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The Greenlanders
Jane Smiley. Fawcett Books: 1996 (paperback). ISBN: 044991089X. 582 pages.
Guide not available
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OK, this one comes with a warning label. "It's long. It's different. It takes a while to
get used to." But if you don't mind long and a little strange, you are in for a unique and surprising treat. We are
willing to wager that no one in your book group or classroom has recently complained, "Gosh, I am so tired of novels
about fourteenth-century Greenland--can't we read something else? Smiley is probably most famous for her National Book
Award-winning novel One Thousand Acres--a contemporary reworking of the King Lear story set on a Midwestern farm.
In this earlier novel, Smiley crafts another epic tale of family triumph and tragedy, but she chooses a most unusual time,
setting, and narrative style to do so. Life isn't pretty in fourteenth-century Greenland, but it sure is interesting. It takes
some time to get used to Smiley's matter-of-fact, old-fashioned story-telling tone: major characters meet, die, and disappear
without fanfare. But if you stick with it, you will be rewarded with more than a great story. It's more appropriate to call this
novel a significant life experience.
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