Helpful Score: 2
Barbara Kingsolver is an excellent storyteller, and this volume of her short stories is wide in scope. She really knows how to depict human nature, and these stories show her memorable characters with wit, humor, and heart.
Helpful Score: 1
3 out of 5. Not my favorite Kingsolver book, and I enjoy her novels more than short stories. There were a few stories I really liked and would have enjoyed more had they been full novels.
Early stories from a great writer. Copyright 1989.
I love her work and will read anything that she has written, but I'm afraid that I'm not an appreciator of short stories. My loss.
I just love her work! She is such a gifted writer!
I really enjoyed reading her short stories as well as I her novels.
This is a collection of 12 short stories...taking place from northern California to the hills of eastern Kentucky and the caribbean island of St. Lucia. Stories of hope, momentary joy and powerful indurance.
Kingsolver's finely-drawn characters and her ability to evoke a place and time sing through these dozen short stories. Each one catches its characters at a specific place and time and asks them to make decisions great and small.
From the title story, in which a young girl travels with her family to her aged grandmother's hometown, to the final piece dealing with an outspoken woman caught up in a bitter mining strike, the characters move through living, breathing landscapes as they deal with the conundrums life has dealt them.
Highly recommended.
From the title story, in which a young girl travels with her family to her aged grandmother's hometown, to the final piece dealing with an outspoken woman caught up in a bitter mining strike, the characters move through living, breathing landscapes as they deal with the conundrums life has dealt them.
Highly recommended.
This is a lovely collection of short stories about life and family. I found myself very absorbed in them and there were only two or three that I didn't enjoy as much as the others (including the title story). Definitely recommended!
Oh, my first taste of non-fiction Barbara Kinsolver, and I wasn't crazy about it. Perhaps it is because her fiction is so magical and uplifting, even after your heart gets slammed down. These stories seemed abrupt and often sad. I could see where she borrowed some character's personalities from in the stories told here. I will try her other non-fiction offering because she is an excellent author, but not my favorite book.
Barbara Kingsolver is one of the most gifted authors I've ever read. Absolutely love her fiction and non-fiction.
Anyone who has enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver's novels, will love this collection of short stories. I was absolutely crazy about some of them. The only bad part was you wanted them to go on longer than they do!
Good book.
Loved the book.
AUDIO BOOK ON TAPE
UNABRIDGED SHORT STORIES, 3 hours on 2 casstettes
READ BY THE AUTHOR - BARBARA KINGSOLVER
Includes the stories: Homeland; Blueprints; Quality Time; Extinctions; Rose-Johnny.
Digitally recorded, so it has good sound quality, and the author has a good reading voice. Very enjoyable!
Great author whose novel, The Poisonwood Bible, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
UNABRIDGED SHORT STORIES, 3 hours on 2 casstettes
READ BY THE AUTHOR - BARBARA KINGSOLVER
Includes the stories: Homeland; Blueprints; Quality Time; Extinctions; Rose-Johnny.
Digitally recorded, so it has good sound quality, and the author has a good reading voice. Very enjoyable!
Great author whose novel, The Poisonwood Bible, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Superb writing.
author of Poisonwood Bible