The Poisonwood Bible

This forest eats itself and lives forever. p.5

Leah says in Congo there's only two ages of people: babies that have to be carried, and people that stand up and fend for themselves. No in-between phase. No such thing as childhood. Sometimes I think she's right. p. 358

You have nothing to lose but your chains. But I don't happen to agree. If chained is where you have been, your arms will always bear marks of the shackles. What you have to lose is your story, your own slant. You'll look at the scars on your arms and see mere ugliness, or you'll take great care to look away from them and see nothing. Either way, you have no words for the story of where you came from. p. 495

There were more beautiful/moving passages but they were too long. The best can be found in Orleanna's and Adah's narratives. 

I enjoyed this book because, or perhaps in spite of, its scope. It was a book about a new, strange land. A book about family. About war and religion (aren't they the same?). About Colonialism. About growing up. About loss. I'm not familiar with the Bible so I wasn't able to fully appreciate all of the references to the work, but I could figure out some relevant pieces. 

I've read some reviews and some people felt that none of the characters were sympathetic. I disagree. Every  character had its moments, and more importantly, its own purpose. My favourite was Adah, and Orleanna. The prose used for these characters was beautiful and effective. Even when Orleanna went a little heavy on the foreshadowing and Adah's backwardssdrawkcab words threw me.

My mom recommended this book to me some time ago, and I recommend it to anyone who:

-likes family sagas

-knows/would like to know a bit about colonialism/missionary work in Africa

-questions organized religion

-appreciates a good redemption motif

-appreciates well-executed speech patterns (really, every character had her own voice. it was excellent!)

-wants to sink into a novel