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65th out of 390 books
—
277 voters
Barn Blind
by
Jane Smiley
The verdant pastures of a farm in Illinois have the placid charm of a landscape painting. But the horses that graze there have become the obsession of a woman who sees them as the fulfillment of every wish: to win, to be honored, to be the best. Her ambition is the galvanizing force in Jane Smiley's first novel, a force that will drive a wedge between her and her family, a...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
March 9th 1993
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1980)
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My first book by Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist Jane Smiley and I liked what I read. Now, I have got to find my copy of her A Thousand Acres (1991). The reason why I read this first was that I already saw the movie adaptation of “Thousand” and I thought it would be nice to read her very first book: Barn Blind (1980).
Barn blind refers to the mother Kate. She is an ambitious businesswoman running a barn with 42 horses. She is barn blind because all she sees are her horses and her dream o...more
Barn blind refers to the mother Kate. She is an ambitious businesswoman running a barn with 42 horses. She is barn blind because all she sees are her horses and her dream o...more
Kate Karlsson owns stables with some 40 horses that she loves more than anything. She is also wife of Axel and mother of four children. It doen't really go together. Kate is Barn Blind. She sees nothing but the barns. She doen't understand her children. The only thing she wants of them is them o be good riders. The eldest daughter Margaret doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. Peter seem to be his mother's pet since he is the star rider. He get all her attention. Younger brother John...more
Sep 03, 2010
Judy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
readers who like stories with humans and animals interacting
Shelves:
20th-century-fiction
Reading Jane Smiley's first novel was a pleasure and a revelation. I've only previously read one of her books: Good Faith. I liked it a lot but didn't love it. I've read most of her book about writing, Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, which is a bit dry in parts but from which I learned more about literature and derived inspiration as a writer. One summer I heard Jane Smiley speak at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books where she impressed me with her intelligence. Later I met her in th...more
Never was an author so in-aptly named. I love the way this woman writes but her books are not easy to live with after you've read them. They're depressing and they stay with me for days as I think back on what happened and how she told the story. Both this book and A Thousand Acres are stories about everyday people whose secrets and desires and unflattering thoughts lead them thru a plot that pulls you in quietly. And they end so softly, like a fading note on the breeze, that you can't really be...more
I was surprised at how easily I fell into this tale of horsemanship. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this eloquently written, almost lyrical and yet tragic tale as much as I did. The author gets into the mind of each of her characters and allows us to know her subject through them.
Kate lives for horsemanship. She strives to achieve her dream through her children by guiding them through a rigorous routine of rules, chores and riding. There is time for little else in Kate's world, not eating or the ch...more
A well-written story of a family caught in the spell of the mother's obsession and ambition. Shakespearean in its overtones. Kate, the mother and wife is blinded to all around her, husband's inner life and needs, children's actual aspiration and feelings, in her quest to produce a champion and make a name for herself in the equestrian world. With Kate in love with her own equine philosophies(she seems to have no inner or outer life that does not have to do with horses) and cocksure in her way of...more
Didn't realize this was her first book until the end. The backdrop for the story is a family trudging through the daily work of running a horse farm. One comes to understand that the mother's obsessions drive the family and no one else seems fully developed although the teenagers anger and befuddlement is palpable. At times well written, but also hard to like.
This is one of Smiley's earlier novels and it certainly was not as polished as her other stories. At times I had a hard time distinguishing the characters, and at other times the plot felt very formulaic. But at other times she would offer great insights and, as Smiley does, lots of good writing about horses.
I didn't really connect to the characters, or relate to what they were doing, except perhaps Margaret, who doesn't know what she wants to do. But the others, especially the boys, and Axel, I just couldn't understand why they were doing the things they were.
Nov 27, 2007
Jennifer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of a Thousand Acres
Shelves:
novels
3.5 stars. This book had the flavor of a short story. The writing and was finely drawn and economical, you got a sense of the rhythm of life on the farm and in the family that is the center of the book. The tragedy at the end follows the daily scenes of family life like a punch in the gut - something I associate more with short stories than novels.
Though the characters in this book are given equal exposure, they remained cyphers for the most part to me. I got a sketch of them, but failed to con...more
Though the characters in this book are given equal exposure, they remained cyphers for the most part to me. I got a sketch of them, but failed to con...more
The verdicts still out on this author. I have a bunch of her books, but this is the only one I've read so far. It was an okay book, but it was kind of wordy and boring. Plus it was a little depressing, which I don't like.
I had to pull this off my shelf to remind myself what this book is, which is odd since the other Smiley books I've read are etched in my brain. Clearly I'm a big Jane Smiley fan, but this is not one of my favorites.
I loved "A Thousand Acres" so I was happy to come across this one. An interesting portrait of a mother who can only see her children when she is reflected in them. Not that I'm like that. At all.
Story of a farm family, dressage training and competition. A good but domineering and demanding mother, placid father, teen aged children who try to please or rebel against her.
Another winner, and quite good for her first novel. She is so intensely into her characters. And it's contagious.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
I listened to the audio version of this book during car trips. It was okay, but I've never been a horse person at all, and I found the detailed descriptions of riding and all things horsey a bit tedious, and I didn't care for the matriarch of the family, although I understand that she's meant to be a character that most readers probably will not like. I just kind of wanted to smack her, and most of the other characters, at times.
It also seemed to end abruptly. While I really enjoyed A Thousand A...more
It also seemed to end abruptly. While I really enjoyed A Thousand A...more
Not my favorite Jane Smiley book. Like being invited for dinner and never getting beyond the appetizers.
Sharp and detailed portrait of a family crippled by a mother's misplaced ambitions
This book is about a crazed, horse obsessed mother. I hated her!
This is early Jane Smiley, very clean, simple and good.
Colchester library sale - summer 2012
Sad story about the effect a selfish, overbearing mother has on her family. Smiley does a great job developing each character's relationship with the mother and how each reacts to her huge personality in a unique way.
Jun 25, 2012
Marti
added it
Passed on to me by Mom.
Not my favorite book from Jane Smiley. It was too meandering with an ending that wasn't very satisfying.
Aug 15, 2010
Sue Seckinger
added it
did not like
Okay but slight.
novel
Story about a family that owns a horse farm. Very slow-moving, not particularly interestings. Apparently, I don't care for this author.
This is Jane Smiley's first novel, which I read after reading most of the other ones. It's not my favorite of her books, but it was really good and interesting to read because I saw the bones of what her writing would become as she went on.
It's the story of a family living on a horse farm with their four children. The mother is obsessed with horses, the father with the mother (pretty much), and the children trying to find their way in the insular world of the farm.
It's the story of a family living on a horse farm with their four children. The mother is obsessed with horses, the father with the mother (pretty much), and the children trying to find their way in the insular world of the farm.
Smiley has written several books about the horse world. This one focuses more on the downside of the experience. The mother in the story is mostly oblivious to the lives of her four children, in favor of the many tasks associated with owning a horse farm and riding school.
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Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar...more
More about Jane Smiley...
Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar...more
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“In her minds eye she sat there, in the domesticated golden sunlight on the velvet sofa, lapped around by carpets and books and mahogany, solitary and content, as if, in fact, cloistered.”
—
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Aug 11, 2008 07:59am