Ok. What gives, Kingsolver?I have adored her work for years, and had this particular book sitting on my shelf for a long time unread. I picked it up to read recently, and went "oh yeah, that's why". i'd tried previous times to read it and couldn't "get into it". I'm usually a stickler for the "getting in to it" factor. if something doesnt hold my attention, or is downright fucking painful, within the first chapter, i have to ditch it.but no. i gave Barb K the benefit of the doubt. i mean, she wr...

This book is hot.It's my favorite Barbara Kingsolver novel.I came away liking coyotes. And grieving the American chestnut.

I promise I could make you laugh if I showed you the comments my teachers made in my high school yearbook in my senior year. From every language arts or creative writing teacher I ever had: The sky's the limit for you, kid!From every science and math teacher I ever had: Marry rich, kid!I often wondered what a conversation might have sounded like between the two camps, if they ever collided in the teacher's lounge. Half of them would have been surprised to learn that I was a candidate for a full

Lots of different subplots that eventually intertwine, includes a love story too. She writes very lyrically, you'll want to savor this one. Nature / animal lovers will appreciate this one too. Something for everyone, this one is probably in my all time top 10 or 15 list.2nd reading: This is not a book to read but a book to feel. It's a book you feel the truth and the rightness of, down deep in your gut.

I don't want it to end! :( There's still much life for these characters to lead and I want to be there for it! Although I guess it has to end somewhere... The BEAUTIFUL NATURAL WORLD she gives - my kingdom to know so much and be so deeply involved in the real world around me. (This week, I met the wooly bear caterpillar and the granite spiny lizard at Mission Trails, both locals. I can't wait to meet more and learn about more. Thank goodness for parks and rangers - at least SOMEONE is maintainin...

As usual in a Kingsolver book the writing in Prodigal Summer is just beautiful and the descriptions lyrical. It is a book to read carefully and slowly and just enjoy.Several different stories run parallel and tie up eventually towards the end of the book. I found my interest in each story uneven and tended to rush the parts about Garnett Walker because I became tired of his constant, repetitive musings and I wanted to get back to Deanna or Lusa. However I never rushed any of their parts:)The aut...

This is the story of three sets of characters living in the Appalachians in Virginia. There is a woman biologist, a new wife, a sour old man and a wonderful "nannie".As usual Kingsolver's characters are strong and exciting. Her descriptions of landscapes, animals and insects, etc are so impressive you can be there in your mind.I loved this book and it's intertwining of lives. My only regret is that it wasn't longer.

Overall, a delightful, thoughtful and refreshing novel. I loved the pure joy, the contagious adoration, for nature — from top predators to insects to extinct trees to blossoming weeds — that shines through the pages. (My only real gripe with the book is that, on occasion, this love morphs into rather a preachy cautionary tale, or scolding—it could still have been powerfully ecological and progressive without the few soap-box passages.) Another message is the sometimes-lovely, sometimes-scary, ev...

I first read Barbara Kingsolver maybe 10 years ago and really liked her. Since then, I've discovered authors like Edna Forbes and Alice Hoffman who also both have an interest in the lives of rural women, rich narratives and, sometimes magical realism. That said, Kingsolver is still very much at the top of this field. However, this book left me somewhat disappointed by the end for two reasons:1. Big themes- without spoiling too much, the theme of this book is that evolution is always going on and...

This is my favorite of Barbara Kingsolver's fiction.Three stories weave together into a beautiful story of nature, love, and family. The biology Kingsolver integrates in the narrative is educational and fascinating. The three threads begin with "Predators" which follows Deanna, who is a Forest Preserve ranger and lives alone in a small cabin high upon Zebulon Mountain. She unexpectedly begins a romance with a roaming coyote poacher, although Deanna is working tirelessly to protect a hidden den o...

I enjoyed Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible so much that for some reason I delayed reading this one (does that make sense?). I just liked the idea of another unread novel by her being out there, waiting for me to read -- something I was saving like a piece of rich dark chocolate. Her descriptions of the natural world are lovely. The relationships are complex and sexy and intriguing. My favorite story line is the romance between Deanna and Eddie. It reminds me of the romance in "The River Why", anoth...

This is a noteworthy book that exemplifies accomplished writing, interleaving the natural world with the more immediate human bubble, depicting conflicting proclivities through contrasting characters, even contradictions in individual thinking. Also in showing how alike all life forms are, differing for the most part only morphologically in niche adaptation with varying subjective perspectives.An example of contradictory thinking depicted is one of the characters believing wholeheartedly in 'Cre...

I think my favorite line of "poetry" from this book is "He made love to me like a farmer!" She then goes on to talk about milking cows and tilling the land while describing their love making. Maybe I've just known too many farmers in my life and found none of them in the least bit attractive. There is nothing romantic about the smell of manure on a man. And anyway, I think that line sums up the depth of this book pretty well. From the first chapter I knew I was in trouble when one of the leading...

My first Barbara Kingsolver book. Won't be my last. It is so BEAUTIFULLY written. Every sentence is crafted - which means it's quite a slow read; no skipping through paragraphs like most books. It has the jewel-like clarity and intensity of Ian McEwan but without the prissy, look-at-me-I'm-so-clever that creeps into his work. Such vivid characters, each with their own voice. There were clear themes running through the book reflecting Kingsolver's detailed knowledge of biology and farming: evolut...

“Most people lived so far from it, they thought you could just choose, carnivore or vegetarian, without knowing that the chemicals on grain and cotton killed for more butterflies and bees and bluebirds and whippoorwills than the mortal cost of a steak or a leather jacket. (...) Even if you never touch meat, you’re costing something its blood”, she said. “Don’t patronize me. I know that. Living takes life.”The most gorgeous nature writing I've ever read.Mais do que uma lição de ecologia sem moral...

I had to create a new shelf for this book as I couldn't put it on my literary fiction shelf as I don't believe people will be reading this book in a hundred (or even fifty) years time. & it was too "heavy" to be categorised as chick lit.I had a lot of problems with this book.For one thing, it featured multiple points of view - which I'm not a fan of. At least it didn't go back & forth in time as well.I was far more interested in Lusa's story than the other two - although my interest in Deanna's

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Barbara Kingsolver’s novels but “Prodigal Summer” stands out for me. The opening lines promise that you’re going on a journey into the minds of memorable characters: “Her body moved with the frankness that comes from solitary habits. But solitude is only a human presumption.” What follows doesn’t disappoint.Three parallel stories unfold of characters quite unalike on the surface and yet connected in deeper ways that resonate profoundly. It would have been easy – and

Did you know that nature is kept in balance by predators? Or that chemical pesticides aren't so good?No? Well, here, read this five hundred page book that will explain it to you by stretching multiple moth metaphors and telling the story of three identically tedious women who know best because they menstruate to the moon. These women will encounter men who are clueless about the mysteries of nature just to create the plot device needed to provide you with dialogue between nature women and cluele...

The key themes of the book are ecological/natural: that Spring/Summer are times of active reproduction and are sexually charged in nature; that removing a predator from an ecological system has huge repercussions, often causing the next layer down to devastate the ecology; that indeterminate pesticides often have the effect of boosting the population of the herbivore insects they seek to control (because of their proportionately effect on their carnivore predators); that man is also a natural cr...

Reading this is a joyous experience. Other people have written long and thoughtful reviews but I'll just say that I loved its exuberance - a light exuberance, not at all boisterous - and its gentle, often funny, exploration of family and neighbourly 'business'.I returned it to the friend who lent it to me and bought a copy to keep. She had said 'Try this' when I confessed I had never been able to get into The Poisonwood Bible, didn't want to read about missionaries in Africa. Thank you Lisa!