I almost gave up because it was too depressing but I am glad I stuck with it.

I think the early scenes are the worst because he's so young, so it's the most heartbreaking. It doesn't get more uplifting, but he gets older so it's (slightly) less disturbing. But I wouldn't say it gets any less bleak.

I liked it overall. It's very similar to Hillbilly Elegy in terms of the content and takeaways, i.e. rural whites and their struggles. If you found HE tiresome (I did, a bit), you may find this a bit tiresome too. But it has a lot more nuance and subtlety.

I enjoyed the fact that it was the David Copperfield story - it's fun to see how she updates the various characters and themes.

I thought it was a masterpiece. She weaved together many important social issues and also did an amazing job inhabiting Demon's character.

I loved Kinsgsolver's Prodigal Summer - not dark at all, beautifully written.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a wonderful book, but it is consistently dark until the very end. As far as plot goes, if you've read David Copperfield you can see what's coming; that can be helpful. Like David Copperfield it brings up important, uncomfortable issues that affect the lives of impoverished women and children, but Kingsolver writes so well that I couldn't stop reading.

I agree. I also agree with others that this much depressing is hard to take, and I almost quit at the point where everything just keeps getting worse (so, a lot of points). I’m glad I pushed through and very glad with the ending she’s written. I’m trying to recall which was tougher - A Little Life or this one. I know I didn’t consider giving up on A Little Life.
Definitely ready for some light hearted easy reads now.

I have Demon Copperhead on my nightstand to read after my current book, but now you are making me pause. I couldn’t get past about 30% of A Little Life. It is beautifully written, but so overwhelmingly sad that I would cry every time I picked it up. Finally put it away. dC is going to be even harder than that?

No! A Little Life is torture porn, I hated it. DC is not anywhere close.

Whew. Glad to hear that. And your description of A Little Life is so accurate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a wonderful book, but it is consistently dark until the very end. As far as plot goes, if you've read David Copperfield you can see what's coming; that can be helpful. Like David Copperfield it brings up important, uncomfortable issues that affect the lives of impoverished women and children, but Kingsolver writes so well that I couldn't stop reading.

I agree. I also agree with others that this much depressing is hard to take, and I almost quit at the point where everything just keeps getting worse (so, a lot of points). I’m glad I pushed through and very glad with the ending she’s written. I’m trying to recall which was tougher - A Little Life or this one. I know I didn’t consider giving up on A Little Life.
Definitely ready for some light hearted easy reads now.

I have Demon Copperhead on my nightstand to read after my current book, but now you are making me pause. I couldn’t get past about 30% of A Little Life. It is beautifully written, but so overwhelmingly sad that I would cry every time I picked it up. Finally put it away. dC is going to be even harder than that?

No! A Little Life is torture porn, I hated it. DC is not anywhere close.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a wonderful book, but it is consistently dark until the very end. As far as plot goes, if you've read David Copperfield you can see what's coming; that can be helpful. Like David Copperfield it brings up important, uncomfortable issues that affect the lives of impoverished women and children, but Kingsolver writes so well that I couldn't stop reading.

I agree. I also agree with others that this much depressing is hard to take, and I almost quit at the point where everything just keeps getting worse (so, a lot of points). I’m glad I pushed through and very glad with the ending she’s written. I’m trying to recall which was tougher - A Little Life or this one. I know I didn’t consider giving up on A Little Life.
Definitely ready for some light hearted easy reads now.

I have Demon Copperhead on my nightstand to read after my current book, but now you are making me pause. I couldn’t get past about 30% of A Little Life. It is beautifully written, but so overwhelmingly sad that I would cry every time I picked it up. Finally put it away. dC is going to be even harder than that?

Educated, Hillbilly Elegy and Glass Castle are similarly dark, yet real. I'm glad she chose this subject matter. It's an important topic

I loved it. I didn't find it dark. I found it realistic.

But then I also work close to the foster system and see the worst of humanity.

I'm a PP who couldn't get into it mainly because it's so dark. But now that it's won the Pulitzer for fiction I may give it another try.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a wonderful book, but it is consistently dark until the very end. As far as plot goes, if you've read David Copperfield you can see what's coming; that can be helpful. Like David Copperfield it brings up important, uncomfortable issues that affect the lives of impoverished women and children, but Kingsolver writes so well that I couldn't stop reading.

I agree. I also agree with others that this much depressing is hard to take, and I almost quit at the point where everything just keeps getting worse (so, a lot of points). I’m glad I pushed through and very glad with the ending she’s written. I’m trying to recall which was tougher - A Little Life or this one. I know I didn’t consider giving up on A Little Life.
Definitely ready for some light hearted easy reads now.

I read Nora Goes Off Script after Demon Copperhead and it was a good palate cleanser. I loved DC. But I thought the second half was darker than the first!

Anonymous wrote:It's a wonderful book, but it is consistently dark until the very end. As far as plot goes, if you've read David Copperfield you can see what's coming; that can be helpful. Like David Copperfield it brings up important, uncomfortable issues that affect the lives of impoverished women and children, but Kingsolver writes so well that I couldn't stop reading.

I agree. I also agree with others that this much depressing is hard to take, and I almost quit at the point where everything just keeps getting worse (so, a lot of points). I’m glad I pushed through and very glad with the ending she’s written. I’m trying to recall which was tougher - A Little Life or this one. I know I didn’t consider giving up on A Little Life.
Definitely ready for some light hearted easy reads now.

I agree with the PP. Damon’s relationship with Dori and Emmy’s plot were interesting and challenging too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally I thought the book was terrible and really overplayed WV stereotypes. I felt like she was an armchair anthropologist telling me what people from there are like.

This kind of sums up Barbara Kingsolver for me. I used to like her work, but have found her last several books exhausting and rather smug.

I see what you mean about smug, but this one did not feel that way to me. I actually didn't think it seemed like a Kingsolver novel. I also thought it did a nice job of portraying life in that area of the country but also pushing back on the usual stereotypes through Demon's strong and intelligent voice

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I listened to it and liked it. I also liked his point of view.

Kingsolver is a woman

They mean Demon’s POV…