Jane Smiley

a novel

A thousand acres

A.L.L.

This book was well written, but I have mixed feelings about it. 

----spoilers kinda. more so allusions to events without naming them----

The book meanders for the majority of the story, small speckles of drama among the daily mundane, but then picks up suddenly and drops you unceremoniously at the end of the story. I think it was by design, but the culmination of events at the end felt rushed and for shock value, like a sudden train crash.

There were a lot of elements that were interesting. The considerations for costs of farming, prices of land, urbanization. The element of how pollution can affect communities in ways the people living there might not be aware of or consider, but which have significant impact on their lives. 

The characters felt real enough, especially in the ways in which they were unlikable. 

I think this was probably a good book, if from no other indicator than I have found myself thinking of it multiple times since I finished reading it. At the same time it feels hard to tell. I don't think I enjoyed reading it. It's definitely a big slice of Americana.

thousand acres

Sarah Escorsa

Charlie Beckerman

Durante generaciones, la familia de Larry Cook ha trabajado sin descanso hasta convertir un terreno pantanoso e inhóspito en una de las granjas más prósperas del condado de Zebulon, en Iowa. El propio Larry ha consagrado su vida a este cometido, por eso todos se sorprenden cuando, en mitad de una celebración con vecinos y familiares, comunica la cesión inmediata de la propiedad a sus hijas. Las tres herederas reaccionan de forma muy distinta al anuncio del padre, movidas por sus diferentes personalidades y circunstancias: Ginny es una mujer llena de buenas intenciones, si bien frustrada por su infertilidad; Rose lucha por recuperar su fortaleza tras someterse a un duro tratamiento médico; y Caroline ejerce como abogada en la ciudad, ajena al día a día de la granja. Cuando esta última muestra reticencias ante la rara iniciativa de su padre y la complacencia de sus hermanas, Larry responde excluyéndola tajantemente de la herencia.

A thousand acres a novel

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