Barbara's Reviews > Demon Copperhead

5+
I am far from the first one to be blown away by this phenomenal book. How can one novel be heart-breaking, beautiful, amazing, poignant, and funny? Barbara Kingsolver lives in these mountains she writes about, this area of southern Appalachia that is a place of immense beauty but which is known more for its poverty, unemployment, and addiction. The Appalachian people, people who are often ridiculed for their rural ways and particular speech.“All down the years, words have been flung like pieces of shit, only to get stuck on a truck bumper with up-yours pride. Rednecks, moonshiners, ridgerunners, hicks, deplorables.”Kingsolver writes from the heart with love and understanding. She has written many fine books but, in my opinion, this is her best since The Poisonwood Bible.

Rather than retell the story (No! No! Please don’t!), I will share some of my favorite quotes. Please realize these are just a sampling of the many I might have included.

“The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end up with nothing, and lose so much.”

“I wanted to go home, which was nowhere, but it’s a feeling you keep having, even after that’s no place anymore.”

“I’d live long enough to know shit doesn’t bounce off.”

“Certain pitiful souls around here see whiteness as their last asset that hasn’t been totaled or repossessed.”

“A junkie catches his flight. That sugar on your brain cells sucks away any other purpose. The human person you were gets yanked out through whatever hole the devil can find.”

“I thought about what Rose said, wanting to see the rest of us hurt, because she was hurting. You have to wonder how much of this whole world’s turning is fueled by that very fire.”

“That’s the deal of sober life: celebrate the fresh start, suck up your sadness for all that was left behind”.

I hope those who haven’t read this masterpiece will love it too.