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Animal Dreams

*** By Barbara Kingsolver. This is a book about trying to make your home in a place that has never felt like home. This is a book about learning to stop whinging and start living. This is a book about getting over the deepest regret of your soul and allowing yourself some happiness. This is a good book. It took me a while — a few chapters — to get into it, but by the time I was halfway through I couldn't wait to find out what happens next. The main premise of the story is that Codi, who's about 32, returns to her hometown after 14 years because (a) her very close sister has gone off to fight the contras in Nicaragua, (b) she doesn't love the man she's lived with for 10 years, and (c) her father is losing his mind. Add environmental politics, southwest culture, and romance, and you have this book. Kingsolver paints her characters beautifully. Ultimately you get a clear picture of each and every character in the story. I got really pissed off at the protagonist because she was being so dunce-like (much in the manner of most people, on occasion, including myself), and I got depressed by the heartbreaking schism between her and her father. I figure if an author can make you really pissed off about a character -- or weepy -- they've done their job. Kingsolver passed both tests with this one. Another great thing about Kingsolver books is that you will always learn something. I got refreshed on the contra situation in Nicaragua in the 80s; I learned about acid death; I saw glimpse after beautiful glimpse of southwest Native American culture. Read this book!

Posted by Lisa on December 15, 2001 02:20 PM