Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Demon Copperhead (Bookshop|Amazon) is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield (Bookshop|Amazon). Set in Appalachia, it won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. When Martha interviewed Kingsolver at her rustic family farmhouse in Virginia for a newspaper story years ago, Kingsolver was adamant that Appalachians were among the last groups in America it was still acceptable to make fun of. Longtime listeners of this show will recognize many features of the rich Appalachian dialect, including the “punctual” whenever. Actor Charlie Thurston does a splendid job narrating the audio version of Demon Copperhead. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead””
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
Many years ago, I spent some one-on-one time with the writer Barbara Kingsolver. She rarely did interviews, but she wanted to publicize a reading that she had coming up. It was an event to benefit the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, which is a grassroots organization that was advocating on behalf of the LGBTQ community in Kentucky.
And so she agreed to let me profile her for the state’s largest newspaper. So I spent a day with Barbara Kingsolver on her family farm in the beautiful Blue Ridge Highlands of southwestern Virginia. There were mountains and rolling hills and lush woods, and her family lived in a very rustic farmhouse.
And over lunch there, we talked about her most recent book at the time, The Poisonwood Bible, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. And I remember her speaking with such a sense of wonder about what she called this monstrous stroke of luck that she’d had as a writer, and how important it was to her to use this megaphone that she’d been handed.
And the other thing that struck me from that day was her adamant belief that Kentuckians were among the last groups in America that it was still okay to make fun of. Whether it was jokes in everyday conversation or in the mainstream media, people were still getting away with mocking folks from Appalachia for their appearance, for their intellect, and certainly for their dialect.
And I kept going back to that conversation last week while reading her brilliant new novel, Demon Copperhead.
It’s a modern retelling of the Charles Dickens novel, David Copperfield, lifted out of England and set down in Appalachia. And like Dickens, King Solver is dedicated to being a voice for people whose voices keep getting drowned out.
And the plot of her book follows a similar trajectory. A lot of the characters’ names are similar, but I want to emphasize you absolutely do not have to have read David Copperfield in order to appreciate this book.
Demon Copperhead stands on its own. And one of the great pleasures of this book is that King Solver has such an ear for the way people in that part of the country speak. And if you’re a long time listener of this show, you’re going to recognize a lot of features in Appalachian dialect that we’ve talked about over the years.
For example, people use the word whenever to refer to a single event, like you might say, whenever my dog died. Within that dialect, the word whenever there makes perfect sense.
Demon Copperhead is this magnificent, absorbing novel. It’s all about connection and loneliness and addiction and hardship and perseverance and finding a way to go on it. Granted, it’s one heck of a great read.
And for a real treat, listen to the audio version. It’s voiced by Charlie Thurston, and he does a terrific job of rendering these characters. They just become unforgettable.
That book is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and Martha, I’m sold. And I’m delighted to say that Demon Copperhead just won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
We’ll put a link to it on our website, and we’d also love to hear about what you’re reading, what passages really grabbed you lately. Call us 877-929-9673, or send it to us an email. The address is words@waywordradio.org.
