Book Review: Small Wonder
- Author
- Barbara Kingsolver
- Grade
- A
You’ll feel like a better person just for having read it.
Barbara Kingsolver is the author of ten books. She earned a graduate degree in biology, the evidence of which is unmistakable in her writing. Kingsolver, her husband, and two daughters live in Tucson, Arizona, during the school year and on a farm in Southern Appalachia in the summer months.
This collection of twenty-three essays titled Small Wonder was begun on September 12, 2001. In the foreword, Kingsolver explains that she was asked by a newspaper to write a response to the attacks on our country on September 11, 2001. Over the period of a month, she wrote five responses that helped her to grieve. She then compiled some previously published essays and some new essays into a single text. The essays at the beginning and the end of the book most directly address current events. Throughout the book, there is a common theme of the problems we have created for ourselves and their potential solutions. Even in the sale of this book, Kingsolver attempts to “do the right thing” by giving portions of the royalties to Physicians for Social Responsibility, Environmental Defense, Habitat for Humanity, and Heifer International.
The title essay, “Small Wonder,” tells how a toddler becomes lost while his parents are away and is eventually found miles away safe in a cave, cuddled and nursed by a bear. Using this story as a basis, Kingsolver leads us to consider focusing on the little miracles in the world, particularly during times of suffering and pain. The second essay, titled “Saying Grace,” recounts Thanksgiving of 2001 for Kingsolver and her family. The family decides to stay in Arizona and visit the Grand Canyon instead of flying across the country to her mother’s home. Using her family’s journey as a background, Kingsolver points out our country’s wasteful and greedy manner, while eloquently reminding us of the need to be humble and gracious.
Many of the other essays in the book are not so directly about the events of September 2001. In “Lily’s Chickens,” Kingsolver details her family’s attempt to live more softly on the Earth by growing vegetables and raising chickens. The story of her daughter’s chickens and the subsequent attachment to the chickens is humorous and touching. Kingsolver even makes a point while laughing at herself in “Going to Japan.” Even after researching the culture, she makes numerous blunders on her trip to Japan. After one of these blunders, while she is apologizing profusely, a local tells her that the Japanese take great satisfaction in forgiving others and suggests that she has probably given many people great satisfaction on her trip. “What Good is a Story” tells of a year when Kingsolver was asked to read and choose from over one hundred short stories to be compiled in a collection. She finds that she must define a good story as one that teaches her something she didn’t know or somehow presents it in a way she hadn’t thought of. A good story, she decides, is “both a distraction and an anchor” in times of grief and suffering.
Small Wonder is a wonderful read for the lover of nature, arm-chair philosopher, protector of the Earth, and seeker of knowledge. Reading Barbara Kingsolver’s works leaves one feeling like a better person just for having read it. The collection of essays is persuasive and inspiring.
Copyright . Published 1 June 2007 in What’s New.
Reader comments
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I now have a new book to read! Thank you for the insights.
permalink — 1 June 2007, 09:55