Well, I can’t complain. Although I found the audio version of Barbara Kingsolver’s work very tedious listening, I don’t think there’s any question of the sophisticated storytelling in The Lacuna.
(After 5 hours of listening, I realized that I wasn’t going to adjust to her delivery style, but I did continue listening and tried to separate my disappointment in her reading style from the novel itself: it really is a fine work.)
As an introduction to this author’s works, this might not be the place to start (unless you are accustomed to long, multi-layered literary works and inherently appreciate their complexity). You might prefer to start with The Bean Trees or Pigs in Heaven.
But readers familiar with the style exhibited in Prodigal Summer and The Poisonwood Bible (also shortlisted for the Orange Prize previously), will likely appreciate the depth and expanse of The Lacuna. (It’s not, however, a tale to be rushed. It’s one to start when you know you can renew it from the library, or when you don’t have other reads competing for your attention.)
So I can’t complain that The Lacuna has captured the 2010 Orange Prize.
But I do rather wish I’d been surprised.
I wanted Monique Roffey‘s The White Woman on the Green Bicycle to win. It feels like the jury made a “safe” choice, choosing Barbara Kingsolver’s novel instead, drawing a name which many readers would recognize; I’d have liked to have seen them take a chance, and put forth a writer who has published only two books.
But just because it was a “safe” choice (and perhaps that’s only my perception of it), doesn’t mean it wasn’t also a “good” choice. Barbara Kingsolver is one of my MRE Authors and I’m pleased to have her work recognized.
For a bit of fun last night, I picked through the Good Fiction Guide (Ed. Jane Rogers 2nd ed. OUP, 2005) and followed the paths of the three shortlisted writers included therein.
[Note: For those who are unfamiliar with this addictive volume, there is a section at the front which is dedicated to theme reading. Here, writers focus on a specific theme about which they’re knowledgeable, suggesting 12 titles that readers would do well to seek out (more on these theme lists in coming weeks: I love them) and giving a bit of history. And the back of the book, by far the larger section in the volume, is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name, with brief descriptions of their writing, a couple of specific title recommendations (not always the ones you’d expect), and a short list of other writers whose work you might also enjoy whose work has some similarity with the writer being discussed.]
The part that I found especially fun was the way in which the other reading recommendations often do have some overlap but always also suggest at least one new name so that you can’t resist flipping the pages to check out “just one more”. That, to me, is just like reading should be, one good book leading to another to another to another to…
Here are the three recommendations that were listed with Barbara Kingsolver: Gloria Naylor, Ellen Gilchrist, and Louise Erdrich.
And here are some of the other names to which these are linked, as you follow along from recommendation to recommendation: E. Annie Proulx, Jane Smiley, William Faulkner, Toni Cade Bambara, Ntokaze Shange, Eudora Welty, Carol Shields, Richard Ford, Margaret Atwood, and David Guterson. What do you
(I know, I know: I should read Faulkner. And Ntokaze Shange. And I did hear a really interesting interview with David Guterson last summer that made me want to read something of his. The others I have enjoyed.)
As for Hilary Mantel, here are the three recommendations that were listed with her name: Lesley Glaister, Jane Rogers, and Deborah Moggach. And, following along from these recommendations were these writers: Anne Fine, Penelope Lively, Margaret Forster, Nina Bawden, Margaret Drabble, Jane Gardam, Penelope Lively, Peter Dickinson, Susan Hill, and Mary Wesley.
(Here’s the list which with I’m least familiar, needing to fill gaps with Anne Fine and Peter Dickinson, Susan Hill and Mary Wesley, and Jane Rogers, although the latter has gotten very close to the top of my reading pile on many occasions, whereas the others I’ve brushed up against but never taken serious steps towards.)
And, finally, the three names linked with Lorrie Moore: Amy Bloom, Alice Munro, and Anne Tyler. And, linked with these writers, some classic choices: Colette, Anton Chekhov, Raymond Carver, Elizabeth Bishop, Katherine Mansfield, John Cheever, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Updike, Christina Stead, and Italo Calvino.
(Some of these I know very well, whereas others, like Cheever and Updike and Carver, I have only a passing familiarity — for instance, a few stories, a few essays — with their work.)
It’s fun, isn’t it?! If you haven’t already had a look at The Good Fiction Guide, turn over a fresh page in your TBR notebook and get prepared to make a chunk of new additions to your list. And even though of course anybody making a list invites controversy and discussion, this book is as good a fiction guide as any and, for my purposes, a little better than some.
Which writers here could be contenders for your Must Read Everything list?
Which ones have I missed out on, for whom you think I’d be printing out a chronological list of works if only I just gave one of their books a try?
My first Kingsolver was also The Bean Trees and it was excellent. I definitely want to read this one although right now I’m thinking how come I haven’t gotten a copy of Good Fiction Guide? That sounds like a must for the shelves!
I was a little surprised The Lacuna won, but I was disappointed. I was pulling for The White Woman on the Green Bicycle too (and Black Water Rising, but I knew it didn’t have a chance). Next year!
Nathalie – I think I could easily adopt your MRE list, although I’ve only sampled Cusk and MacLeod. I’m renewedly enthralled by Terry Griggs’ work and I’m thinking about reading Mavis Gallant straight through starting next January. It’s normal to be thinking about next January’s reads now, right?
Thanks for all the commments!
I think one of the reasons that I’m having so much fun with the Good Fiction Guide is that she makes it abundantly clear that the book is subjective, that of course they can’t include/consider everything, and the book’s necessarily only a glimpse. I like the fact that she acknowledges that from the start, so I never felt as though they (she or the contributors) were telling me what I *should* read, but, instead, what *some* of the good books are that I might not have come across on my own. It felt passionate, not prescriptive.
Kingsolver’s longer novels do seem to attract extremely positive or extremely negative responses; maybe that’s because readers are either completely frustrated by the demands made of them (greater attention to detail, patience, trust, etc.) — I’m not sure it’s possible to read through her longer works passively — or they fall totally-wholly-completely in love with the idea that a writer has invited them to participate so fully in an almost-incredibly-expansive story and they throw themselves into it full-tilt.
What do you think?
The shorter novels I recommended give an idea of the themes and tone of her work, but her longer novels require more of an investment; there are multiple points-of-view, a myriad of narrative threads, and layering of themes that might strike the reader as (a) boring, (b) overwhelmingly irritating, or (c) overwhelmingly rewarding, depending on what they enjoy in a story and their immediate reason for reading.
Even if you adore literary fiction, sometimes you just want to sit back and do nothing but be entertained too, right?
But if you like the shorter works, I think the longer ones (I’d choose the one which appeals most to you thematically) are definitely worth a try and, if literary fiction is your thing to begin with, I think you’ll sink into the stories like a plate of hot-buttered toast with a never-ending pot of tea. The Lacuna was not my favourite, but I still think it was beautifully crafted and styled.
Must Read Everything List: Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Rachel Cusk, Eden Robinson, Carol Shields,Terry Griggs, Alistair MacLeod, Mavis Gallant, and, and, and….
I think that Good Fiction Guide would be a very bad book for me to own – my TBR pile would explode! It seems to be coming up with good suggestions though.
I tried to read The Lacuna, but couldn’t finish it. I thought it was very different from The Poisonwood Bible, so anyone loving one probably wont like the other. I’m not surprised that it won, but I would have prefered to see Monique Roffey win too.
I hope to read the Lacuna soon. I am glad u enjoyed it despite your frustration with the audio.
I’m really looking forward to reading this. My first Kingsolver was The Bean Trees and you’re right it’s a great place to start. I loved The Poisonwood Bible, so I’ll be very curious to see what this one is like. I’m a very picky audio book listener–the person reading can really make or break the book (and is it Kingsolver herself reading it?) for me, and strangely there are some books I know I want to read rather than listen to, so I will only choose audio books that I wouldn’t be likely to pick up and read. And I’ve never seen The Good Fiction Guide, but I think I’m going to have to see if my library owns it now!
Man, you’ve sold The Good Fiction Guide! I tend not to like books that tell me what books to read, but that actually looks as though it draws some interesting links and would give a few solid suggestions. Perhaps it will be a new era for my reading.
The only Kingsolver I’ve read is Animal, Vegetable, Mineral! So I’m quite glad for your recommended books for Kingsolver newbies. Will have to check them out on one of my next library visits. Thanks!
I am glad you mentioned that this is not a Kingsolver book to start with because I have Poisonwood Bible on my shelf but haven’t read it yet and was considering reading this one first instead. But I’ll stick with reading Poisonwood first. Eventually!
I haven’t read The Lacuna but I am one that loved The Poisonwood Bible. I’ve read really mixed reviews of The Lacuna actually but I think that was the same for The Poisonwood Bible. In any case The Good Fiction Guide sounds like a very “dangerous” book for me to get my hands on. My list to read would grow enormous!