Customer Reviews
Boring, disjointed and lacking a plot - By: John M, 08 Sep 2010 
I started this book with a high degree of anticipation given it is an Orange Prize winner & seems to have received a high level of acclaim. What a disappointment! It is unusual for me to give up on a book, but I managed up to page 366 or so & just could face another 300 pages! The book develops themes of US 20th century history, particularly those which are really low spots, & contrasts lifein the US with thatin Mexico. There are also themes of growing-up, father/mother relationships, art, politics, collonialism, communism, & quite a bit about how to make tortillas. The basic problem for me is that the book is really very boring. There is no real plot, just a life story set against certain twentieth century historical events, toldin a disjointed, turgid & rather oblique manner. The central character, Harrison Shepherd, has written copious & full diaries throughout his life & his story is retoldin excrutiating detail. Some of the themes of the book such as the great depression & the last days of Trotsky could have made an interesting read, butin my view they were handled very superficially. The book was a big disjointed mess that seemed to be going nowhere. Reluctantly it defeated me. Any book that I cannot finish because it is such a hard & unrewarding experience automatically gets 1 star, despite the fact that the author is obviously a capable writer. I'm afraid this book wasn't for me at all!
Barbara Kingsolver - A tale of revolution and the stifling of dissent - By: Red on Black, 06 Sep 2010 
Novels that are writtenin diary or letter form are not always the easiest read with the various dairy entries impeding the books flow & affecting continuity. Babara Kingsolver appears to have ably solved this problemin "The Lacuna" a big & dense novel which is first for nine years after the powerful "The Poisonwood Bible". The novel startsin Isla Pixolin Mexicoin 1929 & ends with an afterwordin 1959 during which period a story is woven which takes us through the heady days of Trotsky's exilein Mexico to a senate investigation by the committee for Un-American Activities.
The story at the heart of "the Lacuna" revolves around the character of a Mexican-American author, Harrison Shepherd, who worked as secretary to the great fallen Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky ("Now I command eleven hens" he ruefully tells Shepherd). Our hero who eventually becomes a writer of best-selling novels starts by befriending the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera his wife, the painter Frida Kahlo. This is most enjoyable part of the novel full of the sights & smells of revolutionary Mexico where Shepherd is employed but also taken into their confidence.
The character of Shepherd is complex & described as a "permanent foreigner" & is clearly a repressed homosexual. He eventually moves to the US following Trotsky's assassination & returns to the paranoia of Joseph McCarthy's Americain the late 1940s where he settlesin Asheville, North Carolina. The story is told through journal & diary entries mostly from the main character but also his secretary Violet Brown. It is here that Shepherd now a fiction writer comes to the attention of the all seeing eye of the McCarthyite gaze particularly bearingin mind his links with the founder of the Fourth International. In essence then this is a two part story over some twenty years 1929-1951 which tackles some big themesin what is often beautiful prose & a largely well paced narrative.
Normally it is easy to dislike novels that combine fictional with non fictional characters & swirl them aroundin what can be a confusing mix. But Kingsolver handles this task with real & considerable skill which means that the there is a dual fascination of the historical events with the deft plot. Granted the novel slowsin some parts & the "twist" at the end is not that difficult to anticipate. Butin the last analysis this is not just a novel about "the story" but one which attempts to convey a mood not least a heady exploration of the lives of Trotsky & the Rivera's contrasted with the later sinister atmosphere of anti communism so well documentedin films like George Clooney's "Good night & good luck". The novel therefore contains passages of beautiful imagery but also effectively chronicles the weight/impact of the wearing down felt by talented individualsin an oppressive era of anti dissent. It is because of this that while the "The Lacuna" is by no means an easy read it is an ultimately rewarding one.
Too long - By: Clive A. H. Still, 03 Sep 2010 
The hero of this book is Harrison Shepherd. His life is divided into three main parts -in Mexico with his free-wheeling mother, backin America as a successful writer & then back to Mexico as a refugee from McCarthy's anti-communist purges. Parts of the book are written with great vividness : his life working for Trotsky, beautifully delineated relationship with his secretary, Violet Brown, & description of the pathetic attempts of the ex-servicemen to obtain justice. Parts are over-long - delirious descriptions of Harrison Shepherd's cooking prowess are irritating hold-ups to the story for example. Parts are full of well-planned symbolism.
The historical information is incorporated into the narrative with great skill, the fictional & non-fictional characters blend seamlessly & the story is original & well-told. With ruthless pruning, this could have been one of the greats but it just misses the mark.
Hard work! - By: E. Chaplin, 31 Aug 2010 I found this book really hard work, so much so that I packed itin half way through & I don't normally get beaten by a book.
It did win a literary award (perhaps I should have known better!) so I am sure it is well written etc but it just didnt do it for me.
Clearly not my thing - By: G. Gavigan, 31 Aug 2010 Given that the book was an Orange prize winner this seemed like an excellent opportunity to try an author I'd not read before.
I'm clearly the wrong sort of reader. I found reading it to be akin to wading through treacle & so much irrelevant detail (did we really need a discussion, either at all or for so long on making the perfect tortilla?)
Nothingin the beginning encouraged me to finish, & after about page 80 I gave up. If the plot ever were to emerge it hadn't by then.
It must be me.
