The novel gives a speculative account of the Norse inhabitation of Greenland in the 14th and 15th centuries, written in the style of an Icelandic or Norse saga.
Plotedit
The Greenlanders describes the daily affairs of Nordic settlers living in medieval southern Greenland, including marriages, births, deaths, famines, epidemics, trials at the Thing, church affairs, land feuds, seal hunts, military invasions, and encounters with Greenland's aboriginal inhabitants.
In particular, the book follows the lives of Gunnar Asgeirsson, an unlucky, violent, litigious man, and his sister, Margret Asgeirsdottir, a quiet, solitary, melancholic woman on their homestead in the Vatnahverfi district. Though the novel also follows the lives of many other Greenlanders, Gunnar and Margret function as the novel's protagonists. The novel also features several historically documented individuals and events in Greenland and elsewhere, including the spread of Islam into southern Europe, assaults on Greenlanders' settlements by English raiders, and the witchcraft trial of Kolgrim.
Receptionedit
The Greenlanders was reviewed favorably. Kirkus Reviews called it a "bleak, stirring picture of the slow slouch towards the death of a civilization".[1] In a 2010 Time article, American author Jonathan Franzen included it in his list of influential books,[2] and in an interview with Big Think, Franzen said, "I do not know of a better American novel within the last twenty years" than The Greenlanders.[3]
Referencesedit
^"THE GREENLANDERS by Jane Smiley". Kirkus Reviews. March 15, 1988. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^Franzen, Jonathan (August 12, 2010). "'The Greenlanders' by Jane Smiley - Franzen's Bookshelf". Time. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^Franzen, Jonathan (April 14, 2008). Jonathan Franzen on Underappreciated Books. Big Think. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
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greenlanders, 1988, historical, fiction, epic, novel, american, author, jane, smiley, first, edition, coverauthorjane, smileycover, artistjohn, rushcountryunited, stateslanguageenglishpublisheralfred, knopfpublication, datemarch, 1988media, typeprintpages558is. The Greenlanders is a 1988 historical fiction epic novel by American author Jane Smiley The GreenlandersFirst edition coverAuthorJane SmileyCover artistJohn RushCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishPublisherAlfred A KnopfPublication dateMarch 12 1988Media typePrintPages558ISBN0 394 55120 6LC ClassPS3569 M39 G7 1988 The novel gives a speculative account of the Norse inhabitation of Greenland in the 14th and 15th centuries written in the style of an Icelandic or Norse saga Plot editThe Greenlanders describes the daily affairs of Nordic settlers living in medieval southern Greenland including marriages births deaths famines epidemics trials at the Thing church affairs land feuds seal hunts military invasions and encounters with Greenland s aboriginal inhabitants In particular the book follows the lives of Gunnar Asgeirsson an unlucky violent litigious man and his sister Margret Asgeirsdottir a quiet solitary melancholic woman on their homestead in the Vatnahverfi district Though the novel also follows the lives of many other Greenlanders Gunnar and Margret function as the novel s protagonists The novel also features several historically documented individuals and events in Greenland and elsewhere including the spread of Islam into southern Europe assaults on Greenlanders settlements by English raiders and the witchcraft trial of Kolgrim Reception editThe Greenlanders was reviewed favorably Kirkus Reviews called it a bleak stirring picture of the slow slouch towards the death of a civilization 1 In a 2010 Time article American author Jonathan Franzen included it in his list of influential books 2 and in an interview with Big Think Franzen said I do not know of a better American novel within the last twenty years than The Greenlanders 3 References edit THE GREENLANDERS by Jane Smiley Kirkus Reviews March 15 1988 Retrieved June 5 2016 Franzen Jonathan August 12 2010 The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley Franzen s Bookshelf Time Retrieved June 5 2016 Franzen Jonathan April 14 2008 Jonathan Franzen on Underappreciated Books Big Think Retrieved June 5 2016 nbsp This article about a historical novel of the 1980s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Greenlanders amp oldid 1149158768, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
