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Jul 17, 2008

Shannon rated it:

A wonderful, priceless book, full of wit and philosophical musings and profound observations.

One morning at the small village of Glennkill, Ireland, a small flock of sheep wake up to find that their shepherd, George Glenn, has been murdered. With a spade through his guts. Miss Maple, the cleverest sheep in Glennkill, decides they should investigate and find his murderer, because even though George was a bit of a peculiar and irrascible bastard, he was still their shepherd, and who wo More...

3 comments like (17 people liked it)

Sep 25, 2007

Lena rated it:

I never thought I would find myself commenting in a book review about how realistic the sheep characters seemed to be. But in Leonie Swann’s delightful murder mystery, I repeatedly found myself thinking “Yes! I bet that’s exactly what a sheep would think!” While these crime-fighting sheep are smart and understand English, they are still just so…sheepy that I had no trouble losing myself in their world. The author’s depiction of flock’s attempt to make sense of certain quirks of human behavio More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Apr 04, 2008

Marya rated it:

A shepherd is murdered and it's up to the flock to find out whodunnit. Lead by the intrepid Miss Maple, a delightful cast of sheep characters put their fluffy, fleece heads together to crack the case.

As a murder mystery, this book isn't that entertaining, but as a parody of the Miss Marple books, it is fantastic. Each sheep in the flock has a distinct character that gives it a unique ability to contribute to the case (these traits are listed in the front of the book with the charac More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2007

Sian rated it:

Read this book now! Stop whatever you are doing, turn off whatever's cooking on the stove, turn off the music you were just listening to, put down whatever lesser book you thought you'd read: go to a (locally owned/used) bookstore and buy this book. It's one of those books that if it had been written even the tiniest bit differently, the entire wondrous thing would have collapsed. But it's brilliant, it's just brilliant. It's like Watership Down meets Ruth Rendell, but with a higher percentage More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

Terence rated it:

Rating: 3.8 stars, I’m rounding up

Three Bags Full is, without a doubt, the best sheep detective novel ever written. It’s a very fun read that can be enjoyed as a simple diversion from life’s cares or as a serious, if humorous, look at dealing with “guilt, misdeeds, and unrequited love” (back cover).

The story begins when George Glenn’s flock discovers his dead body in their meadow one morning. An uncommon shepherd, George had been in the habit of reading to his sheep – pri More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2011

Marlene rated it:

This is something else. And something else is good.

Do you think sheep are stupid? Do you think all they do the whole day long is eating grass? far from it!

When their sheepheard George is killed, his sheep decide to bring down the murderer together. After all George read a murder story for them once, so how hard could it be? So the sheep, as crime investigator number one the most clever sheep-lady of Ireland, called Miss Maple (hey, you know this name? I do!) start to investig More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2008

Andrew rated it:

I was not expecting to enjoy this book. I am not normally someone who likes the cute-animals-solve-a-murder subgenre of the mystery genre, and I really tend to despise the cozy end of the mystery genre in general, so I didn't go into it expecting much. I was reading it for a book club I was in, and I didn't pick it up until the day before our meeting to discuss the book. For that reason, I didn't have time to get through the entire book before the meeting, but I was surprised to find myself flyi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2008

Kelly rated it:

In this book, a shephered in a small town in Ireland is murdered. He used to read to his flock of sheep, and wanted to take them abroad to Europe one day. In the sheep's dreams, Europe was full of clover and apple trees. When the sheep - whose intelligence has been markedly improved by all this reading (though they make a point to say that they did not enjoy the book on Sheep Diseases) - discover that their shepherd has been impaled by his own spade, they undertake (with appropriate sheepy he More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 19, 2008

Bill rated it:

Three Bags Full, good read. Definitely a good summer read. Yes, it’s an animal mystery novel. But don’t read it for that. It is a delightful poke at people. For me the best parts of the book have to do with sheepish metaphysics and aesthetics. As you may have picked up in other reviews, the flock has a peculiar understanding about souls and just how big a man’s soul might be. Not to mention the afterlife. Here is a passage I liked:

“Maple realized that she was feeling uncomfort More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 19, 2008

Mark rated it:

Roadtrip audiobook #2, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. I picked it up for Geeta (you know, yarn, sheep, maybe sheep dogs) without high expectations. But this "sheep detective story," set in a remote Irish village but written by a German doctoral student in Englit, is clever, funny, and profound. I guess a story about sheep striving to understand human motives, and the social organization of flocks, and to confront their own worst fears and sheepish mentality might be read More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 25, 2007

Jenn rated it:

Who would not be passionate about a book that has a lead sheep detective named Miss Maple? And a lovely, dim, fluffy sheep named Cloud? Or a black ram named Othello? I could not resist; I could not put it down. I love this book - the solving of the murder of their shepherd, George, is only part of the appeal.The fact that they think humans must only have small souls because of their inferior sense of smell is only the tip of the iceberg as to why these characters are so endearing. At one point, More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 10, 2008

Justine rated it:

I learned about Three Bags Full from the NYT book review and was immediately interested-- a dead shepherd.. and a murder mystery from the point of view of his literary flock of sheep? winner!

The structure of the book itself is slyly quaint. It opens with "Dramatis Oves" (sheep only, obvi.) and neatly and wittly heads each chapter title.

I gave Three Bags Full four stars is because it's oddly innovative and wackily off-kilter. The (myopic) narrative lens is appl More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2008

Mika rated it:

I was completely sold when I heard this description: “A flock of sheep investigates the murder of their shepherd.” How can you go wrong? The book even has a list of the sheep at the beginning, with descriptions such as “Willow - the second most silent sheep in the flock; no one minds that.”

So far as murder mysteries go, I loved this one until the last quarter of the book. Maybe I’m just too picky about endings; maybe there just aren’t any great endings anymore. Either way, I was fair More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 10, 2008

D rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 29, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

Seeing a flock of sheep standing on a grassy hill, we often assume their minds are complete blanks; they must have no thought beyond grazing and sleeping. Leonie Swann attempts to disprove that assumption in Three Bags Full. A flock of sheep awakes one morning to discover a spade stuck through the chest of their beloved shepherd, George Glenn. Lead by a team of wooly sleuths: Miss Maple, possibly the world’s smartest sheep, Othello, a black four-horned ram, and Mopple the Whale, a ram who rem More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 14, 2007

Charles rated it:

I remember a story my Mom told me about waiting in line to turn in her cable box. It was a torturous line and an older guy storms in, tosses his box and remote on the counter and amid curses departs shouting "Sheep! You are all <expletive deleted> SHEEP!! Baaaaaa!"

I like that it is from the perspective of sheep. I really liked how the sheep perspective developed a true respect for the view from the outside in. I even laughed out loud a couple of times over sheep a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2007

O'Donovan added it

David's review has completely intrigued me and now I have to read it. For the uninitiated, here's what he posted over at Mainly on the Plain:

"The title of this post refers to the book I am currently reading, the wonderful Three Bags Full . To quote an Amazon.com reviewer:

"'If you read only one detective novel about a murdered shepherd told from the perspective of his sheep, translated from the German and written by a woman who looks like Emily Watson's twin thi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 04, 2008

rinabeana rated it:

We read this for my book club and I was entertained. We all agreed that there were some issues with pace (it did drag a bit in the middle), but overall I thought it was a clever idea and I enjoyed the "insight" into sheep behaviors and thought processes. I liked that the sheep were often distracted and felt it important to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different types of grass (among other sheepy concerns) because it lent the air of authenticity to the whole ridiculous st More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 15, 2008

Eli rated it:

Really enjoyed this one! Certainly one of the most unusual concepts for a novel I have come across. A herd of sheep in Ireland discover their shepherd dead in the meadow with a spade stuck in his chest, and undertake to determine who is responsible.

Translated from the German, so the prose is a bit awkward in places, but the individual ovine characters are fully realized. The "mystery" is engaging because the reader only knows what the sheep know, and the behavorial motiv More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 27, 2008

Nikki rated it:

Perhaps it was inevitable that I'd like Leonie Swann's sheep detective novel). For one thing, it got a good review from a friend of mine, which is why I asked for it for my birthday in the first place. And for another, it's about sheep. Granted, they're not Welsh sheep, but hey, that's not their fault. It's an interesting way to tell a story -- a shepherd dies, and his flock set out to discover his murderer? It kept me guessing in a fun way because you're limited to what the sheep can see/hear a More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2008

Michael rated it:

It's a cute premise: a dead shepherd is discovered by his flock of sheep with a spade sticking out of his chest, and the sheep then set out to solve the mystery of the shepherd's murder. Fine. I have no problem with cute.

The problem with this book is that it's just not a very good mystery, despite the billing. The clues are often garbled in translation from human to sheep and back again, such that the reader loses a clear sense of what's actually happening. The clues we do have d More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 25, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

This is a murder mystery told from the perspective of a flock of sheep. It's an adorable concept and very clever, but it just wasn't the book for me right now. Each sheep in the flock has its own distinct personality and contributes to gathering clues as the townspeople visit the farm. (For example: Maude has "a very good sense of smell and is proud of it"; Heather is "a lively young sheep, doesn't always think before she speaks"; Mopple the Whale is "the memory sheep:on More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

David rated it:

This is a wonderful book. Crime-fighting sheep! Set in Ireland! What more could you ask for?

The back cover says it has been translated into 32 languages (from the original German). I can certainly understand why. Totally charming and hilarious - I stayed up until 5am last night to finish it. It's a wonder the hotel guests in neighboring rooms didn't complain about my loud guffaws.

If you can make room for only one book about crime-fighting sheep (the smartest of whom is ca More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Mar 29, 2008

Jessica rated it:

A strange and wonderful story about a flock of sheep trying to solve the murder of their shepherd. This book is different from the loads of other animal-detective books crowding bookstore shelves and remainder bins. I really enjoyed Three Bags Full because it goes much deeper with the hoofed-detective premise than you might expect. Rather than being gimmicky, this fanciful book is a tender and thoughtful look into the construction of knowledge. It's fun to watch the sheep go about trying to More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 14, 2008

Toni rated it:

The sheep won my heart very early on - I especially liked being able to refer to the "dramatis oves" and their corresponding pictures on the cover. But I really fell in love with them when they were "standing on the cliffs between the watery-blue sky and the sky-blue sea."

Okay, so the story lacks some in cohesievness, but then I was new to thinking like a sheep. Four stars to Leonie Swann for such a clever premise and such charming characters (I think my fav was M More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 20, 2010

Joyce rated it:

George, an old Irish shepherd dies under mysterious circumstances that look like murder, in one of his pastures. But George was not your run-of-the-mill shepherd. No, indeed. Among other things, George read to his sheep every day--mostly romances but every once in a while, serious books like Diseases of Sheep.[return][return]And just as George was no ordinary shepherd, his sheep--perhaps as a result of his home schooling efforts--was no ordinary flock. Led by Miss maple, the smartest sheep i More...

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Feb 09, 2009

Susan rated it:

There are moments in great novels when the description of a character’s behavior hits on some intensely familiar but seldom noted quirk of human nature and you are filled with the satisfaction of someone’s having finally put their finger on it. I know nothing of sheep, but I had this feeling throughout Three Bags Full. Swann’s descriptions of one sheep’s predilection and constant quest for a particular type of grass, of the individual satisfaction of slowly moving together in a herd and feeling More...

2 comments like

Jan 22, 2012

Dieleserin rated it:

Ein kleines Dörfchen in Irland namens Glennkill: Eines morgens liegt der Schäfer George Glenn Tod auf seiner Weide. In seinem Körper steckt ein Spaten. Georges Schafherde merkt schnell, dass ihr Schäfer nicht mehr aufstehen wird. Das ist natürlich eine unerhörte Frechheit, denn George war ein guter Schäfer. Er hat die Schafe abwechslungsreich gefüttert und ihnen regelmäßig vorgelesen – egal ob Krimis, „Pamela“-Romane oder Bücher über Schafskrankheiten. All das ist nun vorbei. Doch die Schafe las More...

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Aug 22, 2011

Lelia rated it:

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story
Leonie Swann
Flying Dolphin Press, 2007
ISBN 0385521111
Hardcover

Suppose you were walking down a country lane someday and came across a flock of sheep. What would you do? Hope they wouldn’t suddenly decide to stampede and mow you down? Ignore them and walk past? Not me. I’d be checking out each one to see who is Miss Maple or Othello or Mopple the Whale or any of the other delightful sheep in this book.

When I first pick More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Patti from Charlotte added it

For whatever reason, I have always found sheep to be fascinating animals, though I've never gotten to know any of them more than from the other side of a camera's lens. That said, I picked up this curiously titled book with great expectations of 'understanding' more about their lives. I was not disappointed. Swann takes her readers through the exploits of the unique and self-appointed detectives who wish to solve the mystery of their recently-murdered shepherd, George Glenn. Through carefull More...

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