About Me

North Central College graduate, BA in Social Sciences, Peace Corps ESL Volunteer placed in Rwanda.

Monday, April 12, 2010

book report 2

Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver


God bless SparkNotes and Wikipedia for contributing to this truncated plot summary –

[ In 1959 an overzealous Baptist minister named Nathan Price drags his wife and four daughters deep into the heart of the Congo, just as it is on the brink of civil war. The Prices' story parallels their host country's tumultuous emergence into the post-colonial era.

Orleanna Price (the wife) narrates the introductory chapter in five of the novel's seven sections. The narrative then alternates among the four daughters, with a slight preference for the voice of the most outspoken one, Leah. The four girls increasingly mature, as each adapts differently to African village life, to the misogyny of their father, and the political turmoil that overtakes The Congo in the 1960s. Nathan's lack of responsiveness to the Kilanga culture wears out his family's welcome, but he refuses to depart. It is only after a series of misfortunes, culminating in the death of one of the daughters, that the women leave the father to his folly. The survivors take very different paths into their futures, which are described up to the 1990s. The novel ends at the time of the death of Mobutu Sese Seko. ]

Ok, so I cheated a little. I promise the rest is all me.


Barbara Kingsolver weaves together an intricately complete story: there are months that are passed over, and then years; memories and flashbacks and duplicate scenes; but you never feel out of place or lost. The alternate perspectives beautifully adjust in language and tone to match each character. The characters reveal enough to feel close to – and if you don’t find yourself identifying with all of them at one moment or another, that’s probably because one of them has too strong of a grip on you to share. The mystery of which daughter dies kept me from putting the book down when I was overwhelmed.

If you’ve ever been to Africa, the noted difficulties with language intricacies will add a layer of depth to the narrative. If you are especially fond of English, Kingsolver employs one character in particular to flush out the beauty and complications of our mother tongue.

I’m reminded of themes from my “Western Literature” class in high school. East v West – Nature v Technology – Masculine v Feminine… Africa, and this story, fall perfectly in the center of all these arguments. There is a male, stubborn, monotheistic antagonist from the west who is fighting the very jungle for control. He brings his family to the center of this, and they are the females who see a community on the edge of a paradigm shift. This community looks to progress as a tool to maintain traditions; they vote with stones in pots; they vacillate between spiritual pulls based on the ebb and flow of trials in their lives. You watch the man succumb to jungle madness and the women branch out in different strengths and reactionary paths.

Central Africa still bears the scars of a clash of cultures as individuals, communities, and governments continually trying to find the balance of ‘progress’, industry, tradition, and embracing the land or subduing it.

This is, by far, one of the most depressing books I have ever read. I am almost completely sure this is because I read it during PST, and along with the wave pool of stress and emotions that brings, I could suddenly relate to 50% more of the context. True, it is set in the Congo right around the time of their independence, but all of the culture shock this family goes through is eerily reminiscent. Even the group dynamic they hold – while the PCVs aren’t related, the gender ratio is pretty close to 5:1 girls to guys.

Some of the Ideas I found most familiar / striking are:

- "If I'd of had the foggiest idea," she said very steadily, holding her pale, weeping eyes on me, "just the foggiest idea. We brought all the wrong things."

- Every small effort at hygiene was magnified by hours of labor spent procuring the simplest elements: water, heat, anything that might pass for disinfectant.

- The forest path is a live thing underfoot that went a little farther every day.

- It has opened up in my heart a sickening world of doubts and possibilities, where before I had only faith in my father and Love for the Lord. Without that rock of certainty underfoot, the Congo is a fearsome place to have to sink or swim.


Peace Corps aside, I felt more of a personal connection with this family being a pastor’s kid myself. In my family, logic, reason, investigation, and complete answers temper our spiritual inclinations: so to watch this man fall slowly into madness clinging to rigid misconceptions and supporting his ignorance with warped ideology is especially painful as he drags his family down with him. My father has always been the cornerstone of our family and the buoy of stability in the raging sea of any and every human life. Not perfect by any means, but we have all grown together in learning how to listen, how to see things from another’s perspective, and he has always put the safety and security of his family first as it has lined up with God’s will.

Just in case the rest of this review is unclear – I absolutely, highly recommend this book. I loved it. I actually read it twice in training. Yes, it is depressing, but most enlightening experiences start that way. Your core beliefs are rocked, and as you restabilize, you are definitely stronger. You can’t read this book and not be challenged in a dozen significant ways, no matter what continent you’re on. Many of you will see symbolism I’m unaware of, and adore and hate this book for reasons I haven’t considered.

I hope you’ll share them with me.


The Poisonwood Bible