An online reading group offering people in Orkney the chance to read and discuss the best in new and classic fiction from Faber and Faber. We supply the books and you tell us what you think about them on this blog. No meetings, no deadlines, no hassle.
If you would like to get involved please e-mail:
reading.group@orkneylibrary.org.uk
or telephone Stewart on 01856 873166
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
More from Barbara
Click on the link below for a podcast of Barbara Kingsolver discussing The Lacuna and also a Q & A with the Orange Prize winning author
I am still struggling with The Lacuna, having started late because my garden takes priority over everything from June onwards. I have therefore onpy read the opening chapter and the first part of the subsequent diary. In one sense it has been easy going. Kingsolver writes very well and her prose is a pleasure. But that opening chapter by itself and without knowing how it fits with the rest of the book is puzzling and confusing. It is clever and paints a clear picture of a selfish, spoilt kept woman and her son, but it doesn't seem to add up to very much. nd I found the early part of the diary frankly rather boring. But I shall plough on.
Do plough on, Jacky - it's worth it in the end. I've just finished reading the book and feel more positive about it than I did at the beginning. I still think the Poisonwood Bible is better, but the Lacuna grew on me. The (almost) final section about the anti-communist witch hunt got me more emotionally involved than the earlier sections. I've recorded the film 'Frida' but haven't watched it yet.
I'm still plodding on with the Lacuna. When I read it, it's quite enjoyable and easy to read. But it doesn't grip me - I don't feel compelled to pick it up at every spare moment. I will finish it - hope it's worth it!
see also other comments (incl mine,when i eventually found a home for them - sorry, i'm not v e-bright - on the 'not sure what to comment....' ) thread; looks like at least a semi-consensus that we should soldier on with this imperfect book ? however, much to my surprise as i am a timid soul after rather too much real excitement in my life so far, i'm very taken with stewart's recc of one of his criminal group's books - 'eye of the red star', see his sep thread on this blog: as i have posted there i found it a compelling read from the start, punchy dialogue, original characters, novel settings , a highly imaginative yet believable plot, not too much overt exposure of blood, guts and sexual organs withplenty left to the reader's imagination - AND, hooray, hoorah, not the compulsory 500 pp long!
Here, at last (following three computer crashes which took my half written drafts with them), is my review of The Lacuna.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
NOT since reading Proust in my early twenties have I been so moved by a work of fiction. The Lacuna has one of the most arresting openings I know and by the end of the second sentence I was hooked.
“In the beginning were the howlers. They always commenced their bellowing in the first hour of dawn, just as the hem of the sky began to whiten.”
In achingly beautiful language Barbara Kingsolver tells the story of Harrison Shepherd, son of a feckless Mexican mother with a passion for dating powerful men and a dull American government accountant. Following their divorce she takes Harrison back to the land of her birth where he grows up lonely and without any early schooling. His education comes through reading some of the dusty old books in the domestic library of his mother’s lover, while through his only friend Leandro, the cook, he gains a penchant for food preparation which is to stay with him for the rest of his days.
The novel follows his course over a period of thirty years. The author skilfully shows how, in an era of political and artistic turbulence and uncertainty, Harrison is affected and changed by his experiences. Discovering early on his love of writing when he begins keeping a journal, it is in the form of diary entries that the reader accompanies him on his personal journey. Apart from a few minor ones the characters are superbly well drawn and the sense of location and time, particularly in the parts of the novel set in Mexico, are vibrant and almost strong enough to feel as if they’re rising up from the page.
Once a teenager his mother, Salome, sends Harrison back to Washington to live with his estranged father, who quickly dispatches him to a military academy. While there the young man witnesses the Bonus March of July 28th 1932. As a homosexual he avoids military draft, returning to Mexico where he resumes his employ in the household of muralist Diego Rivera and his wife, the painter Frida Kahlo as cook, having already done occasional plastering work for Rivera prior to leaving for the U.S.
Harrison becomes Kahlo’s confidant and when Trotsky and his wife arrive as permanent house guests he also acts as Trotsky’s secretary, meticulous typing up the reams of notes and articles he writes every day. After Trotsky is assassinated Harrison returns to the U.S. His life in Ashville, North Carolina is a fascinating portrayal of small town 1940s America. Here he turns his boyhood fascination with the Mexican Aztec into a series of best selling novels. His unexpected fame, however, sits uneasily with him until eventually his fear of public attention gains him the reputation of reclusive writer.
The relationship with his stenographer, Violet Brown, is handled with great charm and sensitivity. An enviable association of mutual respect and protectorship it provides a welcome antidote during the hostile climate of 1950s McCarthyism which Harrison unintentionally falls prey to and which ultimately leads to his untimely end.
Here is a remarkable writing talent able to seamlessly weave real people and events into a fascinating fictional tale. I shall undoubtedly want to revisit this novel many times in the future and in the meantime look forward to correcting my unwitting omission of not having read any of Barbara Kingsolver’s work before.
I am still struggling with The Lacuna, having started late because my garden takes priority over everything from June onwards. I have therefore onpy read the opening chapter and the first part of the subsequent diary. In one sense it has been easy going. Kingsolver writes very well and her prose is a pleasure. But that opening chapter by itself and without knowing how it fits with the rest of the book is puzzling and confusing. It is clever and paints a clear picture of a selfish, spoilt kept woman and her son, but it doesn't seem to add up to very much. nd I found the early part of the diary frankly rather boring. But I shall plough on.
ReplyDeleteDo plough on, Jacky - it's worth it in the end. I've just finished reading the book and feel more positive about it than I did at the beginning. I still think the Poisonwood Bible is better, but the Lacuna grew on me. The (almost) final section about the anti-communist witch hunt got me more emotionally involved than the earlier sections. I've recorded the film 'Frida' but haven't watched it yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm still plodding on with the Lacuna. When I read it, it's quite enjoyable and easy to read. But it doesn't grip me - I don't feel compelled to pick it up at every spare moment. I will finish it - hope it's worth it!
ReplyDeletesee also other comments (incl mine,when i eventually found a home for them - sorry, i'm not v e-bright - on the 'not sure what to comment....' ) thread; looks like at least a semi-consensus that we should soldier on with this imperfect book ?
ReplyDeletehowever, much to my surprise as i am a timid soul after rather too much real excitement in my life so far, i'm very taken with stewart's recc of one of his criminal group's books - 'eye of the red star', see his sep thread on this blog: as i have posted there i found it a compelling read from the start, punchy dialogue, original characters, novel settings , a highly imaginative yet believable plot, not too much overt exposure of blood, guts and sexual organs withplenty left to the reader's imagination - AND, hooray, hoorah, not the compulsory 500 pp long!
Here, at last (following three computer crashes which took my half written drafts with them), is my review of The Lacuna.
ReplyDelete~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
NOT since reading Proust in my early twenties have I been so moved by a work of fiction. The Lacuna has one of the most arresting openings I know and by the end of the second sentence I was hooked.
“In the beginning were the howlers. They always commenced their bellowing in the first hour of dawn, just as the hem of the sky began to whiten.”
In achingly beautiful language Barbara Kingsolver tells the story of Harrison Shepherd, son of a feckless Mexican mother with a passion for dating powerful men and a dull American government accountant. Following their divorce she takes Harrison back to the land of her birth where he grows up lonely and without any early schooling. His education comes through reading some of the dusty old books in the domestic library of his mother’s lover, while through his only friend Leandro, the cook, he gains a penchant for food preparation which is to stay with him for the rest of his days.
The novel follows his course over a period of thirty years. The author skilfully shows how, in an era of political and artistic turbulence and uncertainty, Harrison is affected and changed by his experiences. Discovering early on his love of writing when he begins keeping a journal, it is in the form of diary entries that the reader accompanies him on his personal journey. Apart from a few minor ones the characters are superbly well drawn and the sense of location and time, particularly in the parts of the novel set in Mexico, are vibrant and almost strong enough to feel as if they’re rising up from the page.
Once a teenager his mother, Salome, sends Harrison back to Washington to live with his estranged father, who quickly dispatches him to a military academy. While there the young man witnesses the Bonus March of July 28th 1932. As a homosexual he avoids military draft, returning to Mexico where he resumes his employ in the household of muralist Diego Rivera and his wife, the painter Frida Kahlo as cook, having already done occasional plastering work for Rivera prior to leaving for the U.S.
Harrison becomes Kahlo’s confidant and when Trotsky and his wife arrive as permanent house guests he also acts as Trotsky’s secretary, meticulous typing up the reams of notes and articles he writes every day. After Trotsky is assassinated Harrison returns to the U.S. His life in Ashville, North Carolina is a fascinating portrayal of small town 1940s America. Here he turns his boyhood fascination with the Mexican Aztec into a series of best selling novels. His unexpected fame, however, sits uneasily with him until eventually his fear of public attention gains him the reputation of reclusive writer.
The relationship with his stenographer, Violet Brown, is handled with great charm and sensitivity. An enviable association of mutual respect and protectorship it provides a welcome antidote during the hostile climate of 1950s McCarthyism which Harrison unintentionally falls prey to and which ultimately leads to his untimely end.
Here is a remarkable writing talent able to seamlessly weave real people and events into a fascinating fictional tale. I shall undoubtedly want to revisit this novel many times in the future and in the meantime look forward to correcting my unwitting omission of not having read any of Barbara Kingsolver’s work before.
Interviewed in the The Scotsman .....
ReplyDeleteBarbara Kingsolver tells how her Orange prize-winning novel is a response to all those who vilified her for speaking out after 9/11