D'Amore AP Lit

Contemplating what I have just read and criticized by Kingsolver I would say overall I was a little harsh in my review of her writing style. Having looked back at my own work and other authors pieces I have found that Kingsolver’s way of writing is not far off of mine. Maybe because of this similarity it caused so much frustration for me while I read the book. I find that when I write what I am thinking in my head does not always reflect what is on the paper and I think that is exactly what Kingsolver was experiencing while she was writing the Poisonwood Bible. Do to seeing my own writing style in the book it made me want to hate it more. Another reason I might have been so critical of the novel is I have been comparing it in my mind to some of the best books I have ever read and this novel stands no chance against the greats rather I should be comparing it to books more in its league. If I had taken this book for what it was and not set such a high bar for it to achieve maybe I woul

After having made my way past the exodus of Africa in the story I have come to the realization that this story ended half way through telling it. There are two hundred pages of nothing following the girls leaving Africa. I understand Kingsolver is attempting to wrap the character lines up and make everything neat and tidy, but that does not need to be done in such detail. It is ironic that what caused this story to putter out in the end was the over use of detail while throughout it was the lack there of that turned me away from it. The way the book needed to end was a quick chapter on each girl quickly describing what happened to them after. There was no need to spend several chapters laying out every grain of sand these girls walked over in the years after Africa. I spent my time wondering when the next big event would occur and was severely dissatisfied with the way she chose to wrap it all up. One of the greatest endings to a novel ever is what John Steinbeck did in Grapes of Wrai

Something that I have noticed while reading this novel is the lack of hard detail and description. For a story that spans so many months in the Congo, it sounds like the events are all happening in a week as the author neglects to spend time describing their time rather just says the family is there. For example, why is there never a moment where we get to experience a church service in the Congo why does Kingsolver choose to just skip over them by saying the family goes every Sunday and Anatole translates the sermons to the people. For something so important to the story, you would think at least once the reader would get the chance to experience a sermon through heavy detail and imagery otherwise it feels she is writing just to fill up pages. Key points in the story need more attention or what makes it worth reading. Like Ruth May dying that sparked so much development yet, she died over the course of two sentences and was never touched on again even though for the last three hundred

This novel has a clear villain in Reverend Price. Throughout the novel, he is seen as the enemy by not only his family but the village people as well. The tension he causes in the Price household is what allows the story to progress because without him the family would not be in the Congo or having to face such hardship because of his lack of father duty. In a way, his character is ironic because he constantly preaches of salvation, yet can never provide that for his own family. His aggressive demeanor also shapes the characters around him. He breaks the girls down to their bare thoughts and forces them to create new stronger beings especially Mother. Mrs. Price turns into a whole new character from the beginning of the book to the middle. She finally takes charge and realizes who she actually wants to be as she struggles to keep her family together in the middle of the Congo. An extremely pivotal moment in the development of the evil character Nathan Price becomes is when he elects t