- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber (20 Nov 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571206387
- ISBN-13: 978-0571206384
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 713,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Prodigal Summer
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer the characters are intimately connected to the countryside that they inhabit and are seen as an integral part of the flora and fauna of the novel's setting--the Appalachian Mountains, in Alabama. The novel teems with life; everything is a-buzz with reproductive hormones--animals, plants and people alike. Up in the mountains nature is getting down to the business of keeping itself going, and the novel's characters are also consciously or instinctively caught up with procreation.
Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, wanders the mountain trails and watches a den of coyotes, while becoming involved with a young hunter; Lusa Maluf Landowski, who loves moths, finds herself mourning her farmer husband, surrounded by his relations and their children. Even those past child-bearing age, like grumpy old Garnett and his feisty neighbour Nannie wrangle over pesticides and weeds, and then succumb to love. All around them flowers bloom and trees blossom. It is a beautifully observed novel, reminiscent of the work of Annie Dillard and Rachel Carson. Deanna says: "So much detail goes unnoticed in the world" but Kingsolver has used her biologist eye to see even the smallest thing. Pulsing fire flies, the powdery scales on a moth's body, cub coyotes playing like swimming dolphins are caught in her gaze. The characters in thrall to their hormones and their hearts are regarded with the same attention.
Prodigal Summer is a hugely involving novel, written with a graceful compassion for all living things and their vital interactions with each other, making it a joy to read. Kingsolver's previous novels include The Poisonwood Bible, The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven. --Eithne Farry
Review
"'(Barbara Kingsolver's)...marvellously subtle and compelling tale of a southern Appalachian farming community in tense interplay with the wilderness on its doorstep, contains a deft parable of humankind's place in nature. Prodigal Summer is a rich and compulsive read. Its acute and sensuous observation of the natural world reveals an unexpected beauty, as it traces human love in the flight of a luna moth.' Guardian"
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this book. It shares several themes - fundamentalist Christianity, the power of nature, family ties and the irresistible thrum of sexual attraction - with The Poisonwood Bible, which I also loved. This book is set more 'down home' in a southern state of the US, but is no less powerful for it. In fact the author seems more confident with this context. I learned a lot of interesting stuff about natural history from it and also fell in love with the characters and landscape. There is an erotic quality to Barbara Kingsolver's writing, which is totally devoid of sleaze and I think she is utterly brilliant. I am rationing the rest of her books out - I want to savour them.
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The other reviews of this book are so good, thoughtful, and complete, that I don't have much left to add!
This book is about ecology, biology, relationships, feelings, and sex. The book consists of three intersperced love stories-all three incredibly sensuous, intertwined with ecological themes (the author is trained as a biologist). This book was completely different from the Poisonwood Bible, an an easier read in terms of enjoyment. I loved the Poisonwood Bible, but it also disturbed me. This book was pure pleasure. I did have the feeling that this book might be too slow-paced for many men. It deals mostly with the intricacies of relationships between the characters, and their feelings.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From the moment I opened the first page and began reading this masterpiece by Barbara Kingsolver, I was completely captivated by the beauty of her words. She effortlessly combines three stories into one, linking each with delicate threads. This book is apt for today, touching upon the tragedies that humanity has brought to the natural world, but at the same time delighting in the small wonders (from moths to mushrooms) that are with us each day. Barbara Kingsolver's keen observation of flora and fauna and the interaction of humans is delightful. This is a book to read over and over, on a warm summer's evening with the swallows overhead or a rainy morning snuggled up in bed!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Prodigal Summer
Go out and buy it now or borrow it from your library. This is a knowledge of people, their feelings and hopes. Very well written and I highly recommend it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by bykerbill
Nature to the hilt
I learned about moths, chestnut tree blight, the market in kids (baby goats), and got a refresher in the hard farmer's life. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lucilla Bellucci
Interesting book but the nature theme is overdone!
I enjoyed this book. The separate stories of the two main female characters are strogly linked by nature. Read more
Published 9 months ago by JoMcFlurry
Writing by Numbers
Kingsolver knows how to put a sentence together, and her heart is absolutely in the right place. She is in favour of everything that, in my view, conduces to both human and... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dr. G. Garrard
A Beautifully Written Book
It's turning out to be a good year for reading, this being my fourth five star book this year so far. Read more
Published 11 months ago by P. Borrington
wonderful book
This is about 3 very different, strong women who appear to have no connection with each other but, as the book progresses, you discover subtle links and by the end you know they'll... Read more
Published 15 months ago by pam
A future classic
One of the best books I've ever read and like the Poisonwood Bible will become a future classic and rightfully so. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Maccoll Hamish
Very disappointed
I read this after reading The Poisonwood Bible (which I loved) . . . and absolutely hated it
I didn't like any of the main characters, didn't like the over-long... Read more
I didn't like any of the main characters, didn't like the over-long... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Aphrodite
Great first read of Barbara Kingsolver
I loved this book, maybe cos I have just bought a farm in the US and feel slightly unsure of how the locals will treat me. This story is beautifully told. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Hils
A great, descriptive story
I really enjoyed the way the various strands of this story were introduced, had similarities and then came together in the end.
Published 23 months ago by Manda Moo
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