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sksrenninger's review against another edition
2.0
Another one I couldn't finish. I might come back to it—it's an interesting experience, to say the least—but I wanted to be more invested than I was. I liked the idea of reading a Scandinavian epic, but apparently I didn't like the reality. Very cool character names, though!
angelamichelle's review against another edition
4.0
This book went on and on and on--which I usually hate. But instead I loved spooling along with the generations of story. Several scenes still stand out in my memory, like the mother who watches her blonde children frolic on a sunny hill and wonders if God will punish her for loving them so much.
aliciaczellmer's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
alisonjfields's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this because the subject matter is right up my alley and I hoped the historical setting and the Vikings(!!) would alleviate the overwhelming doze-factor that put me off Jane Smiley after I snoozed my way through "The Thousand Acres." Alas. Well-written? Yes. A fair take on the Norse saga? Sure. Literary Ambien? Absolutely.
krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/07/15/review-1372-the-greenlanders/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/07/15/review-1372-the-greenlanders/
kathieboucher's review against another edition
5.0
It's interesting how the reviews of this book run across the spectrum from "unreadable" to "all time favorite".
Put me in the "all time favorite" camp--I was totally enthralled by this tale of life in 14th century Greenland. The somewhat distant writing style, modeled after the Norse Saga, perfectly complements the harsh life of the characters. Its spare language evokes Norse life and customs, but it still sets the stage vividly and defines the characters and their humanity.
This will be one of my top books of all time.
Put me in the "all time favorite" camp--I was totally enthralled by this tale of life in 14th century Greenland. The somewhat distant writing style, modeled after the Norse Saga, perfectly complements the harsh life of the characters. Its spare language evokes Norse life and customs, but it still sets the stage vividly and defines the characters and their humanity.
This will be one of my top books of all time.
tittypete's review against another edition
2.0
First off I have to say that as one story I couldn’t follow what was going on in this book. I just kept reading to get it over with.
Basically there are a bunch of Nordic ‘folk’ (the author uses this word relentlessly, along with ‘niggardly’ and ‘wadmal’) who are in Greenland. They pass the time starving, having kids that die and dealing with Skraelings (Greenland Inuit). Life seems to suck pretty bad. It’s just eating seal meat (sometimes reindeer) and drinking ‘sourmilk.’ There is no booze because nothing grows in Greenland that you can make it with. Everybody is Christian now so there’s little to no Thor-talk. Occasionally someone gets a little too pumped and kills other ‘folk’. One guy, Kolgrim gets accused of witchcraft for seducing another guy’s wife and is burned at the stake. Skraelings seem to fare better. The like to rip the norsemen off and take their women. They are fat, giggly and really good with spears and skinboats.
UPDATE: I looked it up and supposedly this book is meant to be written in the style of old Norse sagas. That’s why it’s so impenetrable. One reviewer compared it to Tolkien’s Silmarillion. This is funny because my initial reaction to it was that it was like a hobbit book minus the magic and food.
I respect the adherence to the form of the times and think maybe I ought to give this one another chance somewhere down the road. Right now I’m just relieved not to have to read any more about characters with names like Sira Pall Halvardsson in sentences like: “Sira Pall Halvardsson walked along the path in the much the way Sira Pall Halvardsson tended to walk for it was the ambition of Sira Pall Halvardsson to get to Gunnar Stead and announce the arrival of Sira Pall Halvardsson to which he was sure he would receive a most Sira Pall Halvardsson-worthy reception from the warm-hearted fold of the steading replete with copious amounts of sourmilk, Sira Pall Halvardsson’s favorite.”
Sira Pall Halvardsson.
Basically there are a bunch of Nordic ‘folk’ (the author uses this word relentlessly, along with ‘niggardly’ and ‘wadmal’) who are in Greenland. They pass the time starving, having kids that die and dealing with Skraelings (Greenland Inuit). Life seems to suck pretty bad. It’s just eating seal meat (sometimes reindeer) and drinking ‘sourmilk.’ There is no booze because nothing grows in Greenland that you can make it with. Everybody is Christian now so there’s little to no Thor-talk. Occasionally someone gets a little too pumped and kills other ‘folk’. One guy, Kolgrim gets accused of witchcraft for seducing another guy’s wife and is burned at the stake. Skraelings seem to fare better. The like to rip the norsemen off and take their women. They are fat, giggly and really good with spears and skinboats.
UPDATE: I looked it up and supposedly this book is meant to be written in the style of old Norse sagas. That’s why it’s so impenetrable. One reviewer compared it to Tolkien’s Silmarillion. This is funny because my initial reaction to it was that it was like a hobbit book minus the magic and food.
I respect the adherence to the form of the times and think maybe I ought to give this one another chance somewhere down the road. Right now I’m just relieved not to have to read any more about characters with names like Sira Pall Halvardsson in sentences like: “Sira Pall Halvardsson walked along the path in the much the way Sira Pall Halvardsson tended to walk for it was the ambition of Sira Pall Halvardsson to get to Gunnar Stead and announce the arrival of Sira Pall Halvardsson to which he was sure he would receive a most Sira Pall Halvardsson-worthy reception from the warm-hearted fold of the steading replete with copious amounts of sourmilk, Sira Pall Halvardsson’s favorite.”
Sira Pall Halvardsson.
lunaseassecondaccount's review against another edition
2.0
Second reading:
I gave up at 25 pages. I thought ten years later, after having devoured several other tomes (namely War and Peace, which I loved, and Les Mis, which I found middling) I'd have a better crack at tackling this.
I couldn't get through it. It's dense. Very, very dense. And as much as I want to actually dig into this because it combines both the medieval era and Greenland, I just can't get past the wall of text.
*
I was very disappointed by this book, especially considering I've been wanting to read it since I was fourteen or so. I found the writing to be dense, which in itself isn't that big a problem, but given it was compounded by multiple-page-long paragraphs, and little distinction in time, I found the words swimming and frustrating to read. All a pity, really, as I was hoping to enjoy this book.
The Norwegian-styled naming didn't bother me too much if I really concentrated on the flow of the story, but all the same the amount of characters started to get garbled.
I get the impression that this might have been part of a larger thesis, or something similar, which accounts for part of the formatting. Even so, I really think this would work better with more spacing/improved formatting.
I gave up at 25 pages. I thought ten years later, after having devoured several other tomes (namely War and Peace, which I loved, and Les Mis, which I found middling) I'd have a better crack at tackling this.
I couldn't get through it. It's dense. Very, very dense. And as much as I want to actually dig into this because it combines both the medieval era and Greenland, I just can't get past the wall of text.
*
I was very disappointed by this book, especially considering I've been wanting to read it since I was fourteen or so. I found the writing to be dense, which in itself isn't that big a problem, but given it was compounded by multiple-page-long paragraphs, and little distinction in time, I found the words swimming and frustrating to read. All a pity, really, as I was hoping to enjoy this book.
The Norwegian-styled naming didn't bother me too much if I really concentrated on the flow of the story, but all the same the amount of characters started to get garbled.
I get the impression that this might have been part of a larger thesis, or something similar, which accounts for part of the formatting. Even so, I really think this would work better with more spacing/improved formatting.