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Reader's Paradise

Barbara Kingsolver

19 years ago

I just finished The Bean Trees. A wonderful book. A girl takes off west in a Volkswagon and has a young child dumped in her lap along the way.

Its about different cultures and relationships and has very funny moments and very sad ones. It reminds me in some ways of Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. I highly recommend this book!

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Comments (10)

Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
19 years ago
I haven't read that book but I loved the Poisenwood Bible although I really disliked Prodigal Summer.
pam53
19 years ago
Karalk- I agree with you The Bean Trees is wonderful and also her first novel. You must read Animal Dreams, her second novel and Pigs In Heaven which is a "sequel" per se to The Bean Trees. I have read all Ms. Kingsolver's fiction with varying degrees of enjoyment, but none of her other writing has lived up to the promise of the books I mentioned. I never read Big Stone Gap, perhaps I'll give it a try.
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Comments (5)
I can relate to the second one & that's the reason I'm glad that I'm pretty meticulous about putting my photos into albums & dating them & identifying who is in the picture. I cannot tell you how many times I've gotten a phone call from a friend asking me to check my albums & let them know what year such & such took place. And no matter how well you know someone if you don't see them often (or never again) there is a high likelihood you'll forget who they are. When my parents died my brother & I went through a huge photo album of them & their friends from the 1930's & 1940's. The pictures were great - picnics outings to state parks, parties, etc., but no one was identified in any of the pictures & as wonderful as they were we ended up throwing most of them away.
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Comments (11)
I just read some reviews on this book and have to admit it seems to be one I'd like. Our library has lots of copies and all are out or on hold. Until '03 my wife and I lived on our farm and grew and processed all our food besides spices and seafood for about 5 years. It was hard work but satisfying. But like Kingsolver that was our life. How do others without the time and resources grow their own or buy local foods? In our area to eat beyond cabbage, collards, beets and carrots over the winter you have to can, freeze or ferment. The interest in learning those skills has fallen so far that our two counties have dropped their master food preserver programs. So even if the average working person agreed with Kingsolver I don't think they'd be able to copy her. I don't know the answer. As far as eating seasonal foods we had the joy of growing in the different seasons. Hard to put into words- it's like Christmas in December is great, but this Christmas in July stuff is a crock. We crave asparagus in April-June but not so interested the rest of the year. As the weather changes with the seasons so does the food in the garden. Anyhow, I think we'll end up with this book on our shelf. Tom
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
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Comments (24)
Hi All - I still haven't read the Kingsolver book, but on a recent trip I plowed *most* of the way through the Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. It's ... dense, but really interesting. He talks about the hidden costs of the industrial food chain (fossil fuels, ruined rural communities, national health, and the treatment of livestock in CAFOs, among other costs). He compares this to local agriculture, to "organic industrial" (Earthbound Farms, for example) and to the shortest food chain, that of the hunter-gatherer. He talks about how the heavily subsidized mountain of American "commodity corn" is effecting the quality of food around the world. He even contends that grass-fed beef may be more healthful than the corn-fed salmon now being sold. My book group read this book while I was away, and I don't think everyone enjoyed it; one friend said: "I found Omnivore painful, interesting, but not suitable for pleasure reading. Great book for Christmas." Not sure if the last part was tongue in cheek or not. After reading this book, I am checking labels and trying to avoid products that contain corn or corn syrup - and that's pretty much everything on the shelves at the supermarket! I hope to pick up Animal, Vegetable after I get through a short stack of books I need to read for various other reasons, and thought you might want to know about the Pollan book too.
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Comments (71)
Lydia, do you think One Thousand White Women is another novel that suffers from 'Dances With Wolves Syndrome'? I am collecting examples of DWWS now that I have a name to go with the manifestation. If you didn't enjoy the first two-thirds, you probably wouldn't like the last third any better. I finished it, but didn't like the ending. I did enjoy the 'what if' aspect of OTWW, but I concur that the writer was sloppy with his 'stereotypes, anachronisms, and sensibilities' and the violence and cruelty were off-putting (the scene of the prostitute having her insides washed out with hot water has stuck with me, unfortunately). As for it being 'a joke', if I remember correctly, it did seem to be somewhat satirical in tone, something that kept me from taking it very seriously. Ha! I've run across readers, too, who think it's history. Woodnymph, my sister-in-law from South Carolina praised Pat Conroy's writing until his last couple of books (written before SIL's death), but she disliked Anne Rivers Siddons. I don't remember exactly why, but it ran along the lines of what she thought of 'the trap' that southern writers often fall into, which she described as "[the writers] giving the readers what they expect." I think she considered it 'lazy writing', so that may correspond with your opinion that Conroy "has lost his touch." Do you think so?
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maggie5il
19 years ago
The only 2 books I've liked of hers were Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven. They are two of my all time favorite books. I'll have to try Animal Dreams. It's the only one I haven't tried.
anyanka
19 years ago
I was sure I'd posted something here earlier today...

Meant to say, Karalk, thanks for mentioning this book. It's on my TBR list now. I read the Poisonwood Bible last year, couldn't put it down. Beautifully written, moving, with characters that really came to life.
carolyn_ky
19 years ago
Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven are my favorites, too. I think she has gotten too preachy now.
karalk
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks for the info, I ordered Pigs In Heaven. If you liked these books, do try Big Stone Gap.
carolyn_ky
19 years ago
I liked Big Stone Gap, too. Have you read the recent sequel? I haven't but would like to when I see it at the library.
karalk
Original Author
19 years ago
I read Big Cherry Holler, the sequel, and Milk Glass Moon, the third book. Both were more serious and sober but still enjoyable. "Lucia, Lucia" was also good (stands alone).
laceyvail 6A, WV
19 years ago
I'd like to recomment Small Wonders, a collection of her essays. In addition to her wonderful style, her take on things is insightful,enlightened, loving, and all embracing.
phaedosia
19 years ago
I agree Carolyn--she has gotten rather preachy. I enjoyed the characters in Prodigal Summer (especially the Old Chestnut characters), but it just seemed like she was on an ecological soapbox the whole time. The Bean Trees is definitely my favorite. I have High Tide in Tuscon on my TBR shelf.

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