#book: the poisonwood bible

[haveyoureadthispoll]

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.

[mostlyghostie]

A recent commission, I like how these ones look together

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[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[litandlifequotes]

My little beast, my eyes, my favorite stolen egg. Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I’ve only found sorrow.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 

[thriftdyke]

tagged by @grieving4theliving 9 favorite books! I suck at remembering books I loved in the past so these are just the books I’m used to telling people are my favorite books plus some I’ve read recently plus fav series. (for series I tried to choose my fav from each but the series as a whole can also be represented)

tagging:

@loveyouslay @jordanshenessy @friendofcars @eruditetyro @lesbianjudasiscariot and anybody else who wants to!

[violentdevotion]

coworkers ganged up on me today because i hate colleen hoover

[trees-to-meet-you]

I think Orleanna should be allowed to kill her husband. I think she should write a killer country song about it.

[kalopsic-lagomorph]

recently started reading the poisonwood bible heres some of my fav quotes

"it lasted just a moment, whatever that is. one held breath? An ants afternoon?"

"they can sit, stand, talk, shake a stick at a drunk man, reach around their backs to fetch forth a baby to nurse, all without dropping their piled-high bundles upon bundles. they are like ballet dancers entirely unaware they are on a stage."

..."one-half set of perfect twins"...

"she grew strong as i grew weak. (yes! jesus loves me!)

this whole exchange:

"if god had amused himself inventing the lilies of the field, he surely knocked his own socks off with the african parasites"

"my daughters would say: you see, mother, you had no life of your own. they have no idea. one has only a life of one's own."

"maybe ill even confess the truth, that i rode in with the horsemen and beheld the apocalypse, but still ill insist i was only a captive witness. what is a conquerors's wife, if not a conquest herself."

"silence has many advantages. when you do not speak, other people presume you to be deaf or feeble-minded and promptly make a show of their own limitations."

this whole part also

"i can understand a wrathful god who'd just as soon dangle us all from a hook. And i can understand a tender, unpredjudice jesus. But i could never quite feature the two of them living in the same house."

[jerichopalms]

If you are whole, you will argue: Why wouldn't they rejoice? Don't the poor miserable buggers all want to be like me? Not necessarily, no. The arrogance of the able-bodied is staggering. Yes, maybe we'd like to be able to get places quickly, and carry things in both hands, but only because we have to keep up with the rest of you, or get The Verse. We would rather be just like us, and have that be all right.

Adah from The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

[bmoharrisbankofficial]

drop books for me to read in the replies, i'm wanting to read more classics and also i like fiction in general (current list is below the cut and is being updated with each recommendation i get)

rest of pjo/hoo dracula frankenstein jekyll and hyde metamorphosis faust crime and punishment (maybe) count of monte cristo (ABRIDGED) the silmarillion the poisonwood bible the tale of edgar sawtelle the haunting of hill house her body and other parties mexican gothic the pit and the pendulum/other eap stories kindred my heart is a chainsaw final girls mongrel picture of dorian grey the master and the margarita carmilla

[space-prophet]

UGH the poison wood bible is SO GOOD I feel like I’ve been emotionally wrecked like 30 times while listening to it and I still have like 4 hours left what the fuck else could happen? Ruining my heart so so good. Barbara Kingsolver is my writing hero she can so brilliantly write to the strugles people are facing even in places she’s never been. I wish I had a physical copy so I could have marked passaged that move me <3

[xoxobellabear]

One has only a life of one's own. - Orleanna Price, The Poisonwood Bible

[anwhitebooks]

The Poisonwood Bible: A confronting read

May 23, 2024 Spoiler-Free Review If you enjoy historical fiction, family dramas, religious commentary, and real-world geopolitical context, you’ll love The Poisonwood Bible. What’s The Poisonwood Bible about? In the 1950s, the Price family moves to the Congo as Baptist missionaries, but they’re unprepared for the reality of life in the remote village of Kilanga. Told from the perspectives of…

[onebluebookworm]

Ranking Books I Read in 2023: 10-6

10. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

I'm not gonna lie to you guys, this book took me almost two months to finish. The summer was not kind of me. But I am glad I got through it, because this is an awesome book. Rich, heartbreaking, and very, very poignant.

9. Cotillion - Georgette Heyer

I never claimed to be a woman of highbrow tastes, and this is full evidence of that. This isn't my favorite Heyer book - the actual plot of the thing took a bit to get underway and the whole thing with the married cousin was kinda silly - but it's good, rollicking fun and has that classic madcap third act. A fun one if you're into Regencies.

8. Middlewest: The Complete Tale - Skottie Young

The art style takes a little getting used to and I wish the world was fleshed out a bit more, but I really enjoyed this. It's one of those things I'd like to see adapted, even though I don't trust most mainstream studios or streaming services to not do it dirty. Plus, I'll always love a good story where the abuser vows to be a better person and apologizes, genuinely, but their victim isn't pressured to forgive them. It's nice on both ends.

7. Mister Magic - Kiersten White

Anything was going to have a hard time following Hide, and while this didn't quite live up to it, it came pretty damn close. As usual, White is not even in the vicinity of fucking around when she lays the blame squarely on old, rich, white people who think the world owes them comfort and wealth, all while throwing their children under the bus to get it. It's creepy, it's twisty, and pretty damn good. Also this made me look up where Kiersten White is from, because the vibes are that she's had interaction with Mormonism and enjoyed exactly none of it. Surprise, she's from Utah.

6. Mort - Terry Pratchett

My first foray into the Discworld Death novels, and I'm very excited to read more. I knew Death was an amazing character through word of mouth and adaptations, but I don't think I was quite prepared for how much I would absolutely fall in love with him. And he's just a cherry on top of a cast of utter delights, zany humor, and just a whole helluva lot of fun.

[litandlifequotes]

Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

[readingaway]

Danielle Babbles About Books - The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Truly a modern classic.

What made you want to read it? - I'd read Prodigal Summer because I saw it on my library's overdrive and wanted to try another Kingsolver, and this is the book I've seen/ heard about for years.

What parts or elements stood out to you most? - I read this not long after reading The Color Purple so the missionary thing was a common thread there. But of course, these are very different stories.

The other things that stood out to me were the distinctive nature of each character's narrative thread/ arc. They all notice different things and then of course go their own separate ways.

What writing things did you pick up?

What format did you read it in? - Audiobook, as is my standard.

Would you make a bookclub or class read this if you could? - Of course, there's so much material for discussion

Mini essay? - I'm sure there is something to be thought about here with post-colonial theory. I think the automatic thought with this book, at least with western audiences, is that this is an anti-colonial narrative. Missionaries were both a primary colonizing force and their stories were (and still are in some circles) treated as especially trustworthy sources of information about the cultures that they would preach to. So, this book obviously critizies the practice of foreign missions and the colonial mindset.

And yet, at the same time, this is still a novel by an American about Americans.

Main Thoughts - What is it about Kingsolver's writing? She's so good at setting and interweaving the narrative with its place.