Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

7 reviews

jade_smith's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 Quite simply, I'm in awe of Barbara Kingsolver's ability to tell a story. Each of the characters in this book had such a distinct character voice -- I don't think I've ever read a novel that balanced adajcent character POVs so masterfully. The development of the way these women understood the world around them (and indeed the refusal to understand the world around them in the case of Rachel) felt true to life, and provided a grounded core for a intricate piece of historical fiction.

I've been obsessed with Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" ever since I read it in high school because of it's complex position as a piece of early post-colonial literature written from a (contemporaneously) critical Western perspective. "The Poisonwood Bible" is the successor that I've been unconsciously searching for since then -- a rich and raw examination of Africa's interior, grounded in themes of womanhood, community, and exploitation of power. Kingsolver's descriptions of nature are just as vivid as Conrad's, evoking the humid extremes of the Congo. But, Kingsolver's work is also self-conscious in an immensely important way -- it understands discourses of whiteness, and mythologies of the so-called civilised West. It centers women, and quite justly draws together ideas of racism, misogyny, and class oppression as different heads of the same beast. The villain is not the dark of the Congo, and the problem is not individual men driven to madness by the darkness, but rather it is systems, invented, controlled and perpetuated by Western hegemony. This is something that I believe Kingsolver characteristically does well -- she understands the role of systems in a broken society.

This is one of those rare books that make me want to sit down and write an essay about it. The word I keep coming back to is "rich", because that's what this novel is. From the characters, to the prose, to it's malleable moral compass and multitude of themes, "Poisonwood Bible" is quite simply, very, very good.

Also, any work of fiction that comes with a two-page bibliography at the back instantly has my heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

navayiota's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Complex, enchanting, heartbreaking. 
I frequently felt too dumb to truly a preciate this book. A masterclass in writing strong, unique characters realistically, characters who will stick with you as you move on from this book. And in my experience, a step by step guide to comprehend your complicity in the world's tragedies, and a game plan to process, move on, and do something about it. Reading this book made me truly see the forest for the first time in my life. I have yet to understand the extent of what I've learned. I look forward to finding out. 
It also pains me to imagine the kind of grief author experienced to understand grief this well, and to be able to put it to words so efficiently. It pains me more to know that there are people in this world who have experienced suffering double, triple, quadruple the size of this and had nobody to write their story down. At the end of the day, I know how good my life is. 
If I could only keep one piece of knowledge from this book, it would be that now, I have the choice to not take my life for granted anymore. I will always be grateful for that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Cancer

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

bingled's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

linddykal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Infertility

uss_mary_shelley's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I read most of this book today despite starting it in September, and I'm not sure what that means for my feelings on it. It's good and captivating but I think I've come away feeling disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

sjanke2's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment