In her novel A Thousand Acres, author Jane Smiley
weaves together a story about an older man named Larry who gives away his Iowa farmland to his three daughters, and how the
consequences are what none of them expected. Based off Shakespeare’s King Lear, it holds true to many aspects
of the play while still incorporating its own flavor in the writing style.
A
Thousand Acres is narrated by
Ginny, one of Larry’s daughters. This perspective provides an interesting twist
because in Lear, the king’s daughters
are the villains. Even though Ginny as a narrator is somewhat unreliable, her
voice is enticing and fluid, pulling the reader in even when she discusses her
father’s farm tools.
Smiley
morphs the original Lear into a more malicious Larry – from eccentric but
harmless to fickle and incomprehensible. Larry is portrayed as one of those
characters you love to hate, and I was definitely feeling this by the end of
the novel.
I
also liked the way Smiley made the setting modern and believable. Basing an
entire novel off a very well known play is not an easy task, and many who have
tried this have failed miserably. This is not the case with Smiley. A small
town in Iowa is the perfect place for the drama to unfold
because in Lear, the reader never
really hears about the kingdom anyway. Making younger sister Caroline a lawyer
only increases her strength as Larry’s defender.
The
way Smiley made me sympathize for Ginny even when I knew she was making the
wrong decision, or leaving something out in her narration was good writing on
Smiley’s a part. I wouldn’t have read the book had I not related to the
narrator or main character is some way.
The
only aspect I didn’t really like about A Thousand Acres was the dryness.
While its style is rich and informative, it took a while to get into the story.
Farm explanations would have been better had they not been so in depth, and it
got somewhat tedious reading paragraph after paragraph about hog farming. All
in all, though, I would give this book an 8 out of 10. It was an entertaining
and well written story, just not one of my favorite books ever.
3 comments:
Lizzy, I like how you used parts of the review format we learned in class... with the addition of the comparison of A Thousand Acres' source material King Lear and the major differences between the two. Overall it was a very well written review.
~Sergio A.
I think a good review needs a unique voice of the author... and yours really captured your voice. "...and I was definitely feeling this by the end of the novel" is exactly you and I think this adds so much to how much your review reflected what you really thought. :)
Lizzy,
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on A Thousand Acres. You brought up a great point about Ginny as an unreliable narrator. I love your descriptors like "enticing and fluid" or "malicious Larry" or "eccentric but harmless". Great writing! Thanks for sharing your review.
- Mrs. Jaffe
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