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This amazing book is the latest by Barbara Kingsolver and was bought for me for Christmas. I loved two other books I have read by her: The Bean Trees and The Poisonwood Bible. This story told through only letters and diary entries is the story of Harrison Shepherd, a young half-Mexican, half-American boy who loves to write. The book follows him all the way through to his supposed death.
The book is populated with both true historical characters such as Diego Rivera, Lev Trotsky and Frida Kahlo as well as ones like Harrison himself who is entirely fictional. How Kingsolver manages to incorporate both true historical accounts and an interesting fictional character is beyond me but she does it incredibly well, especially with the historical clarity which serves as a setting for Harrison's life from before World War II in an American Military Academy to the intrusive American practice of McCarthyism where Harrison finds himself persecuted as a political subversive. This story could contain mirrors of the truth of some people during this period in history and shows the possible consequences both emotional and life-changing of the twentieth century. The writing is entrancing and believable and matures as the narrator does throughout the telling of the book.
I guess what I appreciated most about this book was its awesome literature, the way in which even throughout the letters the story was told beautifully. The historical characters were brought to life and my interest in all of them began/was renewed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Kingsolver or who is interested in this part of history. It is truly a classic.
I first read this last year in a time when I was reading a hell of a lot (roughly two full-length books a day). As a result, I have very little memory of the plotlines and the wonders of many of the books I had read and am on a mission to reread some of them. After first coming across Margaret Atwood when I read The Handmaid's Tale at the age of 14 and later, Cat's Eye. Both of these enchanted me and introduced me to an author who is definitely one of the great contemporary writers of her time.
This book is told by Iris Chase who we learn early on once had a sister, Laura who died after the car she was driving plunged into the river. Iris acts as the narrator for this story which flashes back and forth between a childhood and eventual adulthood with Laura as well as an older Iris remembering those years while she suffers from a heart condition. The book is at first a clear picture of a suicide by an unusual but psychologically compelling sister in Laura. The book, however, takes the reader on an intricately woven tale of the perils of high society and the blind attitude which perpetuated the era in which the story is set.An interesting social commentary of the 20th century can also be drawn from the book which has a history from the beginning of World War I to the present day in a world perhaps more than ever dominated by greed and violence.
The story is aided by a novel apparently written by Laura called The Blind Assassin which informs the reader of a certain romantic situation and brings in the science fiction element which is present in so many of Atwood's books.
Atwood is one of the few authors who can get away with using an entire paragraph to tell you that plants are growing. She has an exceptional gift with literary word play which first became clear to me while reading The Handmaid's Tale. Her words flow beautifully and do not detract from the storyline but rather generously feed it. The book comes to an astonishing close, chilling the reader and stripping down the barriers of understanding.
Definitely one of my favourite books. Read it or miss out.
