This is one of those value added 3 in 1 books. Nothing will ever be the quality of Poisonwood Bible, I cannot recommend that book enough. Here is the macro for this book
An excellent author. She has a new book out, Demon Copperhead, which I’m absolutely absorbed in. I didn’t leave the house at all today, just totally engrossed in this book.
@cocokinetic oooh I didn't know that - I'm going to grab it, thanks for the heads up!
Added - got it on audio book, can't wait to listen over this weekend while I work outside!
@cocokinetic wow I'm with you on being so absorbed in Demon Copperhead. When you finish it you really want to then read The God of small things. that is pictured on April 8. Very different to this, but I know you will be just as absorbed by it.
@koalagardens
Thanks! I have that book somewhere on my shelf - will definitely follow your recommendation. How’re you doing with the audio version? I tried a sample and knew I wouldnt be able to understand the accent properly; and the book itself has terms and lingo that if I don’t read it, I wouldn’t have been able to decipher what the narrator was saying. His reading of the book is great, it’s just that I’m not familiar with the accent and some of the words, terms and slang that Ms Kingsolver uses in the book. I’ve had to google quite a few words and phrases, ‘Meluncheon’ being one, ‘white crosses’ another … lots of stuff like that. Some of the sentences are brilliant ; just looking at the first page, where Demon describes his birth: ‘a slick, fish-coloured hostage picking up grit from the vinyl tile, worming and shoving around because I’m still inside the sack that babies float in, pre-life’ painted such a vivid picture in my mind! I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry!
@cocokinetic oh you are right, the accent in the audio version for the first half an hour really was tough. But I have ended up figuring that the accent might belong to the area Demon comes from? (I'm making that my head canon anyway to cope!)
So now that I'm some hours in, the accent adds to the story for me, even if I sometimes have to rewind and listen again carefully to a phrase or two lol
you are right, some of the wording is exquisite and the laughter often quickly becomes tears. there is just something about the raw way we are inside his head that truly tells a story that feels at once unbelievable and all too real.
@koalagardens
I read in some or other online review that yes, the narrator was chosen because that’s the way the folk there talk. But I find it awfully difficult to concentrate on both the accent and the story simultaneously … I find myself concentrating so hard on what he is saying that I lose track of the plot. I’m so glad you’re getting the hang of the accent; I agree, i think it would make the story all the more resonant if you could hear a person read it the way the folk talk.
Ms Kingsolver was interviewed about this book, and she was wonderful in her reasoning and explanation about why she wrote the book and had a young boy tell the story; I’ll try and find the link and will send it to you.
@cocokinetic oh yes please! I did find after a while I have settled into the accent and it's not as hard as it was at first. good to know my head reasoning was correct!
I just happened to flip to another phrase in the beginning pages … ‘snake-handling Baptists’ .... lol. Just that sentence alone and the way it was used in the story carries a minefield of information.
@koalagardens
Pleasure! Anytime. I love talking books - - as you have by now figured out 😅 I’m a huge reader, and this photography thing is actually tearing me away from my books, which I sometimes regret. But once I have my camera or phone in hand and go out looking for something, anything to shoot, and try out different things to learn how and why, I forget all about the books.
@cocokinetic nice! I'm a big book nerd too so we have more and more in common :)
my geography is shocking, but I looked at a map and saw that south west virginia is getting down towards south carolina so this is actually really good for me as I'm going to be IN south carolina in July. I might understand them speaking just a little more now! hahaha
Photography is a whole new level of losing track of time!
April 10th, 2023
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Added - got it on audio book, can't wait to listen over this weekend while I work outside!
Thanks! I have that book somewhere on my shelf - will definitely follow your recommendation. How’re you doing with the audio version? I tried a sample and knew I wouldnt be able to understand the accent properly; and the book itself has terms and lingo that if I don’t read it, I wouldn’t have been able to decipher what the narrator was saying. His reading of the book is great, it’s just that I’m not familiar with the accent and some of the words, terms and slang that Ms Kingsolver uses in the book. I’ve had to google quite a few words and phrases, ‘Meluncheon’ being one, ‘white crosses’ another … lots of stuff like that. Some of the sentences are brilliant ; just looking at the first page, where Demon describes his birth: ‘a slick, fish-coloured hostage picking up grit from the vinyl tile, worming and shoving around because I’m still inside the sack that babies float in, pre-life’ painted such a vivid picture in my mind! I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry!
So now that I'm some hours in, the accent adds to the story for me, even if I sometimes have to rewind and listen again carefully to a phrase or two lol
you are right, some of the wording is exquisite and the laughter often quickly becomes tears. there is just something about the raw way we are inside his head that truly tells a story that feels at once unbelievable and all too real.
I read in some or other online review that yes, the narrator was chosen because that’s the way the folk there talk. But I find it awfully difficult to concentrate on both the accent and the story simultaneously … I find myself concentrating so hard on what he is saying that I lose track of the plot. I’m so glad you’re getting the hang of the accent; I agree, i think it would make the story all the more resonant if you could hear a person read it the way the folk talk.
Ms Kingsolver was interviewed about this book, and she was wonderful in her reasoning and explanation about why she wrote the book and had a young boy tell the story; I’ll try and find the link and will send it to you.
https://slate.com/culture/2022/10/barbara-kingsolver-interview-demon-copperhead-appalachia-identity-politics.html
https://www.marmaladeandmustardseed.com/bookguidesblog/demon-copperhead
(I think this is actually a better article than slate.)
thanks so much for the links!
Pleasure! Anytime. I love talking books - - as you have by now figured out 😅 I’m a huge reader, and this photography thing is actually tearing me away from my books, which I sometimes regret. But once I have my camera or phone in hand and go out looking for something, anything to shoot, and try out different things to learn how and why, I forget all about the books.
my geography is shocking, but I looked at a map and saw that south west virginia is getting down towards south carolina so this is actually really good for me as I'm going to be IN south carolina in July. I might understand them speaking just a little more now! hahaha
Photography is a whole new level of losing track of time!