A Thousand Acres

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Summary: This novel makes me grateful that Jane Smiley exists
Review: Jane Smiley's greatest gift, in my opinion, is her ability to create characters that we've all met. In her short story, "The Pleasure of Her Company," the protagonist is an over-eager and slightly annoying woman who does things that make the reader cringe, not in disgust, but in sympathy. In her novella "Good Will," Smiley carefully describes an idyllic life that the protagonists holds so dear, and does away with it almost thoughtlessly. Smiley gets inside tragedy like nobody I've ever read. At the precise moment when I begin to care about a character or place, she destroys that character or place. A THOUSAND ACRES is no exception. None of her main characters are "character," overly colorful archetypes. They're real, and we don't get to know them in a few glib chapters. It's a slow and almost painful process. This book isn't extraordinary because of Jane Smiley's faultless grasp on incest, or on sisters, or on illness. Those are reasons to read it, but not to love it. This is a brilliant novel because asoon as you realize how much her characters and all of their quirks mean to you, Jane Smiley devastates them. She has the courage to ruin such beauty, and creates a greater beauty in doing so

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Summary: A Thousand Acres By Jane Smiley
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone who is up for a twisted story jam packed with disturbing conflicts and emotionally distraught characters. This tale is about a well-known farmer, Larry Cook, who hands his 1000-acre farm down to his two daughters Ginny and Rose. In his original arrangement he was planning on distributing his land to all three of his daughters, but the youngest of the three was cut from the deal because of her lack of enthusiasm towards this generous offer. While the two oldest daughters and their husbands suffered through the trials and tribulations of the farming life, Larry Cook was deteriorating into a pathetic drunk. Throughout this novel Jane Smiley does a superb job of realistically describing the tragic incidents and past family problems that were stirred up during Ginny and Roses ownership of this land.
There are some minor flaws included in this book, such as the unnecessary reference to the past at the beginning of each chapter, but if you can look past them this a great read for anyone who can relate to family problems. I also want to notify anyone who is thinking about reading this book that there are many disturbing conflicts and harsh words used in each confrontation to add realism to the story. This complex book has enlightened me and helped me realize that any thing is possible, and I'm sure if you choose to read this novel it will have an impact on you also.

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Summary: A wonderful..
Review: book full of rich descriptions making you feel as if you are there. I couldn't put this book down. I do however feel that I didn't understand the dad fully and wanted to know why he was really acting that way in court etc. Caroline's part could have been developed a little more, but that is life! All in all a wonderful read!

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Summary: Nonstop Thrill
Review: In A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley keeps her audience wanting to read more with each word. This novel is an drama to the extreme. Between Rose's breast cancer and the horrible truth that comes out about their father, the reader can't help but wonder what will happen next. What happens in the novel is that Ginny's dad decides to retire from being a farmer. He offers the land to his three girls, but the youngest, Caroline, refuses the land causing her father to cut her completely out of everything. This causes many painful memories from the past to return. Smiley shows a good use of detail. She paints a perfect image in the readers mind. She also uses extreme irony, in the fact of what the father did to his girls. She shows the audience that asumptions from Rose thinking that Ginny knows what her father did to her as a child are not true. This novel discusses many issues, but what is feel is one of the main issue discussed in it is child molestation. The author shows it's reader that this event in a child's life can severly change his/her feelings about that parent. This relates to the larger issue of rape that is sweeping over the country. I feel that this is a serious issue and should be addressed, and that kids should be aware that it is wrong for their parents to do that to them. In conclusion, this book is a nonstop thrill, from the minute you read the first word, until the moment you read the last phrase.

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Summary: Poor parallels
Review: While reading and scanning some of these summaries, I felt urged to write in response to some of the supporters. Most especially, there was one man who claimed that people who did not this book were younger people forced to read it for school. Well, I will admit that I am a seventeen year old girl forced to read it for her AP Literature class. However, that does not change the fact that my high expectations for this novel were poorly realized. "King Lear", which I adored, was the assigned reading book before "A Thousand Acres", and I was thorougly disappointed to the point of extreme anger at Smiley's perversion of Shakespeare's classic tale. Her parallels were ill-made and strove too hard to make the link. As a classmate of mine observed "it stands well-enough on its own". I agree with that, but will take it further by claiming that she should have left "King Lear" completely out of this book, which I feel is better suited to be a Harlequin Romance as opposed to a heralded piece of literature. Her action is completely coincidential, and the events which she forces these characters she's formed go completely against their nature. Her writing style is stilted and boring and, frankly, I don't appreciate having to go through the sexual fantasies of the main character, especially when she thinks of herself as a sow. I regret to say that I feel that Smiley pushed her creative talents too far and forced this story of hers to consent to being this inferior piece of work. I cannot believe that she dares to compare the incestuous relationships between Larry Cook and his daughters Ginny and Rose to Lear's pure father/daughter relationships to Goneril and Regan (another thing which annoyed me, incredibly unoriginal names; Larry - Lear, Ginny - Goneril, Rose - Regan, Caroline - Cordelia... she even named Caroline's husband Frank: in King Lear, Cordelia married the king of France. That is not wit, Ms. Smiley, that's just plain idiotic, and rather silly too). In addition, her sentences were full of redundancies and somewhat stupid-sounding phrases, such as "they crossed the road the way one does in the country a hundred times a day without looking either way". What is that point of that? Does it contribute to this 'literary art-form'? To all you 'adults' out there who feel that we students are too young to understand this "deep" piece, think about why that might or might not be. I resent her storyline about incest and extramarrital affairs, why don't you? I pray to God that I never become mature enough to accept such a thing as normal and genius.

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Summary: Lear on the farm
Review: I read this about 12 years ago and loved it. Smiley has a way with words. She describes anything well, whether it's her characters' thoughts, farm work or a dream. Her word choice is immaculate. As for the story, how can you go wrong with "King Lear"? Smiley transports Shakespeare to the modern family farm and keeps all of Shakespeare's power. It's not a ripoff as one reviewer put it, but an homage to the master. Highly recommended!

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Summary: Disappointing
Review: Despite my friends highly rating this book, I just couldn't get into it. I found it unconvincing with weak premises and I failed to establish a strong bond with the characters. Very disappointing.

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Summary: A Great Read
Review: Smiley weaves a story that slowly draws you in and once hooked, it's hard to put down. The drama is subtle, in the beginning we learn about the characters and their somewhat simple life. But as we get to know them we learn of their haunting secrets and go with them into their fear, their anger, and choices they make to grow into the people they wish to become. I found myself gasping at times. I couldn't believe that the simple family had such underlying issues. I loved this book.

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Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: This book leaves the reader with many questions about human nature and the meaning of family. It begins with a detailed accounting of life on a family farm in 1979 in Iowa. The father, Larry, and his three daughters, Rose, Ginny, and Caroline, are willed the family farm when Larry retires. This is a dark story, with secrets, many tragic figures, recovered memories, greed, deceit, and betrayl. It is a powerful story and it is beautifully written. Smiley is very gifted in shaping language and her characters are complex with all their flaws and strengths carefully revealed. I recommend this book to readers who are looking for a book that will stretch their mind and draw them into an elaborate and well crafted story.

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Summary: Modern midwestern farm version of A Thousand Acres
Review: This novel feels slow and heavy for about 100 pages. But the description is wonderful. The novel then picks up as the story of the family unfolds. For me the slow opening seemed like what the average person thinks of farm life viewed from afar i.e. that it would be dull and burdensome but down to earth. Yet, like most of life, upon closer look, farm-life and farm families are laden with their own drama and turmoil. Some of the visuals and the sounds Smiley evokes still haunt me and it's been years since I read this book.