The latest books on my 2013 reading challenge are The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven both by Barbara Kingsolver.
Rating: 5 stars (The Bean Trees) and 4 stars (Pigs in Heaven)
I first read The Bean Trees back in 2006, I believe. I
remember really enjoying the book, but by 2013 I had completely forgotten why.
So I decided to reread it…one of my favorite things to do. There is something exciting
about revisiting a book to see if it holds true to you. I’m always wondering if
my experiences with books are affected by what books I had just read, where I’m
at emotionally, who recommended a book to me, etc. When a book can ring true
with me even with a 7 year gap in between…yep, those are the good ones.
And The Bean Trees is one of them. In fact, I think I
might have loved it even more the second time through. I seriously devoured
this book. I read it in an incredibly short amount of time because I just
couldn’t put it down. I immediately went out and purchased Pigs in Heaven
because I couldn’t bear thinking that I had to leave the world of Taylor Greer.
I seriously finished The Bean Trees and
then immediately started Pigs in Heaven and…well…eh…it lost some of its
sparkle.
This made me start thinking why this could be. And I’ve
come up with two reasons.
1.
Pigs in Heaven is told from different
perspectives so you see a more encompassing world
2.
And in this world, Taylor Greer is lost, scared,
and depressed
When you start The Beans Trees, you meet this determined
girl who is ready to escape her small town life…and she does it. She hops in
her beat up bug and just starts driving. Taylor is tough, spunky, and spirited.
She says what she wants and isn’t often scared. She is everything I like in my
lead female characters. She goes through
challenging times and has low moments but overall she is confident and secure
in who she is.
So suddenly I start Pigs in Heaven and I have to start
reading about these other characters who are in Taylor’s life. Like her mom who
was left behind in the small town Taylor escaped. And her boyfriend, Jax, who
doesn’t really know if Taylor likes him or not. And even about people from the
Indian Reservation who weren’t painted in the greatest light in The Bean Trees.
No, no, no, I thought. I just wanted to go back to Taylor Greer’s world where
she can learn, grow, and still be her wonderful, spunky self. Nope. In fact,
Barbara Kingsolver actually takes you one step further out of your happy Bean
Tree world. She makes your beloved strong Taylor Greer into someone who is
scared, lost, and depressed. And in a very believable way. Taylor is threatened
(I won’t go into the whole story…just read it) and so she runs. Kingsolver has
struck the one chord that can make Taylor vulnerable and scared enough to run.
Whaat?! Taylor Greer isn’t supposed to run from
challenges! And this is when I flung the book aside and figured I’d just reread
The Bean Trees again. But the more I started thinking about this…the more I realized
that Barbra Kingsolver was a genius.
She made Taylor be vulnerable. She made her be scared.
And isn’t this a much more believable and more real character than the I-just-graduated-high-school-and-I-can-do-and-say-and-be-anything?
Taylor has to depend on other people to help her see what the right thing is. She needs help from the very people she has
somewhat pushed aside in the past. Suddenly, Taylor is more human. Yeah she
might not be as fun to read about…but she reflects a truer version of what a
strong woman is. She is now someone who sometimes struggles, someone who has to
be vulnerable, and someone who needs help.
So while I didn’t always love the journey…overall the combo between The Bean
Trees and Pigs in Heaven is necessary to see an inspiring character grow realistically.
Kingsolver gives an honest depiction of a strong woman actually living in this
big world of ours.
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As I mentioned in my 2013 goal, I’m reading mostly
women lit that focuses on women authors or complicated, strong female
characters this year. Here is the list of my previous book reviews that I've done on this journey:
First: Madame Bovary
Second: Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress
Third: Patron Saint of Liars
Fourth: Bird by Bird
Fifth: Frida Kahlo
Sixth: Women Seeing Women
Seventh: Bridget Jones's Diary
Eighth: Dorothy Parker's Complete Short Stories
Ninth: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
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