[laurav]

Barbara Kingsolver's first novel, The Bean Trees, was fairly readable. I even liked Animal Dreams. Great imagery, a chopper rising like a prayer... The problem was, she got so into the politics that she turned away from the storytelling. That doesn't stop the early novels from having a way with words, though. I mean, when a novelist sets something in a place called Jesus-Is-Lord-Used-Tires that doubles as a refugee way station, that sounds pretty original to me, even if you don't like the politics.

[xm177e2]

Barbara Kingsolver's first novel, The Bean Trees, was fairly readable.

Even the liberal guys in my class agreed that each page dripped with man-hatred. None of the girls saw it, they liked the book.

There's only one male in that entire book who is portrayed in a positive light. He's a minority, he's a left-wing refugee, he doesn't speak English--actually, we don't really know this, because he almost never says anything, he just follows his wife around like a dog. That's Kingsolver's "perfect man." God forbid a man should have his own opinions and free will. Every single other man is some sort of demon figure responsible for hurting women. It was pure poison. That was the worst liberal book I had to read in high school.