Flight Behavior

By: Barbara Kingsolver

Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver

New York Times Bestseller

""An intricate story that entwines considerations of faith and faithlessness, inquiry, denial, fear and survival in gorgeously conceived metaphor. Kingsolver has constructed a deeply affecting microcosm of a phenomenon that is manifesting in many different tragic ways, in communities and ecosystems all around the globe.” — Seattle Times

A truly stunning and unforgettable work from the extraordinary New York Times bestselling author of The Lacuna (winner of the Orange Prize), The Poisonwood Bible (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize), and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths. Kingsolver's riveting story concerns a young wife and mother on a failing farm in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and how her discovery energizes various competing factions—religious leaders, climate scientists, environmentalists, politicians—trapping her in the center of the conflict and ultimately opening up her world. Flight Behavior represents contemporary American fiction at its finest.

Everything known about Monarch butterflies

If you could sum up Flight Behavior in three words, what would they be?

Unique, scientific, concerning

Would you be willing to try another book from Barbara Kingsolver? Why or why not?

I have read many books by Barbara Kingsolver and have thoroughly enjoyed most of them.
I liked the basic story of Flight Behavior, particularly the characters, but I did find it a bit preachy and that, in some sections, the scientific information was heavy-handed. I would have to really look at the next book before I decided to read it or not.

What does Barbara Kingsolver bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her intonation and expression helped me understand the characters better. Because she had created these characters, she was able to give them more life and passion when she read the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The conversation between Dellarobia and her mother-in-law Hester towards the end of the book, where Hester finally opens up to Dellarobia, was the most moving for me as it gave Hester real humanity and explained why she had always been stand-offish.

Any additional comments?

I liked the story in general but it was obvious that Kingsolver was on her soap-box about climate change. The ending was not very satisfying as it left the me hanging as to what happened to the Turnbow family and was rather apocalytic.

Chagrined to say that I was disappointed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The Poison Wood Bible is one of my most beloved books, so I came into this with very high expectations. I respect Ms. Kingsolver and her work but I didn't feel for these characters or their exploits. I kept hoping it would pick up but the narrative plotted along at an uneventful pace.
I was most disappointed in the performance. I so wish that in general authors would leave it to the professionals for narration. Although I found Ms. Kingsolver's voice distracting and irritating in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle it was forgivable considering it was mainly a memoir, but true fiction deserves to shine with the very specific skills of an actor.

Beautiful, multi-layered story: a must-read

I've been a Kingsolver fan since my friend's mom loaned me "Bean Trees in Heaven" when I was a teenager. I love her protagonists: normal people struggling through sometimes ordinary and sometimes extraordinary situations, but always relatable. It feels like I find new ways to think my own thoughts through her writing. Not to mention Kingsolver's beautiful prose.

Every time I read one of her new books, I'm afraid that it won't live up to my expectations--but it always does. "Flight Behavior" is no different. It's slow. This isn't your typical potboiler novel with a super suspenseful and highly theatrical conflict. Instead, you really come to know the protagonist. Through her, you can see both sides of the climate change debate. You can feel the tug of peer pressure and her family--the way that she becomes ostracized as she starts to explore education in a town that doesn't value it. The scientists are distinctly Other: monied and wearing specialized Patagonia jackets to hike through a terrain that she lives in every day with normal hand-darned clothes from Goodwill.

As much as I know that the book had a liberal leaning, I also felt like it was written to help us high-falutin' scientists empathize and see how we can do a better job connecting with people. There was a scene in which Dellarobia is talking to her mentor. She tells him that obviously people don't like what scientists have to say. "Yeah," you think. "That is a good point." The townspeople love the butterflies as a message from God but are very resistant to them as a harbinger of doom and global warming. Maybe there is a better way to reach the public. But after Ovid gives an impassioned interview, there's also the realization that being overly polite and concerned with how one appears can get emotionally taxing and take away from what really needs to be said.

If you like to think, this book is for you. Kingsolver does an amazing job of laying out a multi-faceted, multi-layered story that is about motherhood and family as much as it is about science. I am consistently awestruck by her ability to interweave so many resonant themes, with beautiful imagery and never too heavy-handed.

One of the best books I've read this year.

First let me say that I have not been a fan of Kingsolver's novels in the past, particularly Poisonwood Bible... But a good friend recommended this one as beautifully written and I have to agree. The story is fascinating in itself, but Kingsolver's writing in this one is exquisite and I found myself pulled into the story, the family, and the wonder of what was happening on the mountain with the Monarch butterflies. It's really well done, with science interwoven into the story, and I could not put it down. Threads of global warming, threads of existence in a small town, woven with curiosity and thirst for knowledge, and personal growth. Highly recommended.

Slow starter

Took a while to get fully hooked into the characters. I have like Ms Kingsolver's books so I knew to hang in there and it was worth it. I wish the story went a little longer into the Spring, some story lines were just amputated and bandaged.