Barbara Kingsolver - Prodigal Summer: A Novel

Pros: interesting characters, beautifully written
Cons: may drag a bit for non-nature lovers

I am right now filled with admiration, and truth be told, a kind of awe. You see, I recently finished Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer. It’s as though she read my mind and wrote a book just for me. I have absolutely no idea how this...

Pros: Exquisite writing, engaging storyline, vibrant characters
Cons: Ms. Kingsolver is preaching the gospel of environmentalism, but golly- she has a point!

Barbara Kingsolver- where have you been all my life? Whenever I find a new author that I enjoy, I can only liken the feeling to the euphoria of my 6th bithday- when my parents surprised me with a trip to Disneyland. Stumbling across Barbara...

Pros: Elegantly written, Well developed characters, Sensually appealing
Cons: A bit lengthy and, at times, bombastic

After having read, and marveled over, Author Barbara Kingsolver's compelling novel, Th e Poisonwood Bible, I was expecting somewhat of a letdown, after having been so entranced with her previous work. Although I did not ...

Pros: great sense of place, excellent primer on wildlife ecology
Cons: some characters not as well-painted as others

Sometimes while you read a vagrant phrase can plant itself in your mind, stuck there like a Post-It note on some metaphysical bulletin board. Mind you, this phrase needn't come from what you're reading, and it doesn't even have to be original. It only...

Pros: Intelligent info about eco-systems, different species, biology, environmental, and conservation
Cons: No Story, lacks focus, unlikeable characters.

I'm being generous here, this book really deserves two stars, as I am growing weary with this author. Author Barbara Kingsolver is very famous for her previous, the legendary "Poisonwood Bible," novel which I liked--(Poisonwood).

"Prodigal...

Pros: Beautiful writing, incredibly realistic characters and eloquent descriptions
Cons: Cons? Not a quick read...

Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver

The People

I write people, instead of characters, because Kingsolver has managed to create persons, which seem far more real than almost any other I have encountered in literature. ...

Pros: I felt very relaxed when reading it.
Cons: Some unnatural dialog--but very little.

I love Barbara Kingsolver.

I loved "Animal Dreams," which made me cry so hard at the end that I could literally barely read the last three pages.

I loved "Pigs in Heaven" and "Turtle Dreams," which were both about a young woman who...

Pros: Strong women and an appreciation for Appalachia
Cons: Lightweight, some underdeveloped characters

Until the Epinions site catches up with the new releases . . .

Old Barbara Kingsolver fans will rejoice in the release of her latest novel, Prodigal Summer; back are the learning, loving, longing, left-leaning heroines in the style...

Pros: rich, full prose with interesting women characters
Cons: early scenes seem a bit steamy for Kingsolver

One does not expect a Kingsolver heroine to be indulging in what initially appears to be gratuitous sex early on in her novel...but wait it out and Prodigal Summer will reward you with the richness one comes to expect of BK's novels. And, yes, it is all...

Pros: This book is well-written and has a very interesting style.
Cons: It ended!

I read the Poisonwood Bible and really enjoyed it but found it to be a slow read. Prodigal Summer is not the Poisonwood Bible. It was a very quick read that left you wanting to know more.

The descriptive nature of this book is so...

Pros: wonderful characters, beautiful prose
Cons: the sequel isn't out yet

Barbara Kingsolver's latest is also her greatest....at least since Animal Dreams. The way she weaves this tale of lives coming together, the way we come to know and love her characters, her beautiful descriptions of the land that so influences the...

Pros: It is a Barbara Kingsolver for those who love her
Cons: But if it wasn't a Barbara Kingsolver it would never have been published!

I was so incredibly disappointed in this book I almost didn't finish it. We read this book for our book club and the consensus was the book was bad mainly because the characters were so terribly unbelievable.
The book starts off with one terribly...