Anonymous wrote:I’m another who hated it, despite loving several of Kingsolver’s other books.
1) I did not find Demon’s voice authentic. What child narrates like an adult? What drug addict sounds so coherent?
2) I felt zero, zip, connection to many of the characters in this book. The Coach? Hardly knew him. The supporting characters were super under developed.
3). Show v tell. It’s one of those books that tells tells tells for hundreds and hundred of pages. I found myself skimming.
I’m sure staying loyal to David Copperfield was a huge challenge and probably prevented her from making better choices. I think it’s one of those books you love or hate. Frankly I think a lot of people like it because it’s Barbara Kingsolver and she’s so respected…she got away with the flaws.
Anonymous wrote:I hated A Little Life. I loved Shuggie Bain. The commentary here has me split on if I will enjoy this. My family is from this area of Appalachia and I'm usually really drawn to authors who write about it, so I'm hoping not to be turned off by it!
Anonymous wrote:Guys, it’s David Copperfield. The ending had to be the ending because it’s a direct update of David Copperfield.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m another who hated it, despite loving several of Kingsolver’s other books.
1) I did not find Demon’s voice authentic. What child narrates like an adult? What drug addict sounds so coherent?
2) I felt zero, zip, connection to many of the characters in this book. The Coach? Hardly knew him. The supporting characters were super under developed.
3). Show v tell. It’s one of those books that tells tells tells for hundreds and hundred of pages. I found myself skimming.
I’m sure staying loyal to David Copperfield was a huge challenge and probably prevented her from making better choices. I think it’s one of those books you love or hate. Frankly I think a lot of people like it because it’s Barbara Kingsolver and she’s so respected…she got away with the flaws.
This is definitely a polarizing book. People seem to love it or hate it. I LOVED it and it was my first BK book, so it wasn't because I love her generally. The narration is in the voice of an adult because it's the story he's telling as a young man, as he looks back on his life. I thought many of the minor characters were very well-developed: his mom, his buddies Maggot and Tommy, Aunt June...I also thought it was a book that showed. Again, though, this book has lovers and haters.
I especially loved the ending, which wasn't dark!
Anonymous wrote:I’m another who hated it, despite loving several of Kingsolver’s other books.
1) I did not find Demon’s voice authentic. What child narrates like an adult? What drug addict sounds so coherent?
2) I felt zero, zip, connection to many of the characters in this book. The Coach? Hardly knew him. The supporting characters were super under developed.
3). Show v tell. It’s one of those books that tells tells tells for hundreds and hundred of pages. I found myself skimming.
I’m sure staying loyal to David Copperfield was a huge challenge and probably prevented her from making better choices. I think it’s one of those books you love or hate. Frankly I think a lot of people like it because it’s Barbara Kingsolver and she’s so respected…she got away with the flaws.
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.
Kingsolver herself is from rural Kentucky and now chooses to live in SW Va. She’s intimately involved in these communities she’s talking about.
She gave a very interesting podcast with Ezra Klein (maybe?) on living there and “what democrats get wrong about these communities.
I thought it was a wonderfully written book and really enjoyed Demon as a character.
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.
Anonymous wrote: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.