The Poisonwood Bible   by Barbara Kingsolver

March, 2007.     A Christmas gift from my loving, book-addict Mother.

An intricate, and involving book. It sucked me in, and then bounced me around from one viewpoint to another. As it was clear that tragedies, possibly many of them, were coming, it felt a bit like Russian Roulette: We move from viewpoint to viewpoint, waiting for the moment when the bullet comes. (Or the flood, or the sickness, or the poison, or the many other possible injuries and deaths.)

The book is set in a poor, poor village in Revolutionary Belgian Congo. An American (white...) family stays there, as missionaries, through the uprising, the revolution, the military coup soon to follow... and in general, the complete degradation of the country. (Not that a country having it's own freedom and government is a degradation: it only is so when the new government manages to make everything worse than it was with the previous regime.)

This book doesn't shy away from issues of racism, colonialism, poverty, cultural divide, abuse of power, abuse of spouses, abuse of children, corruption, greed, or military cruelty. It is, (obviously by now,) not a cheery, happy book; There isn't even a nice, happy ending, where the characters put everything behind them. They find ways to live with most parts, and become used to a life long struggle with the things they can not accept. It's true that they find some measure of happiness, and some personal closure... but neither of those things become near to complete.

All the same, there are some brighter, positive, and (perhaps,) even hopeful facets; We meet some characters that are truly kind people. We see some villages that are truly peaceful, and can move continually towards better things. The very revealing of atrocities makes us hope that from now on, we will have slightly more open eyes, and will not sit acquiescently for so long should they happen again.

One interesting thing this author does is write from the perspective of the mother of the family, and from the point of view of each of the four daughters, (of ages around 16, 14, and 6.) Not only does Barbara K. write through the eyes of these different people; She does it very well. They are each very distinct, and original personalities. They each have a different way of looking at the world. And they each have a completely convincing voice; Their own way of describing the events around them. Yet... they all fit together, and truly seem to be of one family; the reader feels that they must have grown up with each other, and have known each other from their earliest moments.

I imagine that the author must be a mother, or a psychologist, (or both.) How else could she see so deeply into the differences of character; of personality, of the four daughters? I now feel that far too many books have the children thinking too much the same; They all have the same basic thoughts, wishes, and desires. The only thing that varies is their situations, and their superficial actions. (One could be pushy. Another, quiet. Another attention seeking. -But only the outward actions of them are noticed.) They get written about just as grownups experience them: Their actions are clear. Then some theories are thought up as to why they act so. But This author... builds them from the inside out; Starting first with their innermost hearts, and then with their thoughts, and then their desires, and then their ideas, and only last of all, do we see how that looks to those around them.

I hope I made myself a little clear there.

Something else I enjoyed of this book, (besides the seriousness and darkness of themes, and the perfectly executed children's points of views,) was the Anthropological side of it; The look at lives and a culture which is so foreign to me. Seeing how a village in the African jungle holds together, and deals with situations which arrive. (And these cultural traditions and practices are brought into sharp relief by their juxtaposition with the Missionary's ideas about how everything Should be done. -And with the family's expectations and surprises.)

What else is there to say?

I personally agree with many of the Socio-political ideas put forth in the novel; The author's views, "Liberal" views, on Socialism, military, responsibility, prostitution, religion... and on and on. (The "Religion" theme... is interesting though. I can't say that I actually know the author's view there. She presents one situation: Of an over-zealous, overly-strict, (abusive,) baptist Missionary, in a small, isolated jungle village in the Congo. Her opinions on THAT are fairly clear, but it can hardly be generalised for the entire Christian Faith. The most general remark on religion I could find in the novel, is that Missionaries should never be too rigid, but should allow for many of the old traditions, cultural quirks, and spiritual practices of those they wish to Enlighten. (Particularly because Our, (Western,) failure to understand their lives, does not in ANY way reflect their lack of enlightenment.

-Hardly a criticism of Organised Christian Faith.

It is a good, thick, involved and involving book. It has many parts which disturbed me, and left me shaking my head at the heartlessness of humanity. (And feeling sick, knowing that I, personally, would not have found any way to help. Like so many others always do, I fear I would have turned a blind eye, and left the problem... to those that it fell upon.) But this book was well written, and good. -Greatly good.