Small Wonder

by Barbara Kingsolver | Audiobooks |
ISBN: 0965447685 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wyldanthem of Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA on 5/6/2006
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wyldanthem from Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA on Saturday, May 6, 2006
From Publishers Weekly:

This book of essays by Kingsolver (The Poisonwood Bible, etc.) is like a visit from a cherished old friend. Conversation ranges from what Kingsolver ate on a trip to Japan to wonder over a news story about a she-bear who suckled a lost child to how it feels to be an American idealist living in a post-September 11 world. She tackles some sticky issues, among them the question of who is entitled to wave the American flag and why, and some possible reasons why our nation has been targeted for terror by angry fundamentalists and what we can do to ease our anxiety over the new reality while respecting the rest of planet Earth's inhabitants.

Kingsolver has strong opinions, but has a gift for explaining what she thinks and how she arrived at her conclusions in a way that gives readers plenty of room to disagree comfortably. But Kingsolver's essays also reward her readers in other ways. As she puts it herself in "What Good Is a Story": "We are nothing if we can't respect our readers." Respect for the intelligence of her audience is apparent everywhere in this outstanding collection.

(Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.)

Journal Entry 2 by wyldanthem at Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA on Friday, June 15, 2012
This is actually a re-read for me, and though I liked it a lot then, I appreciate it more now. The first time around, I had difficulty with the first few essays - "Small Wonder," "Saying Grace," were very well written, but didn't speak to me nearly the way the nature/food-conscious ones did.

This time around, I've concentrated on her observations about people and herself. But they all have a message, a lesson, an opinion. Some folks have interpreted them as preachy, pretentious; to me, these essays are proof that it's possible to live differently and happily, but that the later is the more important of the two.

"Lily's Chickens" makes me smile when I think about it, as does "Going to Japan."

"Letter to My Mother" is a powerful selection of mini-essays within the essay; things Kingsolver recalled or felt from her childhood and her relationship with her mother, the beautiful and the complicated.

"And Our Flag Was Still There" captures Kingsolver's thoughts about the post-September 11th world and her reaction to her fellow citizen's reactions. I know some read a lot of negativity in this section, but I heard at least as much hope as disappointment in this passage. One quote in particular sticks with me: "There are as many ways to love America as there are Americans, and our country needs us all."

As the mother of a one-day teenager, "Letter to a Daughter at 13" was one of my favorites. Kingsolver shares stories from both her teenage years as well as experiences with her teenage daughter, particularly where guys are concerned. Her observations are so simple and so true - from liking what your boyfriend likes because of this inexplicable feeling that it's the only way you'll be able to stay together (and what worse fate than to be single!) to recognizing that no matter how much we love our children, eventually we have to accept the fact that with any luck they will become grown ups, on their own.

That essay also contained my favorite quote: "When you, my dear, were about two and a half, I carefully and honestly answered all the questions you'd started asking about reproductive organs. For several months thereafter, every time we met someone new... you'd look up earnestly and ask, 'Do you have a penis or a vagina?' If you are ever tempted to think my presence is an embarrassment to you, please recall that I stood by you during the 'penis or vagina' months, July to September 1989."

Oh, Barbara - you slay and inspire me.

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