Small Wonder: Essays

I enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. And in a casual conversation with a friend, sometime later, he mentioned having finished her book of essays, Small Wonder. He spoke about how he enjoyed it. I was open to the idea, and obtained a copy for myself. What a fantastic writer! I enjoyed her non-fiction experiences and ideas as much as I did the novel. She has a great mind, steeped in science and clear thinking. She is quite clear in her view on how she values the world that belongs to us all. She is clear on how she values her family, and how she makes new discoveries in the journeys they take together. She is able to read between the lines of moment-to-moment family living to lay hold of a fresh insight. Scientifically-gifted, she nonetheless has a great sense of humor. And she has not let Darwin eclipse her sense of God. She writes on nature in a way that the reader can be enticed to slow down and smell the roses on his or her next walk through the park. Her writing makes the deep, dark forest such a friendly place. The armchair tourist will love the places she takes you to see. She is clear-thinking in her pieces that have a political slant. She has much to teach us about food, and how it is grown, and the ethics of what we choose to eat. I am with her in her stand against the corporation that is out to reap a profit, at the price of human life. And with courage she lets the reader in to her life's painful moments. She is what some people call a contemplative: one who notices things, and can relate them in a way that brings wonder to all. This is a blessing in paperback form. Informative. Friendly. Enchanting. Truly a great waste of your time.

As I began to read Small Wonder I was, as is always the case with Kingsolver's books, amazed and transported by her incredible command of the English language. In this group of essays this skill is even more evident. I find it hard to believe that anyone would find these words "preachy". She describes her world for us (our world too, whether we choose to see it or not) in the most beautiful words I've ever read. As she reveals for us her relationships with this beauty we live in, from the story of a small child mothered by a bear at the beginning of the book, to helping us see what nurtures us and what doesn't in most of what remains, she reveals ever so clearly why we should accept her invitation to see our world as she does. But there is no judgement on those who would rather not. I believe she earnestly expressed this openly in "The One-Eyed Monster and Why I Don't Let Him In" and less subtley in her other essays. That it invoked some guilt in me for my lifestyle I can own as my doing and not her intention. There is more inspiration here than any "preaching" I've ever experienced. When it's all said and done, it's no small wonder how this woman can create such beauty in words. If you enjoy exquisity written, heart-felt literature, don't miss this one!

Intel!actual essays All Very thought provoking g, lovely human e, I want to start gardening to Grow my own food , plus . A few other changes in my life brought about after reading this. S

When you embark on this journey with Ms. Kingsolver, if it doesn't make you squirm, you're not paying attention. I got this book on tape because I loved Kingsolver's fiction. I didn't know it was a running commentary on political and environmental issues that are close to the author's heart. I was delighted to find that the author and I share many of the same what could be called 'liberal' views on various issues. This book will make you think about old issues in a new light... but not a glaring one... more like the light that wakes you gently through your window in the morning. Yes, you may not agree with everything she says, but that's not the author's goal. She states her beliefs in a steady calm voice (I have the cassettes) and gives reasons she came to her current positions. Kudos to her for doing her research before making a sometimes bold statement on a sensitive issue. Barbara Kingsolver challenges us to find our own voice in the face of the many controversial issues that face us as individuals living in a sometimes not-so-United country. I don't believe she is pushing her own agenda... more sharing her personal journalling on things that are on her mind, and maybe on yours, too. If you don't agree, don't let it ruin the book for you. Look for ways that it can inspire you to challenge or even strengthen your alternate position on an issue. In the end, after all, aren't our differences and freedom to make our own choices part of what makes this country so great?

I've had this book so long, so this purchase was probably for a gift. I am NOT typically one who reads a book of essays, but both of Barbara Kingsolver's books of essays (this one and "High Tide in Tucson") are priceless. Especially "Small Wonders", I felt like she was speaking my thoughts, with my heart. I love so much how she writes and how she thinks. While some of her fiction books I appreciate more than others, just know that I own every one of them and can recommend every one of them, but please do also try her books of essays. She is remarkable.

Since the Twin Towers crumbled, very few have had the courage to stand up in the face of the Jingoistic, shallow patriotism and say, there is something terribly wrong here! Ms. Kingsolver, writing beautifully as always, manages to make hard fisted moral statements sound like poetry, but nonetheless she says some things that need to be said, and, most of all, need to be heard.Whether it is debunking the nonsense that it is wrong for other countries to attack the US, but fair and just for the US to attack them back, or telling the truth out loud about the US involvement in setting up the Taliban's power in the first place, she tells it truly from her heart, and she tells it right and well. She addresses many topics in this wonderful book of essays, from the death penalty to poetry, to dreadful television, and she manages each time to stand outside of the mainstream point of view and look objectively, and from that stance, to point out the absurdity, and to point out a saner direction. Ms. Kingsolver says peace not war, love not hate, sharing not profit, and these ideas are not new, just stated newly and beautifully at a time when they need so desparately to be heard. This was a wonderful book and I wish everyone would read it and let it in.

I loved Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible" but this collection of essays didn't grab me. It wasn't that I disagreed with her, it's that her chapters were very wordy and I found myself easily bored and skipping pages. She takes pages and pages to convey ideas that should take paragraphs. I could only make it though about half of the book. I disagreed with her chapter about GMOs. She is anti-GMOs in all circumstances, but the situation is actually much more complicated than she makes it out to be.

I read this book a while ago and it has turned into my go to present for friends and any other woman I know. Kingsolver writes with a humanity we can all relate to and this book of essays written shortly after 9/11 is probably one of the most down to earth and amazing books I've ever read. In turns you will laugh, cry and wonder at both the joy that humanity has to offer and the poignant capturing of some of the places we've gone wrong without sounding preachy or arrogant. Wisdom comes in small doses and growth comes from within. I would recommend this book to anyone with a soul that wants or needs to be touched.