The Poison Wood Bible

Having now spent some time reading The Poison Wood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver I have found that the style in which it is written is very different compared to other books I have read. Kingsolver chooses to have the story told through different narrators. What is so interesting about this style is how each of those narrators sounds. In the past when reading books that use this technique you can still hear the same hint of the author's voice in each narrator, the writing style does not change much. In this book, however, each new narrator has such a different voice it's amazing that the same person is writing for all of them. For example, Kingsolver describes each of the daughters at the beginning of the book making them each very different. Then when a daughter is chosen as the narrator that specific difference from the others is extremely evident in the writing style. I think that this adds to the story making it more captivating because it makes so every character is somehow separate and real. It creates a much stronger character that has more human traits and is easier for the reader to visualize and relate with.

One other thing that I find interesting about the book is what Kingsolver chooses to highlight. Not very often is the jungle itself ever focused on or the house they live in rather it's the people they are surrounded by. I find it difficult to truly appreciate where they are living and seeing all the time because it is never described. The most description about land offered so far is the way the garden looked and even that did not give much. Instead, the narrators tend to focus on the people. They go into great detail of what they are wearing how big their bellies are how they choose to act and what they think of them. I do not think this is a very effective way of progressing the story as they tend to complain a lot about how primitive their surroundings and yet never explain why.

Something that is a bit lost on me is this books connection with the bible. The sections are set up like the bible with the same names as used in the bible as the title. I understand that the family is very religious and that is why they are in Africa. I am curious however to know if the stories being told have the same lessons or values as those in the bible. I would like to know if this book mimics how the bible is told and if it shares similarities deeper then just the names of books.