What readers think of The Poisonwood Bible, plus links to write your own review.

Oh, this is a sneaky book. As in, it starts out just fine — OK, but not fabulous — and then bit by bit it sneaks its way into your heart and soul. And then when you're going about the business of life, you'll find yourself thinking, "When can I stop what I'm doing and read again?"

This masterpiece by Barbara Kingsolver takes us deep into the jungle of the Congo beginning in 1959 when Southern Baptist preacher Nathan Price embarks on a risky missionary post in small village located on a smelly, crocodile-infested river on the edge of a lush, snake-infested jungle. He brings with him his Bible, his arrogant, holier-than-thou approach to saving souls, and his reluctant family: his obedient, meek wife Orleanna and teenage daughters Rachel, Leah, and Adah along with five-year-old Ruth May. To say they are wholly unprepared for such a primitive lifestyle is an understatement. Assimilating—from learning to cook on a wood stove to having to haul water for a mile—is a Herculean adjustment. Great tragedy strikes, and the lives of all six of the Prices radically change forever.

The book is divided into seven sections. Except for the last section, the first part of each is written by Orleanna looking back on their time in the Congo. Each of the other chapters is written in the first person by one of the four daughters. One of the things that makes this book such an imaginative work of genius is the distinct voice Kingsolver gives each of the girls. Once you get into the book, you will know just by reading the first paragraph of a chapter who has written it without even looking at the chapter heading. And each of girls' perspectives of the same life they are living is absolutely riveting—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious, and always poignant.

This is an intelligent, multilayered novel with vividly drawn characters that are so real they pop off the page. The detailed descriptions of the Congo are so remarkably realistic that I felt as if I were transported there along with the Price family. And the plot is riveting—not a page-turner as such, but I was fully engaged in it—as it zeroes in on the complex moral question that is the backbone of the book: Do white people — no matter how well meaning — have any right at all to invade a culture and attempt to change it? And what are the long-term ramifications of such audacity?

I was given the option to read this books for my school reading and report and I really like it. I like the part of different view in the book because it give a fresh perspective on things in the book, and that it wasn't really focusing on one person giving the book more in dept in the story.

The book though is depressing so if you like happy thought it be best to not read it because it truly is only about the suffering, and even at the end of the book, it really is just suffering after escaping from a suffering, so it is not recommended to read it if you don't like depressing thought to think about.

For people who didn't read this book, know that the book is not really hating any group, and that although it may be biased because it only show the minority that consist of bad things that is about America or Christian, it is book to judge at face value because when one read a book, it is best to not believe anything at all. The world of books most of the time is just a temporarily entering of that world and out, and that most of the time it does not always connect with reality. So be open minded when reading this book because it will challenge some of your worldviews, and go not just assume that the book is hating on anything.

A very realistic family and all they endured when being sent to a land so utterly different than their home town, so many people that become alive to you through the lovely flowing of the authors writing, she takes you along.

This is exactly what I want from an award-winning novel! I was hooked immediately by the author's authentic southern voice and the way she expertly molded and shaped the four Price girls and their mother. The Poisonwood Bible was my kind of Southern Gothic fiction, but instead of being set in the American South, it was set in the Belgian Congo. If you decide to take this journey into Africa, expect Southern Baptist evangelism gone wrong, ignorant racism, the devolution of European colonialism, ex-patriot survival to the extreme, and the unmistakable bonds between siblings. Some readers were turned off by the apparently heavy-handed political tone of the book, but I was intrigued by the history of the Congo and the struggles of its people before and after Belgian occupation (and the impact of all on whites living in the country). There are images from this book that I will likely never lose - like a green mamba snake camouflaged in a tree and the distinctive light blue color of the inside of its mouth.

This book was highly recommended; yet I am struggling like mad to get through it. I am not impressed. You have to really like slow books to like this one.

I picked this book up after reading reviews on cover. It started well but lost its way about half way through. Kingsolver has done a beautiful job of describing the country and the character development of the daughters was great, but the male characters (Nathan price & Anatole especially) were single dimensional and shallow.

The reaction of Ruth-mays death from Nathan was feeble and Anatole's prison experience wasn't even mentioned. Rachael's character just plain annoyed me and I felt it would have been more poetic if she had ended up destitute. Overall quite confusing with place and timing details towards the end. I didn't know at one stage how Leah got to America, very confusing. Less pages and more male character development would have made this a much better book sorry. Disappointed.

This book was a waste of my time. Confusing at times with all the character switches and narrations. It was filled with religious allusions which bugged me to no end (and I'm even religious!) Drawn out and boring in large sections. As one review said earlier its was very hard to sympathize with the characters. The Father who was a Baptist priest was shown in such a bad light I hated him strongly. Oh well. So read something else.

An excellent study of the power of Faith, blind or otherwise. I'm a Christian but I am not in any way offended by Kingsolver's portrayal of the Prices. In fact, the family's journey in the story made me more reflective and appreciative of the need to understand the true meaning of life's destiny. I will definitely be looking out for other titles written by this writer, whose style is at once vivid and intimate.