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pedanther's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a book about the present being built on the bones of the past. The plot has Smilla uncovering a sequence of events stretching back to the second world war, and ultimately caused by something that happened much longer ago. At the same time, the novelist is uncovering, a bit at a time, the events that made Smilla into the person she is. For each of the people she meets along the way, we're given a glimpse of what made them the people they've become. It reminds me of John le Carré's thrillers, which are similarly portraits of people under pressure.
It took me a while to finish this book, but not because I didn't enjoy it; it's a dense read, not to be gulped down too quickly or when the mind is already full of other things.
It took me a while to finish this book, but not because I didn't enjoy it; it's a dense read, not to be gulped down too quickly or when the mind is already full of other things.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, and Addiction
Minor: Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Colonisation, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Racism
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