She thinks more highly of snow and ice than she does of love. She lives in a world of numbers, science and memories--a dark, exotic stra...
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reviews
Mar 16, 2010
Paul
rated it: 
Miss Smilla and her cast of characters were so quirky that after 100 pages I found all this quirk over the front of my shirt, all over the dining table (well, I call it a dining table) and stuck between the keys on my keyboard. Had to get it out with a Swiss Army knife, once it had dried. Sent a sample off to the lab and the results came back "two parts David Lynch, three parts frankly unbelievable heroine, three parts uninvolving plot which moves at the speed of an exhausted glacier".
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Jan 06, 2011
Carolina
rated it: 
Smilla is, I think, my hands-down favourite fictional character. Which makes it easy for me to keep returning to this book. It's a translation from Danish (by Tiina Nunnally) and beautiful and technical and never sentimental, and it touches on issues I find particularly interesting such as European culture versus aboriginal culture (in this case Danish vs. Greenlandic) and the related issues of language and identity. Peter Hoeg has a mind that is both scientific and whimsical and I find that par
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Dec 16, 2009
Larissa
rated it:
It took me two months to finish this book and not until the last three weeks and 150 pages of that endeavor did I realize that it is actually quite terrible. It's been quite awhile since I've felt so cheated, nay--betrayed--by a novel. Because when you begin this book it is primarily concerned with the slow unfolding of character. You are tied to the titular Miss Smilla and her cynical absolutist world view. It doesn't take long to figure out that she has no interest in providing you with a fair
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Sep 03, 2007
Tynan
rated it: 
I picked up this book for free, because it was a title I knew I'd heard. Once I started reading it, I was initially put off by the narrator/protagonist, Smilla, whose tone is aloof, cool, self-absorbed. I was also put off by realizing it is a mystery that borders on "thriller"...not my usual preferred genre.
However, I found myself drawn back to the book until I became engrossed in the story. About halfway through the book, I started underlining passages, turns of phrase tha More...
However, I found myself drawn back to the book until I became engrossed in the story. About halfway through the book, I started underlining passages, turns of phrase tha More...
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Sep 08, 2010
emily
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I feel like everyone I know (even my doctor, who spotted it poking out of my bag) loved this book. And I just don't get it.
Smilla makes me think of Lisbeth Salander, who was the reason I hated "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and I think the two books have a lot in common. They're both, at their cores, books which say "this woman is real weird and kind of unpleasant and seems like she might not bathe frequently, but everyone who meets her thinks, 'damn, you's one coo More...
Smilla makes me think of Lisbeth Salander, who was the reason I hated "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and I think the two books have a lot in common. They're both, at their cores, books which say "this woman is real weird and kind of unpleasant and seems like she might not bathe frequently, but everyone who meets her thinks, 'damn, you's one coo More...
Apr 16, 2008
Josh
rated it:
After an initially over-enthusiastic 5 stars (which prompted consternation from some parties!) and then a too-sober 3 stars, I'm settling on four stars for this intelligent, brooding, minutely researched, acutely observed thriller. I think I wanted to give it five stars for two reasons: I read some negative reviews on this very webpage, and, finding them idiotic, wanted to vindicate this novel. I also cannot get out of my head the image of the Swiss German cook Urs using a freshly baked, burnin
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Jan 28, 2008
Stanka
rated it: 
I first saw the film. You couldn't find it in the video store under "Smilla" because it was translated (into Serbian) as "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow." No, this is not Serbian originality: the British translation is the one with "feeling", the US one is "sensible." But it's the same book.
I guess I never knew that Greenland was a Danish province, or shall we say, a colony. So here is a book that draws together a number of interesting threads: murde More...
I guess I never knew that Greenland was a Danish province, or shall we say, a colony. So here is a book that draws together a number of interesting threads: murde More...
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Dec 16, 2009
Sean
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Smilla, half Kalaallit, half Dane, is taciturn and withdrawn—a wounded child grown into a dark, silent, often bitter woman. But she opens her heart to Isaiah, a young boy whom life has also wounded. When Isaiah dies, falling several stories from the snow-covered roof of a warehouse, she is forced out of her comfortable isolation to ask questions. Why had he climbed the scaffolding to play on the warehouse roof when he was terrified of heights? Why do his tracks go straight off the edge if he was
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May 17, 2009
Raselius
rated it:
This is one of my favourite exciting stories to read. Once you get in to it it is hard to stop reading. Everytime I read it I discover something new. It starts out with just a small event in Denmark - a boy have died in an accident. But one of the neighbours, Smilla from Greenland refuses to buy the police explanation and sets out on a quest to find the truth about her friend. Because Smilla is from Greenland she knows all these things about snow that the police and most of the rest of us don't
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May 25, 2011
Lori
rated it:
This book came up on my status update, and I noticed I had given it 3 stars. I'm raising it to 4, because even tho I read it so long ago, I remember Smilla. And all the different types of snow, altho I couldn't tell you the exact words. (Here in the US there's only the word snow, whereas Inuits have many different words to specify the type of snow. I found that fascinating.)
I remember getting completely engrossed, so between that and the fact that the book still lingers in my mind de More...
I remember getting completely engrossed, so between that and the fact that the book still lingers in my mind de More...
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Jul 02, 2008
Andrew
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Complex characters, dizzying plot, starkly beautiful language, and tremendous psychological insights.
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Feb 04, 2008
Valerie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 27, 2007
Frenje
rated it:
The best thing about this book has got to be its setting (unless you're an Inuit living in Greenland and are already familiar with the landscape) which is such a huge part of the always intriguing but never quite likeable protagonist. (I'm not sure that Høeg has really done that good a job at explaining the driving forces behind how Smilla got to be the way she is though, although he does make several attempts to do so.)
As far as the plot goes, it feels like you're watching an action More...
As far as the plot goes, it feels like you're watching an action More...
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Dec 30, 2008
Ruanne
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This book was not at all what I expected. Had thought it was just a mainstream detective story with a novice detective + exotic locale. Boy, was I wrong. This was such an amazing book. The protagonist was incredible, and both the prose and the ideas presented were fantastic. I savored it every step of the way, reading almost every paragraph twice. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I would hesitate to press it on everyone (5 star books are ones that I think everybody needs to r
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Feb 22, 2009
Antof9
rated it:
I've seen this title in multiple languages on the sidebar of the BookCrossing website so many times, and it's always intrigued me. In speaking with a friend recently, she mentioned a guy who hated it so much that he burned a copy of it, and neither of us could imagine feeling that strongly about a book! Thus, when she got her hands on a copy, she said she'd share it with me too :)
And although I'd have liked a more "concrete" ending, I have to say this book held my attenti More...
And although I'd have liked a more "concrete" ending, I have to say this book held my attenti More...
Dec 05, 2008
A.
rated it:
An einem bitterkalten Wintertag wird im Kopenhagener Hafenviertel die Leiche eines neunj„hrigen Jungen gefunden. Der Fall scheint klar, er ist vom Dach eines Lagerhauses gefallen. Nur Smilla Jaspersen glaubt nicht an einen Unfall. Auf eigene Faust betreibt sie Nachforschungen und ger„t selbst in Lebensgefahr.
Der Verlag über das Buch
Smilla, eine Grönländerin, glaubt nicht, daß der Sturz des Jungen Jesaja vom Dach eines Lagerhauses ein Unglück war. Mit einem eisernen Willen ausg More...
Der Verlag über das Buch
Smilla, eine Grönländerin, glaubt nicht, daß der Sturz des Jungen Jesaja vom Dach eines Lagerhauses ein Unglück war. Mit einem eisernen Willen ausg More...
Jan 30, 2012
La Reyne
rated it:
This is one of those favourites that I go back to every so often. I identify in a number of ways with the lead character...
I really must read more of Hoeg's books. I understand they're all very different. In the way that a small number of film directors make a different film every time (Kubrick? Ridley Scott?) I've heard that Hoeg never repeats himself and attempts different styles and subjects with every novel.
I love this novel for its evocation of the Greenlandic and More...
I really must read more of Hoeg's books. I understand they're all very different. In the way that a small number of film directors make a different film every time (Kubrick? Ridley Scott?) I've heard that Hoeg never repeats himself and attempts different styles and subjects with every novel.
I love this novel for its evocation of the Greenlandic and More...
Nov 27, 2011
Walkergeraldine
rated it:
Wider Erwarten gefiel mir der Roman sehr gut und er ist auch weit mehr als nur ein Krimi. Besonders beeindruckt der komplizierte Charakter der Hauptfigur und das komplizierte Verhältnis zwischen Dänen und Grönländern, über das ich zuvor nie nachgedacht habe, das aber im Roman eine ganz wesentliche Rolle spielt. Smilla wird insbesondere über ihre nach außen gezeigte Gefühlskälte, die mit ihrem „Gespür für Schnee“ korreliert, charakterisiert. Über Einsamkeit sagt sie: „Mir geht es mit der Einsamke
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Oct 22, 2011
Roberta
rated it:
Diseguale
Il romanzo di Hoeg si divide in tre parti:
* La città
* Il mare
* Il ghiaccio
La prima parte è semplicemente perfetta. Smilla è una donna ormai matura, Inuit da parte di madre, che vive ormai da lungo tempo in Danimarca. Dopo le prime esperienze di emarginazione a causa della sua razza e l'isolamento sperimentato all'interno della famiglia dopo la morte accidentale della madre e il suicidio del fratello, Smilla ha vissuto sempre rinchiusa in una solitudine che, pu More...
Il romanzo di Hoeg si divide in tre parti:
* La città
* Il mare
* Il ghiaccio
La prima parte è semplicemente perfetta. Smilla è una donna ormai matura, Inuit da parte di madre, che vive ormai da lungo tempo in Danimarca. Dopo le prime esperienze di emarginazione a causa della sua razza e l'isolamento sperimentato all'interno della famiglia dopo la morte accidentale della madre e il suicidio del fratello, Smilla ha vissuto sempre rinchiusa in una solitudine che, pu More...
Sep 24, 2011
Zara
rated it:
Der Krimi, der diesem Buch zugrunde liegt, ist sehr spannend und hat mich mitgerissen. Aber nicht von Anfang an. Ich habe gute 100 Seiten gebraucht, um reinzukommen und gut bis zu Hälfte, um mit der Sprache zurecht zu kommen.
Der Roman zieht sich zeitweise sehr in die Länge. Gerade viele Räume, die auf dem Schiff sind, werden mir zu genau beschrieben. Ich konnte mir teilweise nichts darunter vorstellen. Kann aber auch daran liegen, dass ich mich damit nicht auskenne. Das ist der näch More...
Der Roman zieht sich zeitweise sehr in die Länge. Gerade viele Räume, die auf dem Schiff sind, werden mir zu genau beschrieben. Ich konnte mir teilweise nichts darunter vorstellen. Kann aber auch daran liegen, dass ich mich damit nicht auskenne. Das ist der näch More...
Sep 14, 2011
Jigar
rated it:
As far as intellectual or literary thrillers go, Peter Hoeg's book is quite an outsider. It's not out-and-out arcane like 'Da Vinci Code', but far more erudite than that book, full of fascinating details about snow, and heavy on atmosphere. It borrows its structure from the Swedish Crime novels, where whodunit is just a consequence but not the actual goal. Like the works of Mankell, it provides a grim view of society and life in general. That is what makes it all the more entertaining. I have co
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Aug 28, 2011
Katie
rated it:
I read this book while traveling in Denmark, and it knocked me off my feet. Hoeg´s Smilla is embittered and jaded as far as jaded can go, but she pays attention to every detail, and describes even her own depression in prose so confident and, dare i say it, loving, that I was writing down passages in my journal for the entire trip. The second half of the book returns to crime-thriller form, lessening its grip on poetry and moving to violent, shocking scenes of revelation and assassination attemp
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Aug 12, 2011
three stars for me growing so tired of too many details, characters, words...
once in a while there would be almost quotable, almost memorable thoughts put there by the writer and though the conditions were right: brief expression and "obvious" content, the two things that make a thought remarkable, still, something was missing. ... for me that is.
at times throughout the story the reader finds out some interesting facts about snow and ice, that have many different names in greenlandi More...
once in a while there would be almost quotable, almost memorable thoughts put there by the writer and though the conditions were right: brief expression and "obvious" content, the two things that make a thought remarkable, still, something was missing. ... for me that is.
at times throughout the story the reader finds out some interesting facts about snow and ice, that have many different names in greenlandi More...
Aug 01, 2011
Martha
rated it:
This mystery grew on me the way snow settles on your shoulders. At first I didn't feel engaged much by it, but about 1/3 of the way through I noticed I was hooked. The main character Smilla is perhaps one of the most unique literary characters I've run into. She's the daughter of a Danish man and a Greenlander Inuit woman, and through that backstory we learn about the prejudice Greenlanders experience in Denmark, as well as the culture shock that can make a Greenlander never feel at home in D
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Jun 16, 2010
Angela
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Feb 01, 2010
Becky
rated it:
I first read Smilla's Sense of Snow when I was at school. We had a fantastic English teacher for GCSE English, who also ran a book club for those of us who were very enthusiastic. It mostly consisted of sitting on the Moors above Haworth pretending we were a governess, but we also read this book. And I don't think I was quite ready for it by then. Peter Hoeg has written a very mature book, with a difficult but capable heroine, that is captivating and mysterious from start to finish. Set in
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Jan 24, 2010
Steve
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The titular heroine of this hybrid thriller is a scientist who is determined to prove that the death of the neighbour's child was no mere accident. Embodying her own struggle to come to terms with her mixed heritage from her Danish father and Inuit mother, Smilla was drawn to the six-year-old Isaiah whose Greenlandic parentage also makes him an outcast in Copenhagen society. Her inherited ability to interpret snow and ice allows her to understand that the tracks left by Isaiah on the rsnow-laden
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Nov 19, 2009
Barberry
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The atmosphere in the book can be compared to some kind of a mild Niflheim with its darkness, fogs, ice and "the cold - not what is measured on a thermometer, but what you can actually feel." The narrator and the main character of the novel, Smilla Jaspersen, half a Dane and half an Inuit, was born in Greenland - a place, where ice is a platform for living and hunting and a source of drinking water, and covers five sixths of the total territory. Her childhood was greatly influenced by
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Aug 22, 2009
William D.
rated it:
A book is a book and a movie is a movie. But like the movie, “Smilla’s Sense of Snow” was ultimately a big disappointment.
Høeg starts off well with the sarcastic, loner of great wit, Smilla Jaspersen telling us her story about a dead neighbor boy in Denmark. Concerned that the boy didn’t fall or jump off a roof because he was afraid of heights, she opens her own personal investigation and goes after the truth to prove his murder.
At the start, the book is intriguing, not More...
Høeg starts off well with the sarcastic, loner of great wit, Smilla Jaspersen telling us her story about a dead neighbor boy in Denmark. Concerned that the boy didn’t fall or jump off a roof because he was afraid of heights, she opens her own personal investigation and goes after the truth to prove his murder.
At the start, the book is intriguing, not More...
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Aug 16, 2009
Sara
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This was my first foray into Danish literature (I generally read British or American authors) and it will certainly not be my last. The basis of the book is a mysterious death, but it is also a quite pointed critique of the treatment of native Greenlanders by mainland Europe. As an American, I could not help but see parallels to my country's own behavior toward our native population, and it was striking how much of the novel resonated with the challenges we face here.
The cultural cri More...
The cultural cri More...
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