Burial Rites in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jul 03, 2018 Keksisbaby rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-english, borrowed, 0-blue-cover, on-my-kindle, read-2018

Von ihrer Mutter bei der erst besten Gelegenheit zurückgelassen wächst Agnes Magnusdottir im kargen Island auf. Jahre später wird sie des Mordes an ihrem Liebhaber bezichtigt. Zum Tode verurteilt, wird sie in einer normalen Familie untergebracht, bis das Urteil vollstreckt werden soll. An ihrer Seite ein junger Priester, der sie zur Einsicht bringen soll, dass sie gesündigt hat. Doch Agnes ist nicht die wilde Bestie, die alle erwartet haben. Vielmehr ist sie eine Frau, die hart arbeiten kann und ...more

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Jan 06, 2024 Olivermagnus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2024, historical-mystery, historical-fiction, iceland, zjan-2024

This book gets wonderful reviews but it was depressing as hell. Burial Rites was Hannah Kent's debut novel and is a fictionalized retelling of a true story about the last woman put to death in Iceland. In 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir and two other servants are sentenced to death for the gruesome murder of two men on a isolated farm in northern Iceland. While waiting for her execution date she is put under the physical supervision of District Officer Jon Jonsson and the spiritual supervision of Assis This book gets wonderful reviews but it was depressing as hell. Burial Rites was Hannah Kent's debut novel and is a fictionalized retelling of a true story about the last woman put to death in Iceland. In 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir and two other servants are sentenced to death for the gruesome murder of two men on a isolated farm in northern Iceland. While waiting for her execution date she is put under the physical supervision of District Officer Jon Jonsson and the spiritual supervision of Assistant Reverend Thorvardur Jonsson (Toti).

During the cold winter months Agnes begins to unburden herself to Toti, even though she has never spoken of her story before. As she works alongside the Jonsson's on their farm, the family begin to see another side to Agnes and begin to wonder if she is actually guilty of the crime she has been accused and convicted of. The story of Agnes' life is told in a series of flashbacks, describing her early life as well as the actual murder and her relationship with both the men who were killed.

Each chapter begins with a piece of correspondence or a witness testimony, which reflects the legal standards of the time. I found this extremely interesting and it really added to the dark atmosphere.
The title “Burial Rites” refers to whether the dead deserve to be buried on consecrated ground.

Kent brings the harsh Icelandic environment sharply to life. We experience how the characters struggle to maintain their meager existence out of the land, continually battling the threat of severe weather. Agnes is an incredibly tragic figure and the descriptions of the bleak and miserable lives of the other characters and how they live will fill you with pity. Children and servants are thrown out into the harsh weather to die. I kept thinking as I read....how could I ever live such an existence? How were these people able to live in such poverty and endure such desperation and loneliness?

Despite the depressing subject, I felt that the book was beautifully written and the story compelling. I haven't been able to stop thinking about Agnes and the rest of the characters. It's a book that will stay with me for a long, long time I think. ...more

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