"Nathan was something that happened to us. " Nathan Price and his wife Oleanna are missionaries in the Belgian Congo (later Zaire). Nathan has brought his family from their comfortable Georgia existence despite having been advised by his church not to go. While Nathan, with complete disregard for the interests and customs of the Congolese, attempts to bring the gospel to heathens, his wife and four daughters struggle to cope with the absence of all of the small comforts to which they were accustomed.

The daughters ranged in age from 5 to 16 at the start of the mission and the story of their lives is told by them (and occasionally by Oleanna, but never by Nathan) in alternating chapters. The narrator of the audio book did a pretty good job of differentiating the voices, although neither the author nor the narrator was very convincing as five year old Ruth May. There were also the teenagers Rachel and the twins Leah and Adah (who was mute and had been damaged at birth).

I was absolutely enthralled by the story of this family in the beginning. The language that the author used and the images she painted were beautiful and perceptive. Nathan was a bully who got worse as he became more and more unhinged. The Congolese were not exactly receptive to his teachings. The strangeness of the environment challenged all of them. They faced tarantulas, snakes, torrential rains, malaria and rivers of ants. The book showed the benevolent arrogance of missionaries who knew nothing about a place yet assumed that they were qualified to tell the people who live there how to live. Their only credentials were their whiteness and their belief in the superiority of their religion. Comparisons were subtly drawn to the treatment of the Congo by Belgium and America.

However, the last half of the book sort of fell off the rails for me. As the girls matured, Adah and especially Leah became politicized and all subtlety was lost as the book became overtly pedantic about the history of the Congo. The only character I cared to read about in the last half of the book was Rachel, who reminded me of one of the vain, oblivious survivors in an Edith Wharton novel. I found her entertaining but I wouldn't want to spend any time with either Adah or Leah.

Overall, I liked this book a lot, and if the second half had been as good as the first, I would have loved it.

I read this over a two day span in college when I was home for winter break. We had a power outage so I found the sunniest room in the house and read all day. Although I prefer Kingsolver's works about the American southwest, this remains one of the most fascinating books I have ever read.

This one took me a long time to read, not just because it has a lot of pages but also because I had to read every single word carefully and re read the best bits too! It is so beautifully written and so very evocative of the atmosphere of Africa.

It is told in the five different voices of the female members of the family and I have to admit to liking Adah's chapters the most. She has a wonderful way of looking at things and I especially liked the way she referred to her bible thumping father as "Our Father" sarcastically likening him to God himself. Rachel provided the humour to the book and I enjoyed her chapters after she left the family and made her own way in life in South Africa.

In truth I liked all five of them and became totally involved in their lives. Altogether a beautiful book.

This book made a very deep impression on me when I read it years ago. I think I knew then that the author was being a little too didactic in her effort to highlight the huge problems caused by the colonizers and missionaries but I ignored all that and concentrated instead on the stories of the downtrodden wife and her daughters, taken like slaves into the heart of the alien poison wood by her deluded and power hungry preacher husband.

UPDATE: Kingsolver finally won her Pulitzer (albeit shared with a lesser work) for the magnificent Demon Copperhead in 2023. Still, for me, this remains her masterpiece!

This was a fantastic read full of poetry and beautiful prose about the crumbling of a Christian missionary family in the Congo in the late 50's/early 60s. The Price family - a rigid, fundamentalist preacher, his wife, and their four daughters - arrive from Bethlehem, GA in a village in Congo and are faced with the emptiness of their beliefs against the fullness of the life of the Congolese around them. The daughters are all quite different: Rachel, the older beauty, who is in denial of the inadequacy of her moral code and social aspirations among the vines, spiders, and mud; Lea and Adah, the twins, both brilliant in their own ways but Lea being skeptical and healthy whereas Adah is physically impaired and willingly mute; and the baby Ruth-May who is the first one to make a social bond with the kids of the village. As the situation in Congo deteriorates (the horrific Belgian colonial government yielding to a democratically elected Patrice Lumumba who is assassinated with help of the CIA and replaced by the corrupt and violent Mobutu), the family disintegrates. They face famine, flood, ant invasions, and social rejection as their lives unravel.

One of the themes of the book is language - Kingsolver, in an appendix after the book, says that she had a small team of linguists to ensure that her use of Kingala dialect was as accurate as possible. The Bible is, naturally, crucial to the story, but the point is made how interpretation and translation are so critical to the meaning of certain passages. Similarly, the words of Nathan Price's sermons are necessarily translated for the villagers by the helpful Achille, and we learn that the word for "the Lord" is the same word for poisonwood, a tree that causes severe skin rashes - this the title of the book and the confusion of the villagers whom to Nathan's dismay, end up voting Jesus out of their village in an election during a church service. It is a really interesting book!

The story is told with gorgeous descriptions in the voices of all five women characters. The reader is carried along with the catastrophic events and the aftermath as each survivor goes on a different path at the end. One of them rests glued to the past, two of them try to guard some degree of optimism for the future, and one accepts her station and shows little evolution of her colonial mindset. I won't spoil anything for you because you really should take the time to enjoy it yourself.

This book lost out in 1999 to The Hours for the Pulitzer Prize. I can't quite remember that book, I'll need to re-read it, but I think that the imagery and prose of The Poisonwood Bible was probably more deserving of the prize that year.

TW// mention of terminal cancer, death (including children, siblings, mention of parents, mention of fathers, mention of babies), racism, ableism, misogyny, mentions of slavery, mention of cheating, pedophilia (including mention of child prostitution), mentions of war, child abuse, domestic abuse, animal death (including brief mention of dogs), brief mentions of infertility struggles, r-slur

The Poisonwood Bible was recommended to me by a friend and I have heard only positive things about it, so I decided to give it a try but I found it incredibly challenging to get through. It did do some good things like teach a lot about the history of the Congo and the Congolese culture. However, this book had a lot of flaws.

The book felt like it lacked a strong focus for a lot of the story. It meandered through the girl’s time in Africa for the first three quarters of the book then rushed through their adult life in the last quarter. If this book had decided on one or two key themes then shaved off some uncessary parts that didn’t serve those themes, the book would’ve been a lot better. The story was also way too long, so the shaving off of some of the daily lives of the girls would’ve really helped the story.

The pacing of the story was incredibly slow. It was a struggle to stay awake while reading. Kingsolver’s dense writing style didn’t help with the pacing either and I’m not planning on reading more of her works because her writing style is not for me.

I wasn’t fond of any of the characters in this story and I desperately craved a likeable character to help me get through this book. Anatole was the most likeable character, but he married a minor when he was twenty four, so he isn’t redeemable in my eyes.

If you’re looking for a deep dive into the Congo and Congolese culture, this book can do that but I’d strongly recommend reading a book written by someone from the Congo with firsthand experience of the Congolese culture instead. I will be seeking out books written by Congolese people to get more than just the perspective of a white woman when it comes to the history of the Congo, but I do appreciate that this book got me started in learning about the Congo.

I can’t personally say I can recommend this book because there was a lot about it that didn’t work for me. I do understand why it is considered a modern classic by some standards, but I am not a fan of this book at all.

I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.

This is the story of the Price family who leave Georgia with their four children and become missionaries in the Congo circa late 1950's-early 1960's. We have an opportunity to see the family grow and learn, but then...

The Congo rebellion starts. And that is when the book begins a slow slide off the rails. In my opinion.

The book had the opportunity to tell a good story, featuring an interesting plot and characters, but it lost its strength. It seemed to fall into caricature and message pushing that hurt the story as a whole. I felt the need to skim, which I hate doing... just so I could get through it. I wanted more. 2.5 stars

A book that countless people told me to read, which I finally got round to doing. This is a provocative tale about the land that was once called Congo; the tale of a missionary and his family as told by his 4 daughters and wife over 40+ years the rise and fall and rise of the Price family. Very interesting in that I get to get a feel some of Africa's recent Colonial past albeit through European eyes. A book that definitely stayed with me after completion. 6 out of 12

2010 read

Mi kell az öt csillaghoz? Nos, először is: karakterek, akik valódi érzelmeket váltanak ki belőlünk. Például egy olyan antagonista, akit legszívesebben pucérra vetkeztetve kergetnél végig a Nagykörúton, annyira rühelled. Aki miatt kedved lenne hinni a Pokolban, amit pedig elvből ellenzel, mint a kereszténység szellemével összeegyeztethetetlen utólagos konstrukciót. De vannak, akik miatt ha nem volna, hát ki kéne találni. És Nathaniel Price tiszteletes nagyjából ilyen figura.

Ez a könyv amúgy öt nő elbeszélése (és mint ilyen, önmagában egy írástechnikai bravúr), de a motor Price, az apa alakja, ami bilincsként béklyózza a többieket. A tiszteletes a kereszténység azon típusát képviseli, ami a szeretetet csak a szigoron keresztül képes gyakorolni - üt, és a tetejébe el is várja, hogy tiszteld, amiért üt. Úgy véli, az érdemesek sorsa (más megfogalmazásban: terhe) az, hogy kérlelhetetlen paternalizmussal irányítsák azokat, akik kevesebbet érnek náluk - és mivel szerinte a világ azon része, ami nem ő, kevesebbet ér nála, ezért az egész világot akarja a maga képére igazítani. Mindez persze értelmezhető metaforaként is: Price tiszteletes hozzáállása éppúgy szimbolizálja a hímközpontú társadalmak gondolkodását (feminista olvasat), mint a fehér államok rejtett vagy nyílt gyarmatosító törekvéseit a fekete Afrikában (antikolonialista olvasat). De működik közvetlenül is, egy olyan szörny-apa ábrázolásaként, aki arra kényszeríti feleségét és lányait, hogy vegyenek részt saját lélekmentő expedíciójában, és magával hurcolja őket a belgák által kizsigerelt Kongóba, ahol a malária, az éhhalál és a mérgeskígyók állandó vendégek, de most ráadásul még egy polgárháború is befigyelni látszik. Magyarán: a saját üdvözülése érdekében kész feláldozni másokat. Az ilyen embernél pedig aligha van rosszabb.

A másik, ami az öt csillagot teszi, az a katarzis. Hogy benne akad az emberben (bennem) a levegő. És itt ez is megvan. No most ugye a katarzis nem egyenlő a meglepetéssel vagy a csavarral, hanem néha egyenesen ellentétes vele. A katarzis ugyanis azt jelenti, hogy az író mondatról mondatra épít egy végső drámai robbanást, aminek a fenyegető közelségével az olvasó tisztában van, tudja, hogy be fog következni valamilyen formában - mégsem képes kivonni magát a hatása alól. Ezt Kingsolver példásan felépíti, ám sajátos módon nem a végére, hanem úgy a regény háromnegyedére. Ami utána jön, az egyfajta hosszú lecsengésnek tűnik: a szereplők (már aki megmaradt) kikerülnek az apa súlyos árnyéka alól, és tőle távol lesznek valakik, miközben megpróbálják így vagy úgy kipurgálni magukból a múlt mérgeit. Sok tekintetben kockázatos vállalás ez a szerzőtől, mert nem lehetett biztos benne, hogy a tiszteletes gonosz energiái nélkül is kitart a szöveg lendülete. De kitart. Az eltávolodással teret nyer a szöveg, újabb perspektívákat kap, amikor a szereplők elütő megküzdési stratégiáit is megismerjük. Mondhatni, ennek köszönhetően válnak a lányok azzá, ami az elejétől fogva kijárt nekik: főszereplővé. Arról nem is beszélve, hogy Kingsolvernek sikerül egy másodlagos katarzist is felépítenie, ami ugyan nem olyan drámai, mint az első, de cserébe nagyon szép. Egy igazán elegáns búcsú, mondjuk így.

Remekmű, ami a klasszikus angolszász nagyepika hagyományait követi, de fel is dúsítja azt egy igazán gazdag, érzékeny nyelvvel. Ez a nyelv pedig nemcsak arra alkalmas, hogy kibontsa nekünk a karaktereket, hanem arra is, hogy megteremtse a fejünkben Kongó rémisztő és gyönyörű freskóját. A vörös földet, az illatos gyümölcsöket, a surranó csúszómászókat, a mindent elmosó esőket, és az embereket, akiknek hitét egyesek babonának nevezik - pedig nevezhetnék egyszerűen hitnek is.

There is rally something to say for re-reading. I don't usually do that but this was a great experience to re-read and a buddy read. The Poisonwood Bible is a story told from different points of view. A preacher and his wife and four daughters head for life in the Congo, where their father a zealous preacher hopes to convert a village of Congolese. The story will take the reader through much emotion while learning loads of information about the Congo, the culture there but most of all the political upheaval. This is a very memorable book and the the writing is incredible. It's definitely memorable and a great book to discuss in a book club.

Accepting a book recommendation offered up by my fellow Equinox Book Challenge participant, I chose to explore another novel related to the struggles of a maturing African continent. Making their way to the Belgian Congo in 1959, Nathan Price, his wife, and four daughter are ready to commence their missionary work. Arriving with everything they feel they might need, the Prices begin their journey, armed with Jesus, as they are surrounded with the locals in a jungle community. However, early on during their time, the Price women tell of all the changes they could not have predicted while still in the comforts of their Bethlehem, Georgia home. While Nathan seeks to convert the Congolese population—still stuck on their own spirits and medicine men— with his evangelical Baptist ways, the others begin to see that nothing is as it seems. American staples are of no use to anyone in the Belgian Congo and the learning curve is as sharp as can be. With Belgium ready to hand over control of the country to the Congolese, a political vacuum develops, where foreigners are painted with a single brush. Both sides in the Cold War seek to create a new ally, elbowing their way in, hoping to develop 20th century quasi-colonial territory in Africa, more along ideological lines than those of traditional tribe or cultural brethren. One cannot miss that Congo is rife with natural resources that both the Americans and Soviets might like, though this remains a whispered or ne’er spoken fact. While the Price family soon learns that it will take more than the presence of the Holy Spirit to protect them in this foreign land, each has a struggle to better understand their surroundings and themselves, all in the hopes of completing their mission. Personal growth and grief arrive in equal measure, leaving everyone to reassess their role in the Congo, as political and social stability disintegrates with each passing day. As the novel progresses, the Price girls mature into women, using their Congolese experiences to shape their adult lives, forever altered by what they have experienced. An interesting novel that pushes some of the limits of understanding from a missionary perspective, Kingsolver pulls no punches and lays out her agenda throughout. I’d surely recommend this novel to those who seek to explore an interesting journey through the jungles of Africa, prepared to digest and synthesise symbolism of the highest order and non-Western sets of beliefs.

While I have heard of this novel over the years, I never felt drawn to read it. Admittedly, I knew nothing of it and perhaps judged the book by its title—the lesser of the two evil things avid book readers with literary blinders tend to do—and chose to mentally shelve it. After reading two novels about the horrors of South Africa under the system of apartheid, I was ready for something new, but still on the continent. Learning that Kingsolver set this book in Africa, I wondered if it might complement some of the topics about which I had recently read, while also offering me something with a little less political frustration. Kingsolver presents an all-consuming novel that pushes the limits through the eyes of an American family, at times offering the presumptive ignorance of missionaries while also exploring massive clashes in cultural differences between the Western world and African villages. Kingsolver creates a wonderful core of characters, primarily the Price family, allowing her to paint dichotomous pictures of the proper way to live. Using various narratives led by all five women in the family, the reader is able to see the Belgian Congo/Congo/Zaire through different eyes. Backstories are plentiful, as are the character flaws that each possess, but all five are also keen to interpret their familial head—Pastor Nathan Price—with their own biases. This surely enriches the larger story as well as permitting the reader to feel a closer connection to all those who play a central role in the story’s progress. Kingsolver weighs in, both bluntly and in a wonderfully subtle manner, about the role of imperialism in African countries, which later led to a political game of Cold War chess and bloodshed to tweak the choices the Congolese made as they shed the shackles of their oppressors. Personal growth remains one of the key themes in the book, as all the girls become women and, by the latter portion of the book, their lives as adults and parts of families of their own. Kingsolver keeps the reader hooked throughout as she spins this wonderful tale that forces the reader to digest so much in short order. I am happy to have been able to read this piece and take away much from it, without the need to feel as frustrated as I might have been during my apartheid experience. Still, there is much to be said about the ‘backwards’ interpretation Europeans and missionaries had when spying the African jungle communities.

Kudos, Madam Kingsolver, for such a wonderful novel. I took much from all you had to say and will likely return to find more of your writings, hoping they are just as exciting.

This book fulfills Topic # 1: Recommendation from Another, in the Equinox #3 Book Challenge. A special thank you to Farrah (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...) for the suggestion!

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

How ironic that I would read The Poisonwood Bible immediately after publishing a blog post defending the merits of YA books. One individual commented about how literary fiction takes themes/motifs/messages and pushes them to the edge. I can see that with Barbara Kingsolver's work.

Yes, the book preaches about anti-Westernization and the plights of religion. Even though I agree for the most part with Kingsolver's descriptions of Christianity and colonialism, I can see why those who disagree or dislike her writing style in general would criticize the story. I myself had to trudge through the first 150 pages to get a solid grasp of the characters; I often had to flip to the beginning of each chapter to remind myself whose narration I was reading.

But the characters won me over. It would be easy to write a book report or literary analysis regarding how Kingsolver incorporates themes and motifs like the burden of guilt, the failures of religion, light v. darkness, etc. The way Kingsolver crafted her characters earns this book its four star rating. Reading Leah's perspective in the last 100 pages in comparison to the first 100 pages feels like reading two different people, but Kingsolver made the massive transition smooth. Each narrator shares her perspective of the events in Africa, growing along the way. Even Rachel, who didn't develop at all, maintained her voice throughout the story and contributed a thoughtfully thoughtless perspective.

Overall, a time-consuming yet ultimately worthy book about a missionary who travels to Africa with his wife and four daughters. It rarely takes me over a week to finish a work of fiction, but I don't regret reading The Poisonwood Bible at all.

*review cross-posted on my blog, the quiet voice.