Burial Rites
by Hannah Kent.
Spoiler Alert!
We all agreed that it was a distinct advantage not to have read the notes at the end, the end of the book and by definition this report before completing the book in its entirety.
If you are reading this to see if this is a book worth reading.
Take our word for it.
It is and read no further!
All of us nurtured a hope that Agnes would not meet her final doom and would not be executed, allowing for a kind of “Deus ex machina” ending.
That was not to be and being totally sure of that in advance would have spoiled the story.
The structure of the book earned much praise with the factual letters between the various authorities offering a form of grim reality.
The extent of the writer’s research is revealed in the notes at the back of the book and I for one had not realised that these letters had been meticulously researched and translated.
The descriptions in the book gained much praise with the words “beautifully” written reoccurring frequently.
Iceland itself adds much to the character of the book and it is a very visual in the descriptions of both the crofts and the landscapes.
“Air as thin as paper.”
“The sun warming the bones of the earth.”
"Sleep came to me slowly like a thin tide of water".
It is a description of life in a harsh climate with the necessity of getting on with life being a prerequisite to survival.
A powerful book where communities care for each other.
Most people felt that the characters of Agnes, Toti and Margret were very well developed.
Toti, without realising it, did exactly the right thing for Agnes.
He fell in love with her, a fact that he hid from himself, but not the reader.
The final chapter where he accompanies her to her death is excruciating in its detail and reality.
The relationship of the characters of Margret and Agnes develops throughout the book with Margret’s growing understanding and compassion.
The over-riding sentiment in the book, however is despair.
We only get Agnes’s view of what happened at the end of the book which adds to the tension.
She is a strong intelligent woman who is exploited by Natan and abandoned by her mother in her early years.
She is condemned because of her intelligence and because of the unfairness between men and women.
Natan, who most people were hoping would be a sympathetic character, is an intelligent, but very manipulative and scheming man.
Some felt that the minor characters were under developed, particularly that of Jon, but there is humour in the character of nosey neighbour Roisin.
Blondal betrays himself through his letters as a bombastic official.
Another excellent read that none of us felt that we would have chosen, “off the shelf.”
|
