The Lacuna (edition 2009)

A satisfying novel on many levels. A fictional "artist as a young man" story, a historical fiction about real artists (Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo) and other figures (Leon Trotsky and his wife), a social novel encompassing the impact of HUAC on ordinary Americans. Wonderful characters, beautiful writing. A pleasure. ( )

Okay I am finally writing a review for this book. I did not finish it. I don't think I will be able to finish it. I was reading this book for my Library Book Clubs December read. The 9 people that were at the meeting only 3 actually finished it. I just didn't enjoy it. I do not like the writing style of this book.

This is my first book by Barbara Kingsolver but I don't know if it will be the last. I know she wrote the Poisonwood Bible and that is the reason our book club decided to read this book. They loved that book (I still have yet to read it), and figured this book would be just as good. I will just be skimming through the book and reading the dialogue.

I am sorry I cannot recommend this book. ( )

I really struggled with the first half of this book but once the hero got to the USA began to enjoy it. I found myself skipping paragraphs of description to get to the action. It is a book to be savoured, not rushed but, unlike others, I found the mix of fact and fiction irritating. I wanted to know how much of the latter half of the book was true and how much an invention. Not a book I couldn't wait to get back to but probably one I'll remember. ( )

Audiobook not finished

Linda G. hosted the Mexican themed dinner. Only a couple had read the complete book so the discussion was a bit limited. Consensus: interesting topic and one that most of us had little familiarity. Examined art books and bios on Rivera and Kahlo. We kept finding examples of a Lacuna (theme) woven throughout the story. Found the language eloquent and evocative. Kingsolver paints beautiful word pictures. 10/19/11 ( )

Barbara chose this book by accident, she had been to Adelaide & Darwin and found it in a book shop in Glen Elg. As she read it she knew it would be a good Book Club book. She liked the weaving of fiction with real people. Quite chilling in parts but it is a fantastic novel. More ambitious than her others.
Others: I've only read half but I'm enjoying it.
It is easy to pick up after reading something else.
I struggled and didn't enjoy it but finished it!
I loved The Poisonwood Bible and this one didn't work for me.
Hard to start with then got hooked.
Could connect with the artists having studied them.
Was bothered by the diary format.
Loved Violet she was really alive. The author has a social conscience.
Writing about Freida was brave.
Always like the weaving of fact and fiction but it didn't engage me.
Might not finish it.
Harrison's character well drawn & it developed beautifully.
Slow in parts, haven't finished it but I will.
Another view on history, loved it.
Haven't read anything else of B.K.'s but I will.

9, 5, 8, 5, 9, 6, 7.5, 8, 8, 7

DNF..just got tired of it. ( )

Once I started reading this book I found it hard to put down. It is a fictional biography of Harrison Shepherd in a historical setting which draws many parallels with the present. It has shades of Orwell and Huxley. It is at the same time, romantic, sad and very scary. Barbara Kingsolver once again proves herself a formidable writer. ( )

On its surface this book is a biography of an author, Harrison Shepherd, the son of an broken marriage between an American man and a Mexican woman, who tries to maneuver his way between both his parents' worlds, brushing up against history as he goes. On another it is a fable about how history will come looking even for the guy who tries to avoid it. And on yet another it is a mystery of how this story came to be told, which is slowly revealed throughout the book and isn't completely divulged until the last pages.

It took me a surprisingly long time to make it through this book. At some times I wanted to put it down, but I'm so glad that I didn't. Each layer of the story is slowly laid on top of the next and at the same time others layers are being peeled back. All of which sounds like gobbledy-gook, but saying more could give away too much.

Just hang on until the whole story is told. It is a doozy! Highly recommended! ( )

I LOVED this book which sweeps across the 20th century from the Mexican enclave of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Trotsky to the crazy post-World War II communist scare. Wonderful parallels between that time and current political situation and interesting presentation as a series of articles and journal entries from a writer on the scene. Not quite as good as Poisonwood Bible, but definitely a good Kingsolver treat. ( )

I greatly enjoyed "The Lacuna". With this book, Kingsolver demonstrates that she's a wonderful writer at the height of her literary craft. Realistically and sympathetically, she brings to life an interesting protagonist through a diverse mix of literary vehicles -- memoir, letters, newspaper clippings, imagined transcripts, and the third-party narrative of the protagonist's no-nonsense amanuensis. As with some other books which I recently have liked ("The Tiger's Wife", "Parrot and Olivier Go to America", and "As Meat Loves Salt" for example), Kingsolver successfully grafts her story and its fictional characters into an evocative historical setting. In addition, I loved the care with which Kingsolver allowed several of her characters -- in particular, Violet and Tom -- to speak in distinctive voices that helped to conjure the feel and parlance of the period in which the story was set. There is plenty in "The Lacuna" to savor, enjoy, and admire. ( )

Kingsolver's invention of a writer protagonist who witnesses turbulent events (the assassination of Leon Trotsky; HUAC hearings) is coupled with her skillful descriptive powers to produce a stimulating and memorable novel. I would definitely recommend it. It is the best book I have read in 2011. The portions of the book set in Mexico are especially rich in the colors, plants, art, and food that are portrayed. ( )

I found this story difficult to follow and slow going as it jumped from newspaper article, to diary, to the present. I believe it's the first Kingsolver book I didn't truly enjoy. Although much of it is beautifully written, and deals with a fascinating dark period in America's battle with communism, it frequently resonates more like a history lesson than a novel. I read to the bitter end, which I found terribly bittersweet. ( )

24. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (2009, 528 pages, read Apr 16 – May 12)

If you wanted to be American author in the 1950’s, in the era of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, it would probably be best not to spend your young adulthood in Mexico in the household of communist Diego Rivera, and it would probably not be best, if the opportunity arrived, to later become Leon Trostky’s personal secretary. Given seeing the problems in this might take some unusual foresight in your still somewhat adolescent mind, there is still, I think clearly, some ridiculousness to this plot. I came across several critical reviews before I read the book. They tended to complain that Kingsolver manipulates the story to push her ideas. Reviewers also might say something to the effect that they like her ideas, they just don’t want them pontificated in her novels.

Yes, Kingsolver is guilty of this. She does manipulate her characters and her story terribly, and, to me, blatantly to make her point that Americans are paranoid and McCarthism was pretty bad, and repeatable. And there is a clear reference to our own Bush II-and-beyond era. Nonetheless, I found this enjoyable. I’ve read very few novels this year, and those I’ve read I have had trouble getting into. But this one I was able to slip into and lose my way and pretty much enjoy reading it the whole way through. It helped, I think, first that the writing is in a diary form and second that it feels like non-fiction. Kingsolver, (or Harrison Shepherd, our young author) isn’t writing a story so much as she (he) is describing the story.

There are plenty of problems in the book, and I am not crazy about its Orange Prize label. But, still it can be a fun read that happens to explore Mexico, and Diego Rivera, Frida Khalo and Trostky. Sure there are some less than plausible details, but there are also plenty things to think about.

What I find kind of interesting about all this is that Kingsolver is manipulating us, the reader, to be very uncomfortable with getting manipulated by the American propaganda system (both in the 1950’s, and, presumably, its modern counterpart). It’s manipulation to blast manipulation. Surely she meant us to see that…right? ( )

I'm of two minds on this book: on the one hand, it is a fascinating topic populated with vibrant, colorful people in a troubling historical era; on the other hand, I had a really difficult time sifting through this book and reading it to the end. The effort is well-worthwhile, and the reader is well rewarded for her efforts, but I found that the chopped, sometimes very poetical, language obfuscated the plot, confused the intent and unnecessarily burdened the reader. I appreciated the author's willingness to make her prose colorful - the scenes in Mexico are particularly alive - but with the complex historical nature of the story, the disruption in style and content make this book a challenging read. ( )

A lacuna is a gap or missing part, and in Barbara Kingsolver's novel it serves as a symbol for several things. Harrison Shepherd is a young boy whose Mexican mother has left her American husband in search of a more exciting life with a richer man. The novel opens with the two of them living in s hacienda on an island off the Gulf coast of Mexico in 1928. Harrison is mostly neglected by his narcissistic parent and finds companionship with the kitchen staff who teach him how to cook, and in swimming in and out of caves during high tide. He also starts a diary, which is the vehicle, along with letters and newspaper clippings by which Kingsolver tells her story.

Soon Harrison's mother, Salome, leaves her benefactor for yet another man, but once again, she is doomed to disappointment and a lower standard of living. Harrison, striking out on his own,serendipitously is befriended by the radical painter Diego Rivera, when he demonstrates not only an ability to mix plaster for Rivera' murals, but also to make the pan dulce that Rivera loves. So begins a Zelig-like life wherein Harrison embeds himself in the Rivera household, becomes an intimate friend with Frida Kahlo and works as a typist & cook for Leon Trotsky.

Eventually, after Trotsky's assassination (which he witnesses), he returns to the United States and writes a novel based on his fascination with the Aztec history of Mexico. He also employs a faithful secretary, Violet Brown, who serves as a surrogate mother figure in the second half of the novel.

Of course, as World War II comes to an end, and the Cold War begins, accompanied by the McCarthy witch hunts, the reader can see what is going to happen to poor Harrison even though he cannot see for himself. The denouement is depressingly predictable, and the reader cannot escape the feeling that Kingsolver is giving us a cautionary tale for our own times. ( )

http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/2011/06/flashback-friday-barbara-kingsolver.h... ( )

This story spans around 30 years of South and North American history. The thread throughout is Harrison Shepherd, who belongs to both North and South, but seems to have no real home. Frida Kahlo, Trotsky and J Edgar Hoover all play a role in shaping his life and destiny.

There is some wonderful prose especially in the vibrant descriptions of 1930s Mexico.

My only criticism would be that I found it a little disjointed; the very visible editor made this more pronounced. ( )

I honestly put this book down about 10 times and forced myself to pick it back up 9 times. Because it was a selection for my book club, I really did try to get through it. But it was way too descriptive and slow for me. I am giving it 2 stars because the story line about Frida Kahlo I did enjoy. Just wish it didn't take so much work to get to it! ( )

3.9

I've tried to be more stingy with my stars, and only giving a book 4 stars when I've really enjoyed it. I gave this 5 stars because it really was amazing. Seems like it's the type of book you'll either love or hate. Kingsolver's writing just resonated, her turns of phrase, wow. ( )

Tedious and overlong. Very good in parts; nowhere near as good as "The Poisonwood Bible" ( )

This book has been a surprise. I remember quite enjoying ‘The Poisonwood Bible’ but I wasn’t expecting to find this such an interesting read as it has been.

I like the way Kingsolver has Shepherd tell his story in the third person – it has allowed her quite a lot of opportunities for originality, often allowing the reader to work out wordlessly what Shepherd must have been feeling as well as at other times allowing this to emerge in an ironic way such as when he lets Frida see his disapproval of her behaviour when she is monitoring his notebook.

When I realised that Kingsolver was following a historical path, I began to feel a little uneasy. When I read Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’, I remember feeling she had lost an essential part of a novelist’s arsenal in surrendering the plot to what actually happened in the past. In this case, though, I think, although the McCarthy part sailed close to the wind for me, Kingsolver has managed for the most part to avoid this outcome, partly because of her style and partly by making the fictitious Shepherd so central in her text. I also feel she is not so much tracking history as wanting to offer insights as novelists should do in my opinion. In other words she uses a historical setting as Frasier does in ‘Cold Mountain’, as a vehicle for what she wants to say. At times, though, I felt as a bit too close to a Kingsolver researching her novel, say, in the part where she has Shepherd visit Yukatan and describes in detail the area as well as instigating a discussion between Shepherd and Mrs Brown about what novelists do and what readers expect. Here I felt she was too overt – a novel about a novelist’s way of presenting the world in this section of the book. and more broadly, just as Shepherd uses the past to make a comment on the contemporary, so perhaps Kingsolver uses the past to make a comment on the present, to suggest that those in power abuse it and the people they control.

I think it’s more the way you keep coming across original phrasing that I like so much. Talking of autumn she has Shepherd write to Frida that ‘the world strips and goes naked, the full year of arboreal effort piling on the sidewalks in flat, damp strata . . . The earth smells of smoke and rainstorms, calling everything to come back, lie down, submit to a quiet, moldy return to the cradle of origins. This is how we celebrate the Day of the Dead in America: by turning up our collars against the scent of earthworms calling us home.’ Then there are little thought-provoking observations like ‘The past is all we know of the future’ and ‘nothing wondrous can come in this world unless it rests on the shoulders of kindness’. I guess that picking out these bits could make the book seem a bit precious but it actually has a sparseness about it, coming partly from the reservation of Shepherd, not to mention the self-possession of Violet Brown, the fictitious compiler of the book. That we only gradually learn more about these characters also maintains the novel’s integrity. Then there’s the humour such as when Shepherd tells Frida about the way everyone in America is making sacrifices to help the war effort, donating hairpins and hinges – then he talks of her reading his letter, ‘flashing gold teeth – metal that could be used in some alloy for artillery casings, come to think of it. You can’t come here, you would be confiscated.’

I also like the way Kingsolver has the reader build up an understanding of why the novel is called ‘The Lacuna’, starting with the cave below the surface of the sea which leads to a place of sacrifice to Frida talking about the missing part being the important aspect of a person. I think the novelist implies this gap too, for example in the way she has a correspondence between Shepherd and Frida but we only learn of Frida’s responses through what Shepherd writes. It’s this sparseness I enjoy. ( )

3.9 ( )

most eloquently written book i have ever read, plus great subject, diego and frida