Yeah, I knew I wouldn’t keep up the pace of one review per week. I still have a short stack of books by Kansas Authors on my desk… but all need to be re-read before I can adequately review since I managed to read them the first time without a review in mind. I keep hoping to come across some new ones since I don’t generally like to re-read books.
However, I did just finish, for the second time, a book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. Kingsolver is another one of those authors who really doesn’t need my two cents, but… my blog, I’m going to give it anyway.
What I remembered loving about this story the first time I read it was the fact that it was three stories, and you spend the entire book trying to piece together how these stories fit, because each feels so complete on its own. The stories do tie together. Names, places, objects… the themes of the community grow through the individuals in the stories. It’s beautifully done. Romantic even. Love stories that are sensuously written.
The difference between reading this book five or six years ago and now, I realize, is the way it struck me personally. I think I related a lot to the frustrations of the main characters at the time. Nannie Rawley, the organic apple grower, fussing with her old neighbor over pesticides that were drifting on to her land. Lusa, the new widow, trying to find her way with her husband’s family. The stories felt familiar and even painful as we were in the midst of our own alternative farming efforts and the social difficulties that seemed to follow.
This time, however, the book left me feeling much more peaceful and satisfied. I was more able to focus on the happy endings… the way I imagine the story goes on beyond the pages of the book. As I’ve read it this time around, I’ve found myself listening more to the birds, thinking of the balance of nature, and perhaps contemplating the choices I’ve made and the directions my life has taken in the past ten years more objectively.
Anyway, it’s a beautiful book. If you haven’t read it, it’s worth your time.
The next Kingsolver book on my list is her first nonfiction narrative, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
2 comments:
Thanks for the review. I'll add this one to my "to read" list. (that keeps getting more and more added to it, and not quite so many checked off!)
This is one of my Top Five books. Very near the top. I think I went into a dream world reading it. Hypnotized. Sorry about the fish. Be easy on yourself. Hope your day gets better.
Love, M.
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