Burial Rites in Bound Together

Feb 26, 2017 Dem rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bookclub-reads, favorites, 5-star, audible, top-30

Just finished reading Burial Rites for the 3rd time (Book Club Choice) and its still manages to pack a punch third time around. This is one of my 10 ten favourite books as it is just so well written and so atmospheric.

Burial Rites is the extraordinary haunting debut novel by Hannah Kent an Australian Writer. This book is set in Iceland in 1829 and tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir who was found guilty of murdering her employer as he slept. She was condemned to death. She was the last perso Just finished reading Burial Rites for the 3rd time (Book Club Choice) and its still manages to pack a punch third time around. This is one of my 10 ten favourite books as it is just so well written and so atmospheric.

Burial Rites is the extraordinary haunting debut novel by Hannah Kent an Australian Writer. This book is set in Iceland in 1829 and tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir who was found guilty of murdering her employer as he slept. She was condemned to death. She was the last person to be public executed in Iceland and this book is based on true events.

I read an interview with the author and she spent two years researching this story and the back round information to this story benefits greatly from this research as not only do we learn the what happened to Agnes we learn about a place, its peoples the customs and traditions or the time, their religious beliefs and the beautiful and harrowing landscape is described so well that you get a wonderful sense of time and place from Kent's writing. This is something I appreciate in a story as it enhances the book and the reader learns something about a place and time with which they may not be familiar.

Kent's powerful and beautiful prose takes a story that could have been depressing and gives it a wonderful haunting feel to it and reminded me of the feeling I had when I read Wuthering Heights. I loved the tone of the story and as I listened to this as an audio book, the narration was perfect for the story and really made an excellent audio book. I especially enjoyed the pronunciation of surnames of people and places in the story and the explanation that was at the beginning of the book. I am not a big fan of audio books as I much prefer to read a book but the narrator really was excellent. I will probably buy the paperback version someday just to read it again.

I loved how the author gives you the story from different points of view and you find yourself immersed in Agnes telling of her story as imagined by the author. I think I can see how Hannah Kent was so taken with Agnes and the events of 1829.

Burial rites is a thought provoking and deeply moving story and I would highly recommend it but it may not please everybody as it is not an uplifting story and some may find it rather dark.
It made a terrific book club read as plenty to discuss and very thought provoking.

I have also read The Good People by Hannah Kent The Good People and rated it 3 stars. ...more

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Sep 14, 2013 Dem rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 5-star, recommended, top-30

. Just finished reading this book and reading the book as opposed to listening to it really did enhance the experience for me and I upped my rating to 5 stars. Great book.

Reading this for the second time. I previously listened to this as an audio book and while the audio version is excellent I wanted to read this as I think it will enhance the experience even more.

Burial Rites is the extraordinary haunting debut novel by Hannah Kent an Australian Writer. This book is set in Iceland in 1829 a . Just finished reading this book and reading the book as opposed to listening to it really did enhance the experience for me and I upped my rating to 5 stars. Great book.

Reading this for the second time. I previously listened to this as an audio book and while the audio version is excellent I wanted to read this as I think it will enhance the experience even more.

Burial Rites is the extraordinary haunting debut novel by Hannah Kent an Australian Writer. This book is set in Iceland in 1829 and tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir who was found guilty of murdering her employer as he slept. She was condemned to death. She was the last person to be public executed in Iceland and this book is based on true events.

I read an interview with the author and she spent two years researching this story and the back round information to this story benefits greatly from this research as not only do we learn the what happened to Agnes we learn about a place, its peoples the customs and traditions or the time, their religious beliefs and the beautiful and harrowing landscape is described so well that you get a wonderful sense of time and place from Kent's writing. This is something I appreciate in a story as it enhances the book and the reader learns something about a place and time with which they may not be familiar.

Kent's powerful and beautiful prose takes a story that could have been depressing and gives it a wonderful haunting feel to it and reminded me of the feeling I had when I read Wuthering Heights. I loved the tone of the story and as I listened to this as an audio book, the narration was perfect for the story and really made an excellent audio book. I especially enjoyed the pronunciation of surnames of people and places in the story and the explanation that was at the beginning of the book. I am not a big fan of audio books as I much prefer to read a book but the narrator really was excellent. I will probably buy the paperback version someday just to read it again.

I loved how the author gives you the story from different points of view and you find yourself immersed in Agnes telling of her story as imagined by the author. I think I can see how Hannah Kent was so taken with Agnes and the events of 1829.

Burial rites is a thought provoking and deeply moving story and I would highly recommend it but it may not please everybody as it is not an uplifting story and some may find it rather dark.
I think it would make an excellent book club read as there is plenty to discuss. ...more

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May 07, 2014 Penny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, women-s-prize

This is the first book of this author and is an assured and a very deft debut novel. The narrative tells of Agnes who is found guilty of murder and therefore condemned to death after her lover and another man are found dead at the remote homestead where they live in Iceland. The book is based on real events that Hannah Kent has woven into a story.

The writing is stark and the setting is as much a part of the story as the murder. Life in Iceland 200 years ago was extremely hard and unforgiving. Th ...more

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Jan 26, 2014 Kathryn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-list-2014, fiction, australian-authors, audiobooks, 4-stars, author-younger-than-me

I think a good audiobook narration can add something to the reading of a good book. I listened to this book, narrated by Morven Christie, and felt that it added an extra edge to my experience. Her voice for Agnes’ voice and thoughts sounded devoid of all joy; her voice for Reverend Toti, Agnes’ spiritual adviser, sounded young and eager – just as he’s portrayed.

Based on a true story, albeit one I’d never heard of before I heard of this book, I supposed that the ending of the story would not be u I think a good audiobook narration can add something to the reading of a good book. I listened to this book, narrated by Morven Christie, and felt that it added an extra edge to my experience. Her voice for Agnes’ voice and thoughts sounded devoid of all joy; her voice for Reverend Toti, Agnes’ spiritual adviser, sounded young and eager – just as he’s portrayed.

Based on a true story, albeit one I’d never heard of before I heard of this book, I supposed that the ending of the story would not be unexpected (unless Hannah Kent had exercised some poetic licence in refashioning the ending), but I was still interested in the relationship developing between Agnes and Toti, and Agnes and the family, how she acted while living on the farm and how events had led Agnes to this point. Toward the end, the story became very powerful, and I’m still thinking about parts of it.

This is not a light or fun read – Agnes was convicted as a murderess and sent to live with a family on a farm while awaiting the carrying out of her sentence of execution – but it was what life was like then. We are given glimpses into life in Iceland in the early 1800s – illegitimate children, fostered out to people who didn’t really want them or care much for them, working as a servant at this farm and that, struggling against the land and inclement weather even if you own your own farm to produce crops or livestock to make a livelihood, chamber pots filled to overflowing needing emptying, animals rendered down to make food and other products, men taking advantage (whether a servant or the master) of women too scared or naïve to refuse them. It was not an easy life, except perhaps if you were substantially well off – we see only a snippet of the District Commissioner’s life, but it sounds like a luxurious life in comparison to most of the other lives described. Hannah Kent has done a thorough job of her research, and it is effortlessly woven into the story.

I was not sure initially about this book (especially listening to it for 11.5 hours), but as I went further, I wanted to keep going and find out more. However, I can also see that it wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. ...more

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May 21, 2014 Irene rated it really liked it

Agnes, a 34 year old housemaid, is convicted, along with two accomplices, of murdering her employer and his house guest, then burning the farm to the ground. As she awaits execution, she is sent to live on the farm of an insignificant government servant. Initially greeted with loathing and fear, her broken presence and the gradual unfolding of her story shifts their attitude toward her. This is a beautiful narrative of the impact people have on each other. Although the reader was treated to powe ...more

4 likes · Like · see review