The Lacuna in Around the World

Sep 07, 2010 Julia rated it liked it

Shelves: mexico

I have real trouble rating this book as moments of utter boredom in which I wanted to throw it against a wall were followed by brilliant passages of splendid descriptions - Kingsolver has great potential, but in this novel seemed too eager to stuff in everything she believes in or finds interesing and in the end there are some quite incoherent parts held loosely together by the - not very strong - presence of a narrator who never really feels real to me. I'd be interested in knowing if Kingsolve I have real trouble rating this book as moments of utter boredom in which I wanted to throw it against a wall were followed by brilliant passages of splendid descriptions - Kingsolver has great potential, but in this novel seemed too eager to stuff in everything she believes in or finds interesing and in the end there are some quite incoherent parts held loosely together by the - not very strong - presence of a narrator who never really feels real to me. I'd be interested in knowing if Kingsolver had a clear idea of Shepherd in her mind because she definitely failed to transfer it to me as reader. Neither did I care much for Trotsky, Frida Kahlo or Diego Rivera - the only character I really felt for was Mrs. Brown in the second half of the book. That's quite peculiar because she was one of the less "brilliant" characters, still one could hear her speak and could see her clothes and hairstyle.

I do admire the author's thorough research and the great amount of knowledge she's gathered on the time she's setting her novel in, even trying to imitate the style of newspaper articles of the era and having people speak in - terrible, fake-sounding - slang, but still I had the same problem with place and time as with the characters - history never really felt alive to me through her pages and for most parts I missed the beauty of descriptions of nature that make you feel a part of the scenery depicted I found a good year ago in The Poisonwood Bible. Unfortunately I did encounter some of the flaws of TPB in The Lacuna: The unnerving instistence of the author to know right from wrong, white from black without any doubts ever - while the preachiness in the Poisonwood Bible was maybe even stronger, I felt more passion about the subjects she touched, about Africa being destroyed out of pure greediness and could swallow the message more easily. Here, the rantings against the evilness of press and anti-communist movements got slightly boring - I would have liked to read less of this and get more of the characters, more flesh and blood, love and guts.

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Jan 19, 2010 Janine rated it liked it

Disappointed with Kingsolver. Where are the character studies that she is so good at? What about nature and cultural aspects she presents so well in her other books? The Lacuna is none of that. Its first half is a research project. She went to some major historical sites in Mexico, with a notebook it seems, and if you travelled there like I have, these parts are boring. If you have not, then open Wikipedia and you can read about them. Lives of Rivera and Kahlo – same. Information that is publica ...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Beth rated it really liked it

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

I love Barbara Kingsolver. She is one of my favorite contemporary writers. Therefore, it pains me to say that this novel, out of all the work I have read of hers, engaged me the least. Because she is a wonderful writer I know I expect a lot from her. In this novel, as all others, she proves her ability to write creatively, eloquently, and with her own personal style. However, I felt as if I was being preached to, especially in the later part of the story. So much so, that I wa Rating: 3 1/2 stars

I love Barbara Kingsolver. She is one of my favorite contemporary writers. Therefore, it pains me to say that this novel, out of all the work I have read of hers, engaged me the least. Because she is a wonderful writer I know I expect a lot from her. In this novel, as all others, she proves her ability to write creatively, eloquently, and with her own personal style. However, I felt as if I was being preached to, especially in the later part of the story. So much so, that I was not disappointed when the book ended. I was relieved.

I enjoy history. I love literature. So, the two together are a wonderful blend. Kingsolver did her homework, covering this period thoroughly as it related to the needs of her story. However, every time I picked up the book I felt as if she were repeatedly shouting her point at me. In effect, lecturing her audience. I found myself wanting her to develop the story more intricately, especially in the second half of the book. Allowing more thoughts from the protagonist (H. Shepherd), would not necessitate a compromised second voice characterization of him.

Kingsolver clearly wanted to keep H. Shepherd distanced from her reader, despite the fact his information came, for the most part, directly from his journals. We were supposed to see his life from V. Brown's point-of-view as if we, too, had just found and read his missing journal for the first time. He was a man that did not give himself away to anyone, ever. I got that. The problem was, maintaining a balance between a removed character and developing a character and story with substance. This is where the book fell apart. Instead of feeling moved, captivated, and inspired by this great writer's work, I felt enough already, stop lecturing and get on with the story. In reading other LT reviews I found this, too, was where other readers experienced a disconnect.

I gave this book 3 1/2 stars, and felt it could be 4. Despite all my complaining about the book, Kingsolver still proves herself to be among one of the great writers of our time. If expectations by her readers were less (it is my hope), she would be disappointed. This is not a bad book by any means. It is simply not the best this author can do. ...more

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Apr 07, 2010 Lydia rated it liked it

i don't know how i stuck with the first half of this 508-pager: mannered, stagy, with wooden comments by a so-called editor throughout. but the last half was wrenching and fast moving. i was jolted by the portrait of WW II America and the spooky groupthink that followed. there's a slightly sanctimonious NPR tone buried in here but it is mitigated by powerful language and imagery that had me reading certain passages again and again. ...more

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Nov 27, 2010 Hardcover Hearts rated it liked it

I was really looking forward to this book since I am very interested in Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and their time together. Despite being predisposed to the setting, and loving The Poisonwood Bible, I wasn't enamored with this as I wanted to be. Don't get me wrong, it is a very good book, and I am glad I read it. I just didn't have the same emotional response I was hoping for though intellectually it was very engaging. ...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Toni rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, travel, multi-cultural, mexico

I had so much trouble getting "into" this book. The first half I found tedious and only pursued because of a friend's high praise. I really became engaged during the second half. Barbara Kingsolver continues to write beautiful, well-researched novels. ...more

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