- Paperback: 581 pages
- Publisher: Fawcett Books; 1st Ballantine Books Trade Pbk. Ed edition (Sep 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 044991089X
- ISBN-13: 978-0449910894
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.1 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 346,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
"HAUNTING."
--The New York Times Book Review
Jane Smiley, the Pultizer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres, gives us a magnificent novel of fourteenth-century Greenland. Rich with fascinating detail about the day-to-day joys and innumerable hardships of remarkable people, The Greenlanders is also the compelling story of one family--proud landowner Asgeir Gunnarsson; his daughter Margret, whose willful independence leads her into passionate adultery and exile; and his son Gunnar, whose quest for knowledge is at the compelling center of this unforgettable book. Echoing the simple power of the old Norse sagas, here is a novel that brings a remote civilization to life and shows how it was very like our own.
"TOTALLY COMPELLING . . . FASCINATING . . . In the manner of the big books of the nineteenth century, in which complex family and community matters unravel--Dickens, Dumas, Tolstoy--The Greenlanders sweeps the reader along. . . . Jane Smiley is a true storyteller."
--The Washington Post
"A POWERFUL, MOVING STUDY OF HUMAN FRAILTY AND THE EPHEMERAL NATURE OF COURAGE AND LOVE."
--USA Today
"WONDERFUL . . . A HISTORICAL NOVEL WITH THE NEARNESS OF CONTEMPORARY FICTION."
--The New Republic
"[AN] EPIC MASTERPIECE . . . SPELLBINDING."
--Newsday
--The New York Times Book Review
Jane Smiley, the Pultizer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres, gives us a magnificent novel of fourteenth-century Greenland. Rich with fascinating detail about the day-to-day joys and innumerable hardships of remarkable people, The Greenlanders is also the compelling story of one family--proud landowner Asgeir Gunnarsson; his daughter Margret, whose willful independence leads her into passionate adultery and exile; and his son Gunnar, whose quest for knowledge is at the compelling center of this unforgettable book. Echoing the simple power of the old Norse sagas, here is a novel that brings a remote civilization to life and shows how it was very like our own.
"TOTALLY COMPELLING . . . FASCINATING . . . In the manner of the big books of the nineteenth century, in which complex family and community matters unravel--Dickens, Dumas, Tolstoy--The Greenlanders sweeps the reader along. . . . Jane Smiley is a true storyteller."
--The Washington Post
"A POWERFUL, MOVING STUDY OF HUMAN FRAILTY AND THE EPHEMERAL NATURE OF COURAGE AND LOVE."
--USA Today
"WONDERFUL . . . A HISTORICAL NOVEL WITH THE NEARNESS OF CONTEMPORARY FICTION."
--The New Republic
"[AN] EPIC MASTERPIECE . . . SPELLBINDING."
--Newsday
From the Back Cover
At the edge of the polar icecap is medieval Europe's most farflung outpost, a Viking colony settled for generations but now struggling for survival. Here, far from the civilised world, in a land of glittering fjords, of blasting winds, of sun-warmed meadows and high dark mountains, live a people much accustomed to holding their own opinions and doing as they please. They are, however, haunted by a rising apprehension: with every year that passes the winters seem unaccountably more cruel; the fur-clad eskimos from the North more demonic; there are increasing outbursts of lawlessness and witchcraft. Has Europe, in the grip of the plague, forgotten the Greenlanders? If so, will they be able to survive in their isolation?
In this powerful and hypnotic novel Jane Smiley draws us into a fourteenth-century Norse community – into the lives of its farmers, priests and lawspeakers, into the hunts, the feasts and the long-standing feuds, the flowerings of love and the explosions of sudden violence – to reveal a world which is at once harsh and beautiful, bleak yet vibrant with life.
"This extraordinary novel is full of life and bristling with action."
COSMOPOLITAN
"A magnificent novel, Jane Smiley has brought to her immaculately researched material a deep sympathy with her characters, a sparkling imagination and a faultless narrative skill. She has truly written a saga, which is biblical in its rhythm, beauty and simplicity of language and yet which has all the excitement of a modern adventure novel."
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'The Age of Grief, Ordinary Love' and 'A Thousand Acres' (which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) are also available in Flamingo.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Not many people now know that, during the Medieval Warm Period, Viking explorers discovered an island with a belt of verdant green girdling sparklingly white glaciers. Two colonies were planted on this "green-land", and soon were exporting dairy products and other things to Europe. But, as the Little Ice Age began to grip the Earth, life became harder and harder, until a European lifestyle became untenable in the new, harsher Greenland.
This is the story of the family of Asgeir Gunnarsson, a wealthy Greenlander farmer. As the world around them grows colder and darker, they go on about their lives: living and farming, competing and fighting, loving and singing. And each year, the winter comes earlier and life gets a little harder.
I found this book quite by chance one day, and was intrigued by it. It is a healthy read at 558 pages, but well worth it! Jane Smiley paints a fascinating picture of life in Viking Greenland, one that seems so true to the history books, and one in which the character seem so alive. Indeed, by the time you finish the book, you will feel like the characters in it are alive and right around the corner somewhere.
This is a great book, one that will appeal to anyone interested in the Vikings, and one that will appeal to anyone who loves good fiction. I highly recommend this book!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read 'Moo' and sought out more Jane Smiley writing. This was so different in style and tone it could have been by a different writer, and like other contributors here I found it hard work to read. However, as I became more involved with her characters and their community, I was gripped.
Smiley's spare writing in this book reflects the cruelty of the environment that houses her characters, and the transient relationships we have with the people beautifully draw our attention to the fragility of our own existence and that of our societies.
I read this book some years ago but it has resonated with me since and is one of a very few books I find myself thinking of and mentioning to friends.
Smiley's spare writing in this book reflects the cruelty of the environment that houses her characters, and the transient relationships we have with the people beautifully draw our attention to the fragility of our own existence and that of our societies.
I read this book some years ago but it has resonated with me since and is one of a very few books I find myself thinking of and mentioning to friends.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I was given this book by accident -- I was not a fan of ice, cold, old Norse, or any of it. I simply had nothing else to read. What I found between the pages was a story that has since inspired me to seek out every piece of known information on Greenland. Smiley's literary style in this book is to tell a fictional story as hard cold fact -- non-persuasive, non-judgemental. The depictions produce unforgettable mental visuals, making you feel more like a spectator than a reader.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
unusual and gripping
very unusual and a bit archaic(intentionally) style makes this novel stand out.I am all into this kind of stuff(cold and unforgiving landscapes,tough people,hard life,...). Read more
Published 20 months ago by bumblebee
An excellent historic view of Greenland - without a compelling story.
Jane Smiley definitely has a talent for detail - exactly the kind of detail I was looking for. How did sheep and cows survive the winter? Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2006 by Louise Amkaer
Preparation for a historical tour of Norse Greenland
Our view of this book is a bit different than the other reviewers. We read this book as part of our preparation for a week touring in the old Norse Eastern Settlement, in Southern... Read more
Published on 14 April 1998
An oddity worth reading
Who writes novels about Greenlanders in the 13th century? Nobody, except Jane Smiley
--and she pulls it off. Read more
--and she pulls it off. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 1998
A compelling tale, one I have read and re-read.
The story begins at the peak of the Greenlander's prosperity and the reader joins it for the downhill slide. Read more
Published on 15 Dec 1997
Characters we care about in a vast story
I am used to reading modern literature which tends to get inside the mind of the character and move at a very slow pace. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 1997
Well-crafted historical tale -- true to its origins!
Interesting how perceptions & ratings vary re: the same material. Contrary to the review appearing below mine, I found this book to be a fine historical piece (though I only... Read more
Published on 8 Aug 1997
A bit too frozen, read Vollman's Ice Shirt instead
Usually I fly right through Jane Smiley's books, but this one lacks a vibrant touch. Maybe it is the dark frozen setting, maybe it is the characters who are all Lief the son of... Read more
Published on 18 Jun 1997
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