I put Prodigal Summer on my to-be-reread list after reading somewhere (maybe on her website?) that this was Barbara Kingsolver's favorite of her books. I had read it shortly after it was first published, but I didn't remember it as being one of my favorites. So I wanted to go back and see what made her so proud of it. As a piece of literature, the book is rather lovely -- beautifully intertwining stories, plenty of symbolic elements, and a nice selection of observations on nature and human nature. I enjoyed the plot, though I still wouldn't call it my favorite of hers. I laughed out at several points, thanks to my favorite character, Garnett Walker (though I liked Lusa's storyline better), and other moments were heart-wrenchingly sad. So not yet a favorite, but I did gain a new appreciation of the novel's structure and complexity.
2 comments:
I'm not a big Nicholas Sparks fan for that reason -- a little too mushy for me. I will confess to crying over The Notebook, but that was in high school. :) I hear his nonfiction book is pretty good, though.
I agree. I love it, but it didn't stick with me nearly as much as the Poisonwood Bible, which is my favorite of hers and one of my favorites of all time.
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