Fourth Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver. HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.
Genre: Nonfiction

This was a very interesting book to read. It was somewhat confusing at certain points, but always resolved and left me satisfied with the result. The book tells the story of Taylor Greer, a woman who, a few years back, was handed a child at a bar by a woman of the Cherokee Nation. Since then, she has raised her as her own, turning into a wonderful mother. Her daughter’s name is Turtle. When Taylor and Turtle are vacationing in the Grand Canyon, the visit the Hoover Dam, where they are the only ones to witness a man falling over the edge. They call for help, and thanks to them, a rescue team saves his life. They become famous, and are asked to appear on Oprah. When they do, a woman named Annawake Fourkiller recognizes Turtle as a Cherokee Nation child. Taylor tells Oprah about how she came to have custody of Turtle, and Annawake is furious, because according to a law enacted in 1978, Cherokee children cannot be adopted with the consent of the entire Cherokee Nation. Annawake confronts the two, saying that Turtle can no longer be with Taylor. She leaves for a short while, and when she returns, Taylor and Turtle have fled. The entire stories tells of their adventures, of love and understanding, of commitment and regret, as they flee from this woman who, we come to find out, is not the antagonist, but merely a woman who herself is fighting against antagonizing circumstances. Taylor and Turtle travel across many states, joined by Alice, Taylor’s mother, who is sick of her neglectful husband and is seeking a new life. Eventually, they go home and take the case to court so that Taylor can gain full custody of her adopted daughter. I won’t give away the ending, but it was very good, and it involves Turtle’s biological grandfather, who lost his beloved granddaughter years ago.

“Possessed by an extravagantly gifted narrative voice, Kingsolver blends a fierce and abiding moral vision with benevolent, concise humor. Her medicine is meant for the head, the heart, and the soul.”
—New York Times Book Review

What I liked about this book that I’ve never read in another book was that fact that it was told in the present tense. I don’t know why, but for some reason that intrigued me. I felt as if the story was happening as I was reading it, which was a really cool effect that enhanced the featured of the book and made me want to keep reading. I think more authors should write in this tense.

“Even on the nights when he turns over and holds her, Harland has no words for Alice—nothing to contradict all the years she lay alone, feeling the cold seep through her like cave air, turning her breasts to limestone from the inside out. This marriage has failed to warm her.” (1).

There is a lot of trouble in my life surrounded by adoptions and not knowing who your real parents are. It can often hurt and create confusion and uncertainty in your life, which is why I was so interested in reading this book. It told all about a girl who tried her whole life to avoid getting pregnant, and then in an instant is handed a child that is not hers and is forced to care for it, which she did whole-heartedly. I can’t exactly relate to this situation in particular, but of the general concept I am well aware.

Pigs in Heaven – ORB Project – Character Astrology Signs

Taylor Greer:
I decided that Taylor was a Pisces, and this is for many reasons, the first of which being is that Pisces, the symbol of which is the fish, is quite famous for being strong when forced to battle confusing situations. They are very talented but often this talent is challenged by the hardships they face. However, they can also be very adaptable, and all of these traits I felt really applied to Taylor because she spent her whole life avoiding getting pregnant at all costs, and then in an instant a child is handed to her and she can do nothing but care for it. Were she not so adaptable to difficult and uncontrollable situations, she would not have become the amazing mother that she turned out to be, one who Turtle, the Native American daughter whom was forced upon her, didn’t want to live without, and loved unconditionally.
Another prominent characteristic of Pisceans is that they can never be beaten up, even though they often beat themselves up, which I also felt was really similar to the kind of person that Taylor is because by the middle and to the end of the book, she begins to question her accomplishments as a mother, wondering is she’s done right with Turtle, and even going so far as to question her physical appearance, which was something she’d never done in the past. She is incredibly strong, but, to confirm the description of a Piscean, can often be vulnerable.

Annawake Fourkiller:
Annawake is similar to Taylor in many ways, the main one being that they are both very independent young women who will never need a partner in their lives (although they might want one, like Taylor). They are both very determined people who are willing to stay up for what they believe in. Despite these many similarities, I chose the Zodiac sign Aries for Annawake. Aries people are very outgoing and assertive, and Annawake certainly wasn’t afraid to find Taylor and confront her about the child that she doesn’t think rightfully belongs to her. She is very defensive about her Cherokee heritage. Being a Native American is everything to her. She goes to great lengths to preserve the dignity of her Indian community.
One huge thing about Aires people is that they tend to act on impulse, not stopping to think about their actions and the consequences that might result from them until they are already done. This seemed like a very fitting description of Annawake because she confronts Taylor at her own home, trying to uphold the rights of the Cherokee Nation, but she never really stopped to think that Taylor and Turtle might have a really special bond that shouldn’t have been broken. Although, had she not started this whole thing, the ending result of Turtle’s grandfather being allowed some custody of her would never have occurred, and for that Annawake should really be thanked for her efforts. It was for the best that Turtle know her real family, and the fact that she gets to be with them and the mother that raised her, Taylor, made the ending of the novel all the better.


Alice Greer:
It took me about five seconds (maybe less) to decide that Alice Greer was a Scorpio. The Scorpios are the toughest of all the astrological signs, and Alice Greer certainly is a very tough woman. In her decision to leave her husband and family and all that she knows where she lives and take a chance on something that she’s never known, she showed great bravery and guts. She wanted to experience the world from a different point of a view than on a couch watching a TV (a view that her neglectful husband favored). She joins her daughter and granddaughter on the adventure that they are having, and along the way is introduced to the amazing world of the Cherokee Nation. After meeting Cash and falling in love with him, she knows for sure that it is where she was meant to be. Scorpios are described as mysterious, with deep wells of emotion inside them that they often work hard to conceal, and I thought this description fit Alice well, especially in the first chapter. She reflects on how neglectful her husband is, and on how she feels lonely all the time. She imagines herself the queen of her own garden. It’s obvious that she is very complex person inwardly, though outwardly her emotions may be less apparent. By the end of the book, when she marries Cash, she is the bridge between Taylor and the Cherokee Nation, a great circumstance because at times Turtle will be in the custody of her grandfather, but with her grandmother as his wife, Taylor will be able to visit as well. Alice is a true born Scorpio.

All Unseen

In the crowded halls that we walk at our school...
There are hundreds of kids...
All rushing to get from one place to another...
All of them feeling invisible...
Each one thinks that they are going unnoticed...
Among the people around him...
But the truth is that everyone feels that way...
So that everyone in a crowd is there...
But no one is ever seen...