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...
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Jan 13, 2009
Faith
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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
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Sep 03, 2010
Judy
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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
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Aug 22, 2010
Leslie
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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
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Sep 25, 2011
K.D.
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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 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 More...
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May 05, 2009
Lisa
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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
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Jun 10, 2010
Marissa
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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.
Oct 19, 2009
Brian
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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.
Jan 01, 2011
Virginia
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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
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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 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 More...
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Jan 02, 2011
Laura
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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.
Aug 25, 2011
Valerie
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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.
Jul 05, 2009
Shelley
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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.
Sep 06, 2008
Rachel
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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 Thou More...
It also seemed to end abruptly. While I really enjoyed A Thou More...
Oct 21, 2011
Zoe
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Not my favorite Jane Smiley book. Like being invited for dinner and never getting beyond the appetizers.
Mar 21, 2011
Cath
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Sharp and detailed portrait of a family crippled by a mother's misplaced ambitions
Jul 29, 2011
Cassi
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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.
May 24, 2011
Krista
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Not my favorite book from Jane Smiley. It was too meandering with an ending that wasn't very satisfying.
May 08, 2008
Jennifer
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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.
Jan 03, 2008
Ruth
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This book was kind of heartbreaking. All the characters are interesting and they all have something about them that makes you love them as they struggle through whatever their struggle is. There are not really bad guys or good guys. This is what I like about Jane Smiley. Also I like books about young people and this is one of them.
Jul 21, 2008
Abby
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I'm not gonna lie, Jane Smiley's first novel is a touch boring. We'll see if it picks up before the end. Addendum: I'm giving up. I'm not even interested in finishing this one.
Aug 09, 2008
jen8998
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Jane Smiley writes well but literally nothing happens in this book until the last chapter. Thankfully it's a short novel.
Dec 07, 2007
Liz
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This novel is part of my life now. In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined this to be the case. I am glad.
