We're reading the Poisonwood Bible
She has her own website
Where, among other things you can:
- Read about Barbara Kingsolver. You can view a little slideshow about her life that is pretty cool.
- See a list of books she's written.
- Read more about The Poisonwood Bible
"The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa."I was curious about the Congo and I looked it up on Google maps.
It doesn't look like anything is there.
There are names hovering over things, but if you zoom in you can't see anything like roads and towns
Click for the Wikipedia page
Facts from the BBC,
- Full name: Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Population: 67.7 million (UN, 2011)
- Capital: Kinshasa
- Area: 2.34 million sq km (905,354 sq miles)
- Major languages: French, Lingala, Kiswahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba
- Major religions: Christianity, Islam
- Life expectancy: 47 years (men), 51 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: 1 Congolese franc = 100 centimes
- Main exports: Diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil
- GNI per capita: US $180 (World Bank, 2010)
- Full name: United States of America
- Population: 317.6 million (UN, 2010)
- Capital: Washington DC
- Largest city: New York City
- Area: 9.8 million sq km (3.8 million sq miles)
- Major language: English
- Major religion: Christianity
- Life expectancy: 76 years (men), 81 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: 1 US dollar = 100 cents
- Main exports: Computers and electrical machinery, vehicles, chemical products, food and live animals, military equipment and aircraft
- GNI per capita: US $47,390 (World Bank, 2010)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are the implications of the novel's title phrase, the poisonwood bible, particularly in connection with the main characters' lives and the novel's main themes? How important are the circumstances in which the phrase comes into being?
2. What do you think of the writing style used in this book and the various voices used to tell the story. Did you trust their interpretation of events?
3. Why do you suppose that Reverend Nathan Price is not given a voice of his own? Do we learn from his wife and daughters enough information to formulate an adequate explanation for his beliefs and behavior? Does such an explanation matter?
4. What differences and similarities are there among Nathan Price's relationship with his family, Tata Ndu's relationship with his people, and the relationship of the Belgian and American authorities with the Congo? Are the novel's political details--both imagined and historical--appropriate?
5. What do we learn about cultural, social, religious, and other differences between Africa and America?
To what degree do Orleanna and her daughters come to an understanding of those differences?
6. At the novel's end, the carved-animal woman in the African market is sure that "There has never been any village on the road past Bulungu," that "There is no such village" as Kilanga. What do you make of this?
1. What are the implications of the novel's title phrase, the poisonwood bible, particularly in connection with the main characters' lives and the novel's main themes? How important are the circumstances in which the phrase comes into being?
2. What do you think of the writing style used in this book and the various voices used to tell the story. Did you trust their interpretation of events?
3. Why do you suppose that Reverend Nathan Price is not given a voice of his own? Do we learn from his wife and daughters enough information to formulate an adequate explanation for his beliefs and behavior? Does such an explanation matter?
4. What differences and similarities are there among Nathan Price's relationship with his family, Tata Ndu's relationship with his people, and the relationship of the Belgian and American authorities with the Congo? Are the novel's political details--both imagined and historical--appropriate?
5. What do we learn about cultural, social, religious, and other differences between Africa and America?
To what degree do Orleanna and her daughters come to an understanding of those differences?
6. At the novel's end, the carved-animal woman in the African market is sure that "There has never been any village on the road past Bulungu," that "There is no such village" as Kilanga. What do you make of this?
Still no spoilers in this:
ReplyDeleteWell the process of pulling information for this post rekindled my waning interest in this book and so I read it last week. I also wrote a lenghty discussion comment, but becasue I finished it late at night I decided to wait until the light of day before I posted it in case it didn't make any sense. Later I looked up a bunch of stuff about the Congo and Mabutu and Lumumba and our own government's role in all that horror and had links and some quotes and I'd pasted all that into a Word Document. Well my computer is ill and apparently that is all lost and this whiney post is what you get instead.
My original comment was about darkness and how there are different sorts and how some are ok with certain kinds but not others. Here's what I mean.
At our Agnes Grey meeting we were discussing what was coming up and Lisa F. mentioned she did not plan on reading Poisonwood Bible. That she'd started it and it was just too dark. Julie was surprised because she'd read it before and didn't remember that being the case (although she's been rereading it and may be changing her mind). Julie said she had however found the Screwtape Letters too dark for her and Lisa later commented that she found them hilarious. The Poisonwood Bible was a book that my goup in Indiana always talked about reading because a few members had read it and recommended it so I've always wanted to read it, but after Lisa one comment I lost all will to actually do it becasue for me what is too dark is somewhat seasonal. January through Mid-April it's best for me to read uplifting things. Some further illustrations. Farenheit 451 is one of my favorites, but Julie and Elizabeth T. both found it too dark. Elizabeth found Enna Burning too dark. On the other hand she recommended the Hunger Games to me which I found too dark (I think all of us agreed the last one was too dark).
So I think it's interesting that there is such a difference in what we as indidviduals find too dark and I wonder why that is.
So what do you find too dark? And was Poisonwood Bible too dark for you?
I will answer my own question to start things off.
DeleteUm, sort of. It wasn't really too dark while I was reading it, but it has a lingering depression which is a bit unsettling.
I mentioned that I looked up a bit about the Congo and things are still horrible. And I am just horribly disturbed about the CIAs role in the whole thing with Patrice Lumumba which was not fiction.
Books that are set in reality that are dark because reality is dark, generally aren't too dark for me in that I'm usually glad I read them so that I understand better where people are coming from, but they worry me because of the hopelessness of the setting and how powerless it makes me feel to do anything about it. The Kite Runner was very much like that. You read about all these horrible things and think, 'there is just no way that anything like that should go on in the world' and yet, what can you do about it? Those books aren't TOO dark but because of the emotional investment I need to read them far apart so I have time to recover.
Then there's the darkness that creeps me out. I have a hard time with unseen dark powers that are so much stronger than what the main characters have any hope of fighting back with. A Curse As Dark As Gold felt like that. They were just going about their business and were thwarted at every turn and it simply seemed they had NO way of fighting back. That was also how the Hunger Games felt to me. And yes they triumphed in the end but ugh! it was at such a cost that it hardly felt like a victory.
And here's were I set myself apart. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was a bit too dark for me, even though I thought it was beautifully written. I know everyone at book group felt it was inspiring, but it was a too little too late story. Yes those younger kids will have a better life but her dad is DEAD, and they had to save money in a can nailed to the floor and her horribly ingnorant teacher and the whole thing was just too awful to be swept aside by her mohter marrying up and a better life for the little one(s). Now don't get me wrong I loved that book and don't regret reading it, but I was an emotional disaster because of it (and because I was pregnant with Grace and very worried about the outcome of that pregnancy). So there was that whole story of the aunt that had all those still born kids that if she'd had them in a hospital maybe they would have ALL been fine! Agh. It was all just too much.
Later in life my mother started only reading things with happy endings. When watching Gone with the Wind she would leave the room after Bonnie Blue was born. It just got too sad for her. I always though it was weird but I'm beginning to understand it more now.
My sister will still read sad things but likes to know ahead of time so she can be emotionally prepared.
As most of you may recall I found the Poisonwood Bible very depressing. There was just so much going on that was so disturbing. And even though weeks have passed I was still bothered by this book and all the stuff I subsequently read about Africa.
ReplyDeleteWatching General Conference helped though. Conference is always uplifting but also we were watching on BYUtv and I noticed a program entitled Pioneers of Africa. I watched and I was hopeful; happy to see that not all news from Africa is depressing and hopeless. In case anyone else would like to see it here's the link: http://byutv.org/watch/a659ec6f-821f-46ab-82e6-7ac789eccb73
On a completely unrelated note, did anyone else notice Elder Archuleta in the MTC Chorus 2nd session? I'd like to point out that John is actually the one who noticed : )