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Demon Copperhead

by Barbara Kingsolver

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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3,2571404,056 (4.35)1 / 276
The teenage son of an Appalachian single mother who dies when he is eleven uses his good looks, wit, and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.
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» See also 276 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 139 (next | show all)
106000
  FILBO | Apr 25, 2024 |
Loved it. Started off with trepidation because I've read a lot of books recently about young, disadvantaged boys/men trying to succeed in life. But I'm glad I read it. I loved David Copperfield and noticed so many parallels, but you don't have to have read Dickens to enjoy this book.

The author admits that she wrote this book with a mission of making orphans and the opioid crisis visible. Despite having a strong message to send, not once did the story or the character development suffer. So many novels preach at the reader, with characters going into explanations that are not at all like people talk to each other. Ms. Kingsolver deserves props for writing a great book with a message rather than writing a message wrapped in a story.

Demon's voice was so authentic. I loved his attitude and resilience. I like that the book, while mostly a tale of hardship left me with a sense of hope. I wish Demon and Angus well. ( )
  LynnB | Apr 22, 2024 |
What a tough read! TBH, I had to start skimming halfway through because it was too disruptive. Living in Appalachia, I see so much of this story lived out in our community. That said, Kingsolver brilliantly captures the reality of the opioid crisis. ( )
  KoestK | Apr 21, 2024 |
This loose retelling of David Copperfield explores life in Lee County,Virginia through the eyes of a young boy nicknamed Demon. From his addict mother to the cruel injustices of the foster care system and drug addiction, the book will break your heart. But it's also so beautifully written and the voice feels so authentic, that you don't even care. I loved her book, Poisonwood Bible, but haven't always liked her others. I dragged my feet on reading this one, but it was incredible and worth the painful subject matter. The audiobook is particularly well done.

“Aunts standing close in the kitchen like cigarettes in the pack, uncles splayed on furniture like butts in the ashtray."

“The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.”

“As a kid, you just accept different worlds with different rules.” ( )
  bookworm12 | Apr 18, 2024 |
This is dark story of part of America that time has passed by, has been taken advantaged of and arguably setup to ensure they can never crawl out from it. Child abuse - check; Alcoholism - check; Racism - check; Abusive foster parents - check; Uncaring Civil Service support - check; Drug abuse - check; Opioid abuse - hell this is the birth cradle of it - Big Check; The only bright spot in their lives is High School football and even that just leaves fallen heroes and futureless stars littered on the side of the road. Add in the star football coach who can't get himself out of bed in the offseason sleeping it off and in season sending hurt players to a doctor to kickoff their opioid lives so they can play past their pains. All that darkness and still this was an excellent book. Kingsolver is a gifted writer who can tell a story, describe a scene and builds the perfect characters for this story. Though the book is that dark, it is so rich and well written you can't help but really like this book. ( )
1 vote rayski | Apr 16, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 139 (next | show all)
Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love. Damon is the only child of a teenage alcoholic — “an expert at rehab” — in southwest Virginia.... In a feat of literary alchemy, Kingsolver uses the fire of that boy’s spirit to illuminate — and singe — the darkest recesses of our country....From the moment Demon starts talking to us, his story is already a boulder rolling down the Appalachian Mountains, faster and faster, stopping for nothing. ...Kingsolver has effectively reignited the moral indignation of the great Victorian novelist to dramatize the horrors of child poverty in the late 20th century.
 
In echoing Dickens, Barbara Kingsolver has written a social justice novel all her own, one only she could write, for our time and for the ages.Master storyteller Kingsolver has given the world a book that will have a ripple effect through the generations...Like all stories that stick with you, this one is both universal and decidedly personal. If you’ve lived near the Appalachians, you'll recognize these characters as well as their voice. They may even remind you of family members—those who’ve made it through, made it out, or made it back. If you haven’t, it will touch your heart anyway....That Kingsolver has shone a light on them as only she can, is a leap in understanding the hurting of a forgotten, often misunderstood and ridiculed people. Next time you see such a person, be kind, open your mind, and stop making fun of their accent.
 
“Demon Copperhead” reimagines Dickens’s story in a modern-day rural America contending with poverty and opioid addiction... Of course Barbara Kingsolver would retell Dickens. He has always been her ancestor. Like Dickens, she is unblushingly political and works on a sprawling scale, animating her pages with the presence of seemingly every creeping thing that has ever crept upon the earth.....Kingsolver’s prose is often splendid....And so, caught between polemic and fairy tale, Kingsolver is stuck with an anticlimax. .
 
With its bold reversals of fate and flamboyant cast, this is storytelling on a grand scale – Dickensian, you might say, and Kingsolver does indeed describe Demon Copperhead as a contemporary adaptation of David Copperfield....And what a story it is: acute, impassioned, heartbreakingly evocative, told by a narrator who’s a product of multiple failed systems, yes, but also of a deep rural landscape with its own sustaining traditions.
 

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Barbara Kingsolverprimary authorall editionscalculated
Carlson-Stanisic, LeahDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Thurston, CharlieNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
“It’s in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present.”

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
Dedication
For the survivors.
First words
First, I got myself born.
Quotations
Living in a holler, the sun gets around to you late in the day, and leaves you early. Like much else you might want. In my years since, I've been amazed to see how much more daylight gets flung around in the flatter places.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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The teenage son of an Appalachian single mother who dies when he is eleven uses his good looks, wit, and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.

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Book description
Haiku summary
Boy once abandoned
Death, destruction, redemption
Hope ignites future
(HelenGress)

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"Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver in 75 Books Challenge for 2023

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