Eilene's review
A Thousand Acres: A Novel
by Jane Smiley
Eilene's review
A Thousand Acres: A Novel by Jane Smiley
Eilene's review
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recommended for: people who like shakespeare
This was a good read, a nice re-imagining of King Lear that is oddly sympathetic to the sisters. I like re-tellings of Shakespeare, so this was right up my alley. I think it is a testament to the richness of his work that it translates so well to different times and places.
I thought the choice of narrator was interesting--the eldest daughter, when the middle daughter seems more diabolical, and it would be interesting to get inside her head. I guess she seems more diabolical externally, so being in her head would make you sympathetic to her, and therefore she is less of a bad guy.
Lear was always sympathetic, you got the impression he cared about his daughters and was honestly hurt by their treatment of him. Not the case in this novel--he is villianized in the worst way, which makes it hard to feel bad when he deginerates.
I thought the choice of narrator was interesting--the eldest daughter, when the middle daughter seems more diabolical, and it would be interesting to get inside her head. I guess she seems more diabolical externally, so being in her head would make you sympathetic to her, and therefore she is less of a bad guy.
Lear was always sympathetic, you got the impression he cared about his daughters and was honestly hurt by their treatment of him. Not the case in this novel--he is villianized in the worst way, which makes it hard to feel bad when he deginerates.
