An interesting tale of the Price family, dragged to the Congo, heart of Africa, by Nathaniel Price -vigorous Baptist priest intent upon bringing the souls of the Congolese to the purity of Christ- that contains many tragic, comic, and shocking adventures. Kingsolver has re-invented her own childhood experience in the Congo in an alternate reality. Her parents, medical and public-health workers, took her on this exploration for every other reason that the Price family has ventured the the equator.
Beginning in 1959 and continuing throughout the time that the Price family spends in Africa, everything is a first person narrative. However, there are five voices. Orleanna, wife and mother, speaks at the opening of each new book, (Genesis, The Revelation, The Judges, Bel and the Serpent, Exodus, Song of the Children, and The Eyes in the Trees,) and her timeline is one of memories. Throughout the days and nights spent in the village of Kilanga, her daughters, Rachael, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May narrate.
Racheal is 16, arrogant, vain, and paints her toenails without her fathers permission. Leah and Adah, 15 year old twins, are brilliant in their own ways. Energetic Leah wishes she was a boy, and carries her bow and arrow with pride - much to the dismay of the cultural rules in Kilanga about women. She listens to her father's great sermons and wishes to be the best in his sight. Adah is silent and "crooked." Hemephlegia is the disease that keeps her 'left...behind.' The right side of her body is entirely limp and according to the doctors, her brain should be in the same condition. She is also brilliant, but because she feels betrayed, she chooses to never speak. Albeit, her voice is the most eloquent and innate. Ruth May, innocent and hilarious 5 year old, votes for Jesus when the Chief of the Kilanga tribe, Tata Ndu, decides that the congregation must vote for who they will worship: Christ or the Gods of the Kilanga people.
The novel is a commentary on the line between righteousness and doing the right thing. Instances of ignorance, arrogance, and stubbornness stress the importance of keeping an open mind, and loving all people. It is set in a very pivotal time period of history, where the Civil Rights movement back in the United States is mentioned, and there is war in the Congo.
For me, this novel had a strong theme about God’s will, and how things that go wrong aren’t punishment. Instead, it was a reassurance for me that we are tried and tested so that we can be very strong people. This is just my opinion though, and I would recommend you read it to develop your own ideas of what this book is saying. I absolutely loved every moment of it, and if you decide to read it, I hope you love it too!
P.S. How's this for procrastination Lavender?
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1 comment:
Alex,
This is an excellent review! Short, but packed with just the sort of information that I would hope will propel your readers to go out and get a copy of Kingsolver and start reading! I like that you list some of the chapter titles (a good way to give your readers a taste both of the action and the 'larger themes" of the novel--you put it well when you mention the fine line between righteousness and doing the right thing), and I appreciate that you give a nod to the novel's fairly unique narrative structure.
All in all, a great job (I see no evidence of procrastination whatsoever!).
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