Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Harper-collins Publishers (2002), Edition: First Edition, Paperback
Description
Twenty-two optimistic essays cover such topics as nature, family, literature, and the joys of everyday life while examining the challenges of war, poverty, and violence.
User reviews
LibraryThing member mrstreme
Small Wonder is the second collection of essays I have read by Barbara Kingsolver. Like her first collection, High Tide in Tucson, this collection is heartfelt and thought provoking. Written in response to September 11, Kingsolver expresses her sorrow through her writing, covering a variety of
I learned so much about our country in this book. My first reaction, as Kingsolver criticized how wasteful Americans can be, how inappropriate war can be and how our planet and its resources are dwindling, was anger toward the writer. I considered her un-American, a non-patriot, and a loud liberal complainer who should move to another country if she thinks it’s so terrible here.
But as she continued to write, to tell – I saw a writer just wanting to make a better place for herself and her family. I began to soften and become more objective.
In her last chapter, she made a point that will resonate with me for a long time. By protesting, by objecting, by making people aware – she is being very American. Isn’t that how this country was founded? What if Susan B. Anthony didn’t protest for women’s suffrage? Or Martin Luther King didn’t stand up for civil rights? The best changes are country has ever made were moved by people who wanted to make a difference. Kingsolver and those like her can make a difference- if people like you and me remain open-minded and listen to what they have to say.
I listened, and I am ready to take some steps to help make our country and Earth better for my fellow Americans (and especially my children):
1) Recycling – I am so ashamed that all of my aluminum cans, plastic bags and newspapers go into the trash. No more!
2) Purchasing fruits and vegetables from local farmers – By buying from a local farmers’ market, I won’t be supporting an industry that transports fruits and vegetables from all parts of the world – a way to help curb gasoline waste. My local farmers only have to come a few miles, and I bet the food will taste better.
3) Paying attention to the upcoming 2008 election – I have not been a conscientious voter. I really don’t research the candidates like I should. I will do a better job picking my candidates in the upcoming elections.
Inspired, yes. Motivated, absolutely. I am proud to be an American and a citizen on this planet. If you want to learn some ideas on how to make your little section of the world better, I highly recommend Small Wonder. Be ready to be moved.
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subjects including parenting, world peace, agriculture, nature, social protest and homelessness. While reading Small Wonder, I was maddened, saddened and moved all at once – an exhilarating ride that left me near breathless when I was done.I learned so much about our country in this book. My first reaction, as Kingsolver criticized how wasteful Americans can be, how inappropriate war can be and how our planet and its resources are dwindling, was anger toward the writer. I considered her un-American, a non-patriot, and a loud liberal complainer who should move to another country if she thinks it’s so terrible here.
But as she continued to write, to tell – I saw a writer just wanting to make a better place for herself and her family. I began to soften and become more objective.
In her last chapter, she made a point that will resonate with me for a long time. By protesting, by objecting, by making people aware – she is being very American. Isn’t that how this country was founded? What if Susan B. Anthony didn’t protest for women’s suffrage? Or Martin Luther King didn’t stand up for civil rights? The best changes are country has ever made were moved by people who wanted to make a difference. Kingsolver and those like her can make a difference- if people like you and me remain open-minded and listen to what they have to say.
I listened, and I am ready to take some steps to help make our country and Earth better for my fellow Americans (and especially my children):
1) Recycling – I am so ashamed that all of my aluminum cans, plastic bags and newspapers go into the trash. No more!
2) Purchasing fruits and vegetables from local farmers – By buying from a local farmers’ market, I won’t be supporting an industry that transports fruits and vegetables from all parts of the world – a way to help curb gasoline waste. My local farmers only have to come a few miles, and I bet the food will taste better.
3) Paying attention to the upcoming 2008 election – I have not been a conscientious voter. I really don’t research the candidates like I should. I will do a better job picking my candidates in the upcoming elections.
Inspired, yes. Motivated, absolutely. I am proud to be an American and a citizen on this planet. If you want to learn some ideas on how to make your little section of the world better, I highly recommend Small Wonder. Be ready to be moved.
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LibraryThing member katiekrug
I am struggling with how to rate this book. I loved parts of it, and some of the writing, but then I'd read something that made me roll my eyes and grit my teeth. As Kingsolver says, "This is a collection of essays about who we seem to be, what remains for us to live for, and what I believe we
Kingsolver channels some Annie Dillard in writing about the landscape and nature near her two homes (she doesn't match Dillard's skill, though). She also channels a vein of smugness and self-righteousness that I find distasteful. It's easy to bemoan the state of something and not propose a solution beyond, "Well, if politicians had to take care of babies, they wouldn't go to war" (see page 252). I loathe that kind of non-sensical triteness.
But then, at times, she spoke to me so clearly and articulated so well, thoughts that I have. About reading and books. About family. About what makes up a good life. In the first essay, she writes, "However much I've lost, what remains to me is that I can still speak to name the things I love." And in the last, "Maybe life doesn't get any better than this, or any worse, and what we get is just what we're willing to find: small wonders, where they grow."
A final note: the essay "And Our Flag Was Still There" is an excellent rumination on the meaning of flags, national pride, the co-opting of symbols to specific (often hateful) rhetoric, etc. I found it particularly worthwhile reading given the current state of political discourse in the US. As Kingsolver says, "We're a much nobler country than our narrowest minds and loudest mouths suggest. I believe it is my patriotic duty to recapture my flag from the men who wave it in the name of jingoism and censorship." Amen. And I think I just decided to up my rating.
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could make of ourselves." So there's a lot in these 260+ pages.Kingsolver channels some Annie Dillard in writing about the landscape and nature near her two homes (she doesn't match Dillard's skill, though). She also channels a vein of smugness and self-righteousness that I find distasteful. It's easy to bemoan the state of something and not propose a solution beyond, "Well, if politicians had to take care of babies, they wouldn't go to war" (see page 252). I loathe that kind of non-sensical triteness.
But then, at times, she spoke to me so clearly and articulated so well, thoughts that I have. About reading and books. About family. About what makes up a good life. In the first essay, she writes, "However much I've lost, what remains to me is that I can still speak to name the things I love." And in the last, "Maybe life doesn't get any better than this, or any worse, and what we get is just what we're willing to find: small wonders, where they grow."
A final note: the essay "And Our Flag Was Still There" is an excellent rumination on the meaning of flags, national pride, the co-opting of symbols to specific (often hateful) rhetoric, etc. I found it particularly worthwhile reading given the current state of political discourse in the US. As Kingsolver says, "We're a much nobler country than our narrowest minds and loudest mouths suggest. I believe it is my patriotic duty to recapture my flag from the men who wave it in the name of jingoism and censorship." Amen. And I think I just decided to up my rating.
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LibraryThing member snorkstress
Although 'nuff has been said by other reviewers on the subject of Kingsolver's hypocrisy -- I'd like to point out a couple more quaint symptoms. Kingsolver appears to passionately believe that if America is hated by somebody, then it's time for America to examine its soul and change its behavior
Another reason why this book doesn't deserve more than an E for Effort is that Kingsolver makes an awful lot of lofty claims on environmental subjects because she's "a trained biologist," having majored in biology in college. Her take on genetically engineered crops actually sounds interesting and convincing until one looks at the credits in the book and sees that that particular essay was based almost entirely on somebody else's essay in Harper's magazine -- no more a scientific journal than, say, The New Yorker. And when you decide to learn more about the subject (anathema to breathy eloquence like Kingsolver's)and check junkscience.com, you find out that one guy who swears by genetic engineering in his crops is that ol' farmer, Jimmy Carter. Not exactly a man you'd call a blinded-by-his-greed-and-hatred-of-the-environment conservative. Considering she never actually practiced as a biologist except in her vegetable garden, I'd just like to know what Kingsolver's GPA in college was.
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until it finally pleases the haters. In the next breath, she complains about the hate mail she gets and assures us -- and herself -- that it must be sent by people who haven't read her (only *about* her) and don't know her, because, well, if they got to know her, they just couldn't help loving her. People who hate America have a point, people who hate her are ignorant redneck psychos. Hmm...Another reason why this book doesn't deserve more than an E for Effort is that Kingsolver makes an awful lot of lofty claims on environmental subjects because she's "a trained biologist," having majored in biology in college. Her take on genetically engineered crops actually sounds interesting and convincing until one looks at the credits in the book and sees that that particular essay was based almost entirely on somebody else's essay in Harper's magazine -- no more a scientific journal than, say, The New Yorker. And when you decide to learn more about the subject (anathema to breathy eloquence like Kingsolver's)and check junkscience.com, you find out that one guy who swears by genetic engineering in his crops is that ol' farmer, Jimmy Carter. Not exactly a man you'd call a blinded-by-his-greed-and-hatred-of-the-environment conservative. Considering she never actually practiced as a biologist except in her vegetable garden, I'd just like to know what Kingsolver's GPA in college was.
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LibraryThing member auntieknickers
I'm moving this to the Didn't Finish shelf although I probably will pick it up again. The essays were a bit too similar to read all at once -- a common failing of books collected from essays published in magazines and newspapers.
LibraryThing member wordygirl39
Loved it, like I do most of her work. She's one of the few writers around whose non-fiction equals her fiction.
LibraryThing member b00ksonthebeach
I don't read a whole lot of nonfiction, but Barbara Kingsolver's essays are the exception to my rule. I LOVE them. They make me want to stand up and yell "Hallelujah, you tell 'em, Sister!" She says exactly what I think but could never express in such beautiful language.
LibraryThing member HoladayB
Everyone alive today in 2009 should have this book as a MUST READ. Kingsolver so beautifully encapsulates the conditions going on in our world and our environment with what it means to be human: writer, friend, daughter, mother. But most importantly, she has tremendous facts in hand with the
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reality of what is happening (and has happened) in our environment, with global warming. As well as incorporating 9/11 and her own personal story. I alternately laugh and cry with this book - kudos to Kingsolver. Show Less
LibraryThing member debnance
Barbara Kingsolver, novelist and naturalist, writes in Small Wonder her thoughts on the raising chickens, motherhood, television, and war. She is at her best when she writes about what she knows, birds and crabs, daughters and deserts.
LibraryThing member alic
some excellent, personal writing in it, but also a hell of a lot of preaching
LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
In this book of essays, Kingsolver expresses so eloquently my feelings on such topics as parenthood, stages of being a female, corporate swallowing of small businesses, war, the evils of TV, responsibility for homelessness, sex in literature, and poetry in school. Her non-fiction touches me much
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more than the previous novels of hers I’ve read. Although a bit naive and too liberal on the topics of homelessness and war, her way with words simply amazes me. This is the book that finally shows me what writing talent the author has. I think it surprising that, “dafka” in the last essay, she stated not to call her naive! I guess she knows the audience she is addressing. Interestingly enough, that particular essay was the only one of those she chose for this book that I didn’t care for all that much. Show Less
LibraryThing member CloggieDownunder
Small Wonder, Barbara Kingsolver’s second book of essays, was written after the events of 9/11, and touches on subjects as diverse as Terrorism, why the world doesn’t like America, Genetic Modification, Teenagers, Mothers, and Self-Sustainability. While I may not have agreed with every single
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word of the essays, on the whole, I found Kingsolver’s to be the Voice of Reason. As with her previous book of essays, High Tide in Tucson, there were some aspects that avid readers of Kingsolver’s novels would have found reflected there. The essays are interesting and thought-provoking. The essay on Genetic Modification is particularly succinct. I would recommend this book, not just to Kingsolver fans, but to anyone who wants to read a reasonable point of view. Show Less
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
A collection of essays assembled after 9/11/2001, where Barbara Kingsolver writes about her feelings and reactions, along with essays written earlier about her children and her own past experiences.
LibraryThing member LibroLindsay
This book was a little darker than her other collection of essays, High Tide in Tucson, but if you need to get motivated to save the planet, this is a great kick start. It also serves as a nice preface to her most recent publication, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
3.5***
This is a series of essays Kingsolver wrote in the year following the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. It started when “someone from a newspaper asked me to write a response to the terrorist attacks.” As she wrote – and wrote, and wrote – she found that writing at times
Kingsolver can come across as preachy, but she also writes elegant passages about the restorative power of connecting with nature. I am reminded of long walks in the woods, or taking my lunch break in the park, ostensibly to read, but more often just staring out at the scenery, absorbing all that green and fresh air.
There’s plenty of horrible in the world still, but reading this book of essays reminds me of those things will can help relieve the terror, fear, anguish, and find joy and hope again. Recently, I’ve spent quite some time sitting by the guest-room window which has a perfect view into a robin’s nest in my backyard. As I write, her eggs are about 10–12 days old, and any moment they may hatch. It’s a marvel of life and I cannot stop watching it unfold.
I read this as a book, and it’s due back at the library now, but I think this is a collection that would be good to have handy to read a chapter or two every once in a while
This is a series of essays Kingsolver wrote in the year following the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. It started when “someone from a newspaper asked me to write a response to the terrorist attacks.” As she wrote – and wrote, and wrote – she found that writing at times
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“seemed to be all that kept me from falling apart in the face of so much death and anguish.” What we have here are the ways Kingsolver found to refresh her soul, to think about the joys in life, the small wonders, the possibly solutions to seemingly intractable problems, and the activities that renewed her sense of peace and purpose and hope. Kingsolver can come across as preachy, but she also writes elegant passages about the restorative power of connecting with nature. I am reminded of long walks in the woods, or taking my lunch break in the park, ostensibly to read, but more often just staring out at the scenery, absorbing all that green and fresh air.
There’s plenty of horrible in the world still, but reading this book of essays reminds me of those things will can help relieve the terror, fear, anguish, and find joy and hope again. Recently, I’ve spent quite some time sitting by the guest-room window which has a perfect view into a robin’s nest in my backyard. As I write, her eggs are about 10–12 days old, and any moment they may hatch. It’s a marvel of life and I cannot stop watching it unfold.
I read this as a book, and it’s due back at the library now, but I think this is a collection that would be good to have handy to read a chapter or two every once in a while
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LibraryThing member BooksCatsEtc
A collection of essays that read, many times, like secular sermons. I enjoyed the book.
LibraryThing member eduscapes
As I read about her feelings regarding Sept 11, the environment, and a wide range of other topics, it occurred to me that this is the type of stuff I would write if I had a flare for writing short essays.
LibraryThing member Castlelass
Collection of twenty-three essays, published in 2002 and written in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy. Topics include nature, ecology, power, family life, love, society, and politics. Kingsolver is a keen observer of the world, and she writes beautifully detailed anecdotes that are incorporated into
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broader messages. Many of her points are still pertinent, such as environmental responsibility, sustainable agriculture, and building understanding across cultures. She speaks of her sadness at the decline of the independent bookstores and conveys her experiences as a writer. A few of these essays feel a bit dated, which is not surprising since I am reading this in 2022, looking back twenty years, but the distance also provides perspective. She elegantly portrays her attempts to overcome grief and recapture her optimism for the future, finding solace in the small wonders of everyday life. Show Less
Awards
Nautilus Book Award (Grand Prize — Overall — 2003)
Language
Original publication date
2002
Physical description
8.3 inches
ISBN
0965447685 / 9780965447683
Local notes
essay