by Nancy for Sue,
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A Thousand Acres is a Pulitzer winning re-imagination of King Lear, set on an Iowa farm during the 1970s.
This is our last story chosen by Sue and the reviews for it sound like we are in for a treat.
Here are a couple of questions to think about while we read.
Having Ginny narrate gives us a very limited perspective on the other characters' motives - does she or her readers ever understand the whys behind others' actions?
What are the differences between appearance and reality, and how does that come out in the book?
Was the outcome of the novel fated or could it have been prevented? What caused the ultimate downfall of the farm?
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteWe are getting to the end of our book selections, I was wondering how you're feeling on continuing with our blog?
I have a number of new selections, but I'll be guided by you and how you feel. I have a few friends I could ask if they would like to join us, I don't know if they'd be keen.
What do you think?
regards Nancy
Hi Nancy!
ReplyDeleteI have deeply loved our book club over the past nearly 10years. I feel that you and I may be cut from similar literary clothe regarding our book choices. I feel that most of Sue's choices pushed me out of my book comfort zone. (It was probably the English teacher in her! haha!) I am still open to continuing our book club. I don't know how well a book club thrives with only two members though. How do you feel we are doing? Do you think we need more members or are we good just us? I am uncertain if any of my friends would be able to join us, but I could ask if they'd be interested.
If you would like to continue our club, with or without additional members, I will start thinking of some more titles to add to our list.
Much love,
Katie
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI hope all is well with you and the family this month, this uncertainty and upheaval in our lives seems to be never ending, I’m finding it all quite depressing.
I also love our little book club and feel very reluctant to end it. There are no rules here, so two friends chatting about books once a month sounds good to me for now. I have lots of new books on my Wishlist but have chosen just a couple.
The Huntress by Kate Quinn
The Darkest Shore by Karen Brooks
If you have read either of these I also like the look of
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Let me know what you think and any suggestions you have.
I really wanted to like this month’s story, but sadly I did not.
I cannot fault the writing, Ms Smiley is so eloquent and a master of finding the small details in situations and landscapes to paint a vivid picture.
Perhaps it was because I knew it was based on King Lear so I was already prepped for tragedy or maybe because the theme of farmers losing their land and Big Ag messing with our soils, crops and water is so disheartening. I’m not sure what it was, maybe simply it was too tragic in all ways for me in the present tumultuous times we are now living through.
I was thinking I would have liked some different voices in the narration to be able to get a better perspective of the main characters motivations. I enjoyed that in our novel Small Island the changing voices and the insights this provided into each character. I felt I slowly got to know Ginny as she discovered herself but the other character’s motivations were harder to understand.
A change in narrators may have lifted the melancholy a little also and provided some variance in tone.
I realise my question on whether the farm could have been saved was ridiculous, based on King Lear as the story was it was always all going to end in disaster.
So I have made one discovery about myself, I do not like to know the ending of stories before I’ve read them haha .
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Love Nancy
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDelete“Two friends chatting about books” sounds absolutely lovely to me. Franklin is not much into reading fiction and most of my girlfriends are raising much smaller babies or working on their master’s degrees. So the list of people I can chat about books with is rather short right now. The kids are doing well. Benjamin has started fall soccer and loves it. Lillian has been going to preschool five days a week and seems to be enjoying it. I have noticed a blossoming in her creativity since she is interacting with children outside of her usual group. All this Covid nonsense is still making work a rather stressful place but we’re doing the best we can.
Your book choices are fine with me. And I would like to add
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Also if you are interested I have had this book unread on my shelf for quite some time.
I know this much is true by Wally Lamb. My copy however is nearly 900pages long. Maybe we would like to span it over two months and do a half way through for the first month and finale for the second month?
As for this month’s book, I didn’t like or dislike it. I would probably not recommend it to anyone if they asked. I know that I disliked Jesse Clark the moment he entered the story. I knew he was trouble and would wreck a lot of relationships as soon as he was introduced to the story.
It has been quite a while since I studied King Lear and maybe I am taking things too much at face value, but I didn’t really see too much similarity between Lear and A Thousand Acres. If I remember correctly the biggest point of Lear was that falling for fake people will bring about your downfall. Lear listened to his lying daughters over his honest one and lost everything in the end. Yes both men had three daughters and one became estranged. Yes both men lost everything. Yes the novel ended in tragedy but to me that’s where the similarities end. I suppose though that if Ms. Smiley had written A Thousand Acres more closely to Lear, it wouldn’t have been a very original novel.
I also don’t feel that Ginny was anything like Lear’s Goneril or that Caroline was anything like Cordelia. How do you feel about the sisters’ associations with the three daughters of Lear? Personally I would have probably have associated Ginny more with Cordelia. Rose at least admits to Ginny that she intended to harm her father in some way eventually and thereby makes her fitting to be one of Lear’s deceitful daughters. Ginny sacrificing her life to take care of her abusive father is mind blowing to me but also makes me feel that she would be Cordelia. I can’t even imagine living like a slave to such a horrid man.
I don’t think having the other characters narrate would have assisted in our feelings toward this novel. We have read many books with one narrator and enjoyed it. Also I don’t think I would have enjoyed reading from Jesse’s perspective. I guess I just found him to be such a deceptive, selfish character. Larry Cook was also a pretty repulsive character and I am uncertain we would have enjoyed hearing his thoughts. His narration may also have become quite detached by the end as it seemed he was losing himself.
I do look forward to the finale of our Maddadam trilogy. I am so terribly curious as to what happens.
-Katie
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about your impressions of our story and relating the story to King Lear. Indeed Ms Smiley’s version would have lacked originality had she stuck too closely with Shakespeare’s tale.
It feels like perhaps she has amalgamated the characters and assigned many different traits to different characters.
The basic premise of trusting fake people will bring about your demise seems highlighted by a few different characters of the characters. Jess Clarke definitely destroyed relationships. Harold also deceived and created havoc at the community dinner. Also Marv the banker and Ken La Salle the lawyer seemed to be offering shady advice all round.
I am excited for our new choices they sound really interesting.
Much love Nancy