I have never had much interest in African history, but this book made me want to find out more. Her characters, as in her earlier books, are very well realized and fascinating. The story begins with the arrival in the Belgian Congo of Nathan Price, fire and brimstone Baptist preacher, and his reluctant family. The family's story is told by Nathan's wife, Orleanna, and their five daughters - shallow teen-age Rachel, twins Leah and Adah, and five-year-old Ruth May. The voices of the characters are authentic and believable.

Other reviewers are correct in their assessment that this is, in a sense, two books. The first is about Nathan's clumsy and ill-advised attempts to fit Africa to his fundamentalist beliefs, and the family's attempts to fit their lives to Africa. The second is about the way a family tragedy marks its survivors and the different ways events in Africa mark them as well. I don't agree that Kingsolver should have "stopped writing" at the end of the first part.

I was absolutely spellbound by the way the voices changed and the way they stayed the same from the first to the last of the book. One believes in the characters, they change and grow as the book progresses. Other reviewers found Rachel grating, but I think that was the point. Her shallowness brought home the points that Kingsolver was making even more effectively than the earnest preaching by Leah. I got the sense that in her own way, Rachel understood the events perfectly well, but that she did not care.

I felt very complete when I finished the book. It was a satisfying experience.

135 of 141 found the following review helpful:

why do you want a 489th review of this book?  Jul 08, 2000
By Patricia A. Powell
At the time of this writing, there are 488 customer reviews posted. It seems you either love this book or hate it. I loved this book.

It is the story of a family that goes to the Belgian Congo to perform Christian missionary work in the 1950's. It is told in the first person by the wife of the minister, and his daugthers. Its point of view would of course be feminine, but not necessarily feminist.

While some reviewers seem personally offended at the author's treatment of the father, Nathan, I find him sympathetic. And, without him, there is no story. Nathan's soul is tortured. Through a quirck of fate, he misses a battle of WWII where his entire unit is lost. He never deals with it and he is changed forever. When he met his wife at a Christian revival meeting, he was kind and committed to Chirst. When he returns home from the service, we find that he has become a rigid, self righteous bible thumping preacher. He despises wife for his own perceived sin... he physically desires her. He barely tolerates his daugthers, as he takes the entire family to the Belgian Congo to pursue what he believes is his calling from God. The hierarchy of his own church does not think that he is suited for missionary work, and will not send him, but he manages to go anyway. The family is ill prepared for the Congo and this predictably has tragic consequences.

Once in the Congo Nathan antagonizes the few western missionaries he has contact with. And, in the end he fails in his effort to save the souls of the natives. There is racism in the 1950's attitudes toward the villagers... their souls need to be saved, but their lives are relatively unimportant. They can pray together, but not eat at the same table. When independence come, the other western missionaries flee, fearing for their lives. But Nathan stays and he will not allow his family to leave with the others.

There is the mother, who is trying to please her husband, to be a good minister's wife, and to be good mother to her four daugthers. She cannot do it all. There are the 4 girls, one a teenager who hates being uprooted from her friends, twins (one with a deformity), and a pre schooler. Their experience in the Congo changes forever who they are, and they do not all return.

The constancy is found in the lives of the African villagers who have suffered much worse, than these missionaries. There is the expected culture clash between the chief, the shaman, and Nathan.

Every great novel has characters who grow and change. Nathan's change took place in the Pacific in WWII. He does not change again and grow beyond that point. While he expects the Africans to change into Christians, they are constant in their own culture. That leaves it to the women of the Poisonwood Bible to change and grow. And, they do not disappoint us. Like other readers, I found the first 100 or so pages slow going. I almost put it down. But I am so glad I persisted. I highly recommend the Poisonwood Bible, and hope that there is enough that is unique in the above to justify posting a 489th review.

248 of 270 found the following review helpful:

A Lovely, Imperfect Gem  Jul 14, 2000
By R. M. Calitri
Barbara Kingsolver is finally receiving the attention she deserves for her impressive novel The Poisonwood Bible. I read this book last year because I'd just returned from spending five weeks in East Africa and missed the people and the country.

This novel tells the engrossing story of quirky, feverish Baptist preacher Nathan Price who hauls his family off on a mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. The story's narration is shared by his wife Orleanna and their four daughters, ages 5 - 15, who seem much too tender and naive to survive the trials of harsh conditions, poor housing, language barriers, cultural clashes, and natural antagonists. What results is an absorbing story set against the backdrop of political and religious upheaval.

Kingsolver's writing in this book proves what can happen when a writer continues to pursue her craft. The work is impressively mature compared to earlier cute novels like The Bean Trees and shows her flare and passion and growth as a writer. The narrative voices are distinct and engaging except for 15 year old Rachel's whose heartsickness for American pop culture is somewhat irritating because of the stretches the writer makes to show Rachel's shallow nature. For example, at first Rachel's malaprops are entertaining, but read against the seriousness of several occurences, the writing sounds forced. Nevertheless, Kingsolver's narrators are living voices most readers will very much enjoy.

I loved this book in spite of its flaws--the characterization of Rachel, the plausibility of some of the Congolese people's actions, and Kingsolver's political analysis/overview. The last fifth of the book is laborious as the writer strives to incorporate Congolese political history, and such writing is not where Kingsolver's strengths are. She is a craftsperson, a creative writer--one who loves the poetics and muscle of English--not a political analyst. Readers should begin this book knowing this because the heart of it is wrought with passion, Biblical double entendres, and enjoyable characters in a fantastic and important setting. Kingsolver's ambitious research has produced an important novel with more strengths than weaknesses as she's given deserved focus to precious central Africa--as the world should have and should be doing now.

31 of 31 found the following review helpful:

My first Kingsolver. I've never read anything like it!  Apr 19, 2001
By Patricia P. Jennings "scherzo9"
As a 60-year-old, upper middle-class African-American woman, I lament the fact that I know precious little about Africa. After reading this book, I feel as if I know more, at least about one section of that continent. Kingsolver, with her ingenious biblical format, manages to help this American - who has always been pretty much self-absorbed and was certainly, as a young college music major, oblivious to the Congolese fight for independence - understand that the way we westerners, Americans in particular, think things should be done, and what we think should be believed might just be open to question.

The sisters' account of their life in the Congo is chilling. But I do have to wonder how Kingsolver expects the reader to believe that two people as different at Leah and Rachel could be from the same planet, much less the same family. Rachel seems more like a caricature than a real person. But we have her to thank for what little humor is contained in a story that is, in many ways, one of unremitting sadness.

I am not politically savvy enough to judge the correctness of Ms. Kingsolver's political conclusions, but they seem plausible in terms of what I know about capitalism, racism, imperialism and self-aggrandizement.

Would I recommend the book? Yes, with certain reservations. It's a long read. As I neared the end I found myself thinking, "Enough, already!" But I'm glad I stuck it out. The last chapter is worth the trip. I would recommend it to females, especially, and to other African-Americans like me who, in the manner of most Americans of any ethnic background, would prefer not to trouble ourselves with thoughts of the struggling, mysterious "dark" continent.

49 of 52 found the following review helpful:

A Engaging Parable for a Real Problem  Jun 11, 2000
By Alison Bruce
I have read all of Barbara Kingsolver's novels and, in my opinion, this one is her best. Five different female perspectives are given of a family's Baptist missionary conquest in the Belgian Congo. Their experience in a remote African village affects the characters, all in different ways, for the rest of their lives. Generally their accounts are dark and somewhat frightening but cleverly Kingsolver uses the voice of Rachel, the eldest daugther, to provide satirical comic relief.

The Poisonwood Bible has been frequently criticized for evolving from a well developed and interesting story into a political diatribe. I thought, however, that perhaps Kingsolver was attempting to draw parallels between the actions of one man's religious mission and the intrusion of global superpowers in Africa. Both were manipulative, self serving, and had calamitous results. I believe Kingsolver's intention was to describe the effects of foreign interference on a small scale to illustrate what a disasterous impact western influence has upon Africa on a macro level.

Kingsolver was able to combine a powerful fictious story and use it to help the reader understand the travesty of what much of Africa is presently enduring and why. The read is engaging and exciting while, at the same time, informative and enlightening.

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