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Small
Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver Recommendation: ••• |
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Click on title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
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What We Can Do Barbara Kingsolver said she began what
turned into her new essay collection, Small
Wonder, on September 12, 2001. A newspaper asked for her reflections on
the events of September 11. One thing led to another, and twenty three essays
were written or assembled into this 250-page book. It may be the response of writers
and other artists who begin to help many of us absorb what took place on that
day. Here’s an excerpt from the essay, Lily’s
Chickens, about her five year old daughter’s care for chickens and the impact
of that on the family: “I approach our
efforts at simplicity as a novice approaches her order, aspiring to a lifetime
of deepening understanding, discipline, serenity, and joy. Likening voluntary
simplicity to a religion is neither hyperbole nor sacrilege. Some people look
around and declare the root of evil to be sex or blasphemy, and so they
aspire to be pious and chaste. Where I look for evil, I’m more likely to see
degradations of human and natural life, an immoral gap between rich and poor,
a ravaged earth. At the root of these I see greed and overconsumption by the
powerful minority. I was born to that caste, but I can aspire to waste not
and want less. Kingsolver goes on to describe a variety
of ways in which Americans can continue to eat well, but consume fewer
resources in the process. Her light tough keeps her from wagging a finger or
becoming a scold. Any guilt a reader assumes comes from reflection and
insight, not from Kingsolver throwing stones. Some essays are better written
than others. She’s at her most passionate when rooted in biology and natural
history. My favorite essay was “A Fist in the Eye of God” which addressed the
consequences of genetically altered products. Here’s the context for that
title: “Recently I heard
Joan Dye Gussow, who studies and writes about the energetics, economics, and
irrationalities of global food production, discussing some of these problems
in a radio interview. She mentioned the alarming fact that pollen from genetically
engineered corn is so rapidly contaminating all other corn that we may soon
have no naturally bred corn left in the United States. ‘This is a fist in the
eye of God,’ she said, adding with a sad laugh, ‘and I’m not even all that
religious.’ Whatever you believe in – whether God for you is the watchmaker
who put together the intricate workings of this world in seven days or seven
hundred billion days – you’d be wise to believe the part about the fist.” Some of Kingsolver’s comments about
patriotism and the flag were edited, taken out of context, and
mis-interpreted, causing something of a brouhaha over the past year. Reading
the entire essay shows her patriotism and her insight into the kind of
community we want to build as citizens in a democracy. In response to 9/11,
here’s one final quote: “What I can find is this, and so it has to be:
conquering my own despair by doing what I can. Stealing thunder, tucking it
in my pocket to save for the long draught. Dreaming in the color green,
tasting the end of anger.” Whether you share Kingsolver’s approach to life or
not, you’re likely to find some benefit in reading the essays in Small
Wonder. Steve Hopkins, May 8, 2002 |
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ã 2002 Hopkins and Company, LLC The
recommendation rating for this book appeared in the June 2002
issue of Executive
Times Hopkins
& Company, LLC • 723 North Kenilworth Avenue • Oak Park, IL 60302 E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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