The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

I first reviewed this book on May 4, 2010

I am an advocate of reading. Because of my love of reading I also love books.  As I've said before, I like having books all around me. I like them neatly on shelves and I like them stacked anywhere and everywhere! So when my wonderful daughter-in-law gave me a book on CD I thought - okay - this is great - it gives me something to listen to in the car on my trips to Wichita!  :)

She gave me The Lacuna. I'm not sure I would have liked the book. I may have gotten bogged down with it's subject - but listening to it!!! Oh My. It was wonderful. Barbara Kingsolver, the author, read it. She has a beautiful voice - very easy to listen to.  She has wonderful accents and her Spanish is so beautiful - it's almost musical.

The book follows Harrison Shepherd from 1929 - 1951.  He was born in Virginia to an American father and a Mexican mother. When he was 12, he and his mother moved to Mexico.

His mother loves American slang but always gets the sayings or the words mixed up. My particular favorite is: "It's posolutely the berries."  

He keeps journals of his life, beginning at a young age.  Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers and kitchen help. He becomes a great cook and also mixes plaster for famed muralist Diego Revera. Then goes to work in the home of the Revera's. Also working for exiled leader Lev Trotsky.  Shepherd later returns to the US and begins writing.

After having 2 bestsellers, the FBI begins trying to rid the US of Communists. Because of Shepherd's past in Mexico with Revera and Trotsky, he becomes a target.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"The most important thing about a person is the thing you don't know." Frida

"Nothing wondrous can come in this world unless it rests on the shoulders of kindness."

"Old? He is not yet 60. You girls are children.  The longer the sauce cooks the spicier it gets!" Perpetua

"Probably they were all aimed for heaven at one time and lost their way." Violet Brown

                                      

This book gave me a very intriguing look at McCarthyism.  I also looked up the Hollywood Blacklist from the late 40's and 50's - just out of curiosity.

This is what reading is about.  Having your curiosity piqued - reading something that causes you to read something else - then something else - on and on.

This is a very good book and if you like listening to books - all the better.  Barbara Kingsolver has proven to me that she has more than the talent of writing.

I highly recommend this book.

- to read or to listen! :)

 

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

I first published this review on March 30, 2010

Fiction

This is the story of Nathan Price, an evangelical preacher who takes his wife and four daughters to Belgian Congo in 1959. The suspenseful epic tells of one families tragic undoing and their reconstruction over three decades.

I'm a quick reader and usually read several books a month but The Poisonwood Bible took me a month to read.  There are several reasons for this. One, I've been more busy than usual. Two, I didn't want to rush through the book and I reread much of it. Kingsolver has much to say and I wanted to catch it all. Plus, it's a fairly large book with over 500 pages.

One thought that often occurred to me while reading this book is that many of us Americans are arrogant. We believe our way is the best way. Taking the Word of God isn't enough for us, we want to change their culture to be an American culture. Instead of letting them see God loves them where they are, we often convey that God can only love you if you "Americanize" your lifestyle.

Instead of preaching Jesus word's in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  The message often taught is "No one comes to the Father except through me" saith the Missionary (preacher, etc)

I see this attitude from Nathan Price and I've seen it first hand. Nathan believes he's right, eg: his way of planting a garden is right, his way of baptizing is right, he is right, the people of the Congo are wrong. And he truly believes this because he has been "sent by God." Because of this attitude, everyone eventually suffers. The story of Nathan Price is a sad one and I'm afraid all too common. ie: To be forgiven for our past we must sacrifice the present and those we love. This is not at all what God's Word says to us.  

The Poisonwood Bible is a good novel, in some ways disturbing. Not one you will easily forget.

               

                                          I recommend this book but not for everyone.