Guys, A Thousand Acres is totally a gothic novel set on a farm! And I love gothic novels. This one had it all--affairs, incest (I know, it's in every book I read lately), some sort of craziness or depression?, backstabbing, family drama AND courtroom drama, attempted murder, suicide(?), grave illnesses....

Probably my favorite part of the book were the unexpected turns all of the characters took, but each showed a very true and human thing--when people are only out for themselves, they will all fall. And it usually only takes one person to start this terrible pattern, then they're all ganging up, choosing sides, until eventually it's just a bunch of hateful individuals.

Overall, I liked Jane Smiley's style. A few times I got stuck when the main character Ginny would just blahblahblah for a few paragraphs, but mainly I sped through the book. Do you think Shakespeare makes it this entertaining? It's my goal to get through a Shakespeare play a year, so I think I'll tackle King Lear first so I can compare the stories.