From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
4.5 stars. I don't have words.
This is the kind of book I would tell almost anyone to read, whether they were interested in the synopsis or not. It's not an easy read, although it reads fast. You'll need a strong stomach at times, which I knew going in, and you should know too.
The writing is what I'm having a hard time describing. It is crisp and sparse and clean and simply, beautiful. This is a book you read to experience Hannah Kent's uncanny ability. She is 28. This is her first novel. And I ...more
This is the kind of book I would tell almost anyone to read, whether they were interested in the synopsis or not. It's not an easy read, although it reads fast. You'll need a strong stomach at times, which I knew going in, and you should know too.
The writing is what I'm having a hard time describing. It is crisp and sparse and clean and simply, beautiful. This is a book you read to experience Hannah Kent's uncanny ability. She is 28. This is her first novel. And I ...more
I listened to the audio version of this book. I can describe this book in one word, AWESOME. It is beautifully written, it's haunting, the narrator has a beautiful voice. The narrator really captured the main character, Agnes, and also managed to do the different voices very well. This is probably the best book that I've read this year, and highly recommend it to all of my friends. If you have the time, please consider listening to it, you won't be disappointed.
My one complaint is that there rea ...more
My one complaint is that there rea ...more
This is Hannah Kent's writing debut and it is impressive. Burial Rites is a story of circumstance. It is the true story of Agnes Magnusdottir and is historical fiction at its best. Kent took what little was known of Agnes' story and with research and imagination was able to flesh out a compelling and thorough story.
The story is set in Iceland during the early 19th century. Kent portrays the setting as both beautiful and isolated. Family farms are spread apart from each other and must be fairly ...more
The story is set in Iceland during the early 19th century. Kent portrays the setting as both beautiful and isolated. Family farms are spread apart from each other and must be fairly ...more
This is a good book, although it’s exceedingly grim. Some have called it “atmospheric” and that’s part of it - the snow, the smoke from dung and peat fires, the dirt, the dark … but it’s more than that. The unrelenting cruelty that Agnes experiences is pretty hard to take at some points. It’s a very bleak book.
This book is based on a true story, and you can tell that it was meticulously researched.
Maybe a bit too much, as I found some of the legal correspondence, etc really dragged the
novel down. That said, it is very evocative of time and place (rural Iceland in the 1820s),
and it is beautifully written.
Maybe a bit too much, as I found some of the legal correspondence, etc really dragged the
novel down. That said, it is very evocative of time and place (rural Iceland in the 1820s),
and it is beautifully written.
Sep 23, 2013
MichelleCH
marked it as to-read
Nov 18, 2013
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Mar 22, 2014
Kirsten Barber
marked it as to-read-soon
Apr 08, 2014
Nanosynergy
marked it as to-read
Aug 25, 2015
Kirsty
marked it as to-read
Jan 16, 2016
Brittany Gillis
marked it as to-read
Mar 18, 2017
Snowtulip
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
suspense-mystery,
historical
Mar 18, 2017
Terri
marked it as bound-together
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
icelandic-fiction
Jun 11, 2017
Curlysue
marked it as to-read
Dec 27, 2020
Heather
marked it as to-read
