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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Patron Book Review: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver 5/30

Posted by EPL Patron and Guest Blogger, Irv S. 

Barbara Kingsolver is an outstanding writer and FlightBehavior is another outstanding example of her work. Her characters are complex and their relationships fascinating. Her descriptions are vivid and interesting. Her stories have depth and are loaded with metaphors.

Her protagonist Dellarobia Turnbow is bright, petite, and strong-willed. She is married to Burley, Jr, "Cub" , a physically large, dull, hard working,  loving father, who is the son of Burley, Sr., "Bear" who is also large and is a stereotypical redneck patriarch (Think of Burl Ives in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" before he became terminally ill). Cub's mother is also strong-willed, smokes heavily, and permits Bear to believe that he is in charge, as he sometimes is, but not so much as he thinks.

The story takes place in rural Appalachia where the local church is important to the characters and the story. One of Dellarobia's friends, "lives her whole life as a string of Bible quotes."   The local Walmart and second hand stores are also featured.  The nearby village, Feathertown, is "mostly (a) dead main street," where The Fellowship Mission has its pick of empty store fronts from which to operate its charities.

Don't expect blood and gore or a whodunit, just a fascinating collection of characters in a well-told story written beautifully .

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