how at one point one of the girls says something like “the Congo had been here forever and works a certain way, but dad thought he could transplant his American farm here and teach everyone what was right without understanding it, as if instead of bringing a car he thought he could put wheels on a horse”. Such an amazing way of putting it: like how so many “charity” or “development” projects from exploiting neocolonial countries think they can just transplant the artifices of our societies other places without understanding the contexts of where they are socio-politically and ecologically. I love how the girls eventually come to see the ironic ego and pride behind their father’s brand of “servitude”.

- The whole Idea of “Muntu” aka any living, dead, or unborn person or a god in the story, especially how they tie in Ruth May again in the last chapter. I like how this challenges the Western emphasis on life as the be all end all and the idea that we move on from the dead. I also loved Adah’s ruminations on being the “virus lady” at the end and how it relates to this idea as well. Especially with her ruminations on how even the pathogens are part of the evolutionary story for survival, and all things are neutral and equal in the scheme of the natural universe. I loved that.

- The whole “Poisonwood Bible” itself. Apocryphal texts are a cool subject, and exploring the way things are lost in translation and therefore the meaning of texts and faiths changing over time and context is neat. Especially given the contrast between Nathan’s dogmatic “there’s only one way and one truth” approach to faith, and the fact he was accidentally telling everyone Jesus was made of Poisonwood.

Amazing book overall, looking forward to reading other works by her.

[Daisey]

I have read so many amazing reviews of this book that I think I went into expecting a bit too much. Additionally, I listened to the audio version, and I think this is a book that would have been much better read by multiple narrators or read in print.

From the beginning, I appreciated the story of these women and what they were facing by following their husband and father as a missionary to the Congo. I was interested to see how their lives changed in this place so different from how they had lived in the United States, but it did completely live up to my expectations. However, once they left the village and went their own ways, I found their lives even more interesting. It was fascinating to see how the events effected each and how they went on from that shared childhood.

*Read for November 2020 TBR Takedown

[Pamela]

This was an amazing book, based on Kingsolver’s own childhood experiences, that kept me gripped throughout (well, with just a short dip towards the end when the author dwells a little too long on later events but I’ll forgive that). The descriptions of the village are vivid and varied, and the natural world is tied in with the culture and characters of the villagers. The story is told by the women, as Orleanna introduces each section looking back while the daughters tell the story in their present - this gives a sense of intimacy and immediacy that helps us understand each character and also spot what they may be missing.

I loved the way that the historical events of the time - Congo’s short-lived attempt at independence being undermined by the USA and former colonial powers, the corruption that followed as the country becomes Zaire, even the famous Ali v Foreman fight - are integrated into and reflect the fate of the Price women as they too struggle to find independence from their rigid domestic situation. They are all marked by their experiences in Africa, and watching how they come to terms with this and the different ways they move forward is fascinating.

Kingsolver is a great storyteller, and this was a compelling story about religion, family, colonialism and personal development. Occasionally it strayed too far into a blunt political polemic, particularly in the later sections, but mainly the events speak for themselves and this was a book that will stay with me for a long time. My favourite read so far this year.