Smilla's Sense of Snow/Cassettes

Rating:
Summary: Best book of '93 and '97
Review: I read this book in 1993 and again in 1997 after the movie was released. A page-turner in the Grisham 'brain-candy' sense, yet intelligent with many a red-herring. The cold feel that Smilla gives is memorable; there is no character like her. You feel empathy for her - an empathy you believe she personally would dismiss. Vivid and rivetting.

Rating:
Summary: RAISING A "MYSTERY" TO LITERATURE
Review: As a writer, I'm interested in style and mood as well as character and plot. "Smilla" is awesome on all counts - a book I would have given anything to write. I've read it twice, which I never do with other mysteries, and seen the movie, which I also liked. The identification between Smilla, torn from her Greenlander roots as a child and left alienated and wounded, and the little boy, whose death she won't allow to be casually dismissed, is moving and satisfying. The digressions about math, ice, and Greenland are half of what makes the book literature instead of genre fiction. The other half is the sensational writing style, bleak,unsentimental, complex and brave like Smilla. True, there are a few stumbles here and there, and especially at the end, but only because the book is so ambitious. The impression I have is of a serious novelist who sets out to write a best-seller and can't help raising all the tired old elements of the genre to new heights. Mr. Hoeg's other books are fascinating but less accessible because they are more experimental. I wonder if he will "descend" to popular fiction again

Rating:
Summary: A well-wrtten and translated book with an unusual p.o.v.
Review: For someone who doesn't normally read fiction, I was impressed by this book, which is most noteworthy for the interesting life insights offered by the main character, Smilla. I can see how someone might get frozen in the heavy technical language and "iceology," but it's a small price to pay for a perspective that is fresh and creamily Danish. The translation is obviously masterful, but a little more editiing might have been good for Hoeg's sales. Skate over the thick parts where Hoeg's fascination with ice chills; and enjoy an unsual mystery-thriller that challenges your imagination and sense of snow

Rating:
Summary: Smilla's Sense of Snow is a Story of Slush!!
Review: I was extremely excited to read this and what a letdown!! Between the Greenlandic/Danish names and terms w\ 20 letters in them and the shallow characters (barring Smilla) it was no wonder it took a couple weeks to trudge through this. Big hype led to bigger disappointment. I finished it (finally!!) and in retrospect, asked myself 'What did I just read about for 2 weeks??

Rating:
Summary: Poignant, acerbic and suspensful
Review: Luckily, I had just finished reading this before seeing the recently released film version. "Smilla" is a gem. A first-person story told through the eyes of a smart, cynical female misanthrope, Smilla. This social malcontent's gradual, even reluctant, bonding with 6-year old Isaiah is one of the most touching relationships in print. Her rage at his mysterious death, and her stubborn insistence on justice in the face of bureaucratic indifference and personal danger, form the basis of a ripping good suspense novel. The ending stinks, but it doesn't matter. Smilla's character is so compelling and finely wrought, and her motivations so deeply felt that they more than compensate for any deficiencies in plot. I loved how the author pivots the story around Smilla's digressions on subjects ranging from Euclid's concept of 'absolute space' to the subtlties of snow and ice. A very intelligent work. Highly recommended

Rating:
Summary: Much over-rated
Review: This book was recommended to me by a local bookstore owner, who said that it was stunning. I read it, slogging through most of it, as if it were the snow Hoeg writes about. It was stunningly mediocre. I did not like, understand, or emapthize with any of the characters, and I was happy when I finished

Rating:
Summary: Please give me a chance to tell you why I liked it
Review: I liked this book very much. I think that everyone, given a chance, will like this book as well. It's a real gem. PLEASE believe me! This is why (don't get mad at me if you disagree): it's not hard to read, but it's worthwhile anyway. (Does that make sense?) It's not in Danish, it's been translated into English, which is a good thing because I don't read Danish (Joke!). I like the main character, the protagonist, Smilla, but she scares me too! She's a little bit like a husky, a female husky. I once had a dog like that. It bit me when I was playing with it and had green eyes. I imagine Smilla to have green eyes and black hair. She wears fur boots. I liked the sentences more than anything in this book. They were just the right size for me. But it is a very serious book! You should read it

Rating:
Summary: Most boring book I've ever finished
Review: I was told how great a book this was. I read it, expecting to be enthralled. It was a struggle--I decided to finish it, but at no point did I get it. The characters were unbelievable; Smilla's psychobabble was just annoying; her constant commentary on different words for ice and snow was pretentious; her adventures were preposterous; and the plot was ultimately a disappointment. Smilla and all the characters in it are depressing bores. Maybe you need the Scandinavian sense of doom to appreciate this book. In my opinion, it was definitely the worst.

Rating:
Summary: Reading "on the rocks"
Review: Frozen and seasick slipping on the decks of the POLAR STAR in Martin Cruz's book, then viewing life's messes from the fur lined jacket hood of a young woman explorer in ANTARTIC NAVIGATION by Elizbeth Arthur . . breathlessly waiting for a glacier to melt in ICEFIELDS by Thomas Wharton and then Smilla takes the ice cake and wraps it around you with blood and suspense and most wonderful: an author who realizes that females can be strong. . . what a winter of reading

Rating:
Summary: snow gets fascinating
Review: It is as I have discovered the myths of snow: thrilling, challenging and fascinating. Hoeg took me around in a world which is not so far away from me, but he described another planet. His descriptions are so intense that I made plans to follow the steps of Miss Smilla. Lucky me, I am living close to Copenhagen