By Slanted Light

I love Barbara Kingsolver and really like the way she writes. Since reading The Bean Trees way back in the late 80s (ack!) I've been a big fan (I particularly love Animal Dreams and Prodigal Summer). Have to confess though that The Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna were my two least favourites of her novels. Both I struggled to finish which made me sad as I'd eaten up everything she'd done thus far with a spoon!

Like your book group people I remember not really being engaged with the characters in Poisonwood, not finding them very realistic. The language quirks (like the backwards words and the malapropisms) didn't bother me, and the characters all had their own very distinctive voices that are cleverly done, but I got caricature out of that rather than character. Great, unsettling, atmospheric setting and all (she really does nature beautifully) but I thought it got a little preachy (heh). And it was too long!

Also, in defence of your book groupers who didn't explain properly why they didn't like it, I do think many people are very instinctive about books and actually analysing why they don't like a particular book or writer (the language? the style? the characterization? the author voice?) is not necessarily something that comes naturally. I get a bit frustrated at my book club, too, when it's mostly loved it/hated it/meh. While a couple of us might tentatively witter on about structure, pacing, blah, whatever, for the others it generally boils down to whether they 'liked' the story. Some of it might be to do with having been specifically taught that kind of comment and analysis as Literature students, I dunno. Or for us perhaps it's that, as writer-y people (and people who actively enjoy discussing fic, for example) it's just more fun!

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