Breatheless

Spoiler Alert!

 Have the words of a book ever sat atop your chest, making it hard to breathe? The following quote probably has more impact in context. So here goes....

 The women of this reluctant missionary family, living in the Belgian Congo, are disillusioned and desperate. The father is rigid, pious and blinded by his own scars. The girls go outside their hut in the early morning to help a fearful friend. The youngest, Ruth Mae, is bitten by a poisonous snake. Starting the next chapter, the mother, Orleana, has realized she has lost her baby and we walk with her in grief. This part of the book is some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read. The words sit inside me, with a life of their own, touching my own grief and reminding me just how human it is.

“As long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer's long hair in water. I knew the weight was there but it didn't touch me. Only when I stopped did the slick, dark stuff of it come floating around my face, catching my arms and throat till I began to drown. So I just didn't stop.”


― Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

This entire chapter is gorgeous. I  know this is an old book but I am so glad I got round to it.

Comments

  1. Margaret (Peggy or Peg too)January 18, 2019 at 3:57 AM

    This does not put me in a good light but I will admit...
    I was given this book years ago and it still sits on my shelf. I have read the same chapters over and over again, always falling asleep. I never get far. Perhaps now as an old bird I may enjoy it more. Dust it off and try again. But I am most glad this spoke to you. It is truly wonderful when that happens.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Debra She Who SeeksJanuary 18, 2019 at 4:23 AM

    I've never read any of Barbara Kingsolver's books, but now I want to!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marie SmithJanuary 18, 2019 at 8:56 AM

    It is beautiful! I want to read it now too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My life so farJanuary 19, 2019 at 5:31 AM

    I didn't like this book, even though I have loved so many of her books. But that passage you published is exactly how I felt after Miss Katie was diagnosed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LollyJanuary 19, 2019 at 7:56 AM

    I love Barbara Kingsolver's writing. This particular book kept me very tense while reading it and then haunted me for a while after I finished it. All those children chanting Mudda May I...it made me cry.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adie DasJanuary 20, 2019 at 9:56 AM

    Hauntingly accurate description of grief. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. JeanieJanuary 21, 2019 at 11:18 AM

    She's a wonderful writer and that's a spot-on description of grief.

    ReplyDelete

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