A thousand acres is a novel that carries the reader through many ups and downs. The most successful farmer in his northwest iowa county, larry suddenly and inexplicably decides to. A thousand acres summary and analysis like sparknotes. Comparing jane smileys a thousand acres and william.
Kindles xray feature helpfully tells you how each character in a thousand acres is aligned to the characters in king lear. A thousand acres is the powerful, mythic story of an american farm family and the land that nourishes and consumes its members. We do not collect or store information about visitors of our site. A thousand acres by jane smiley in epub, rtf, txt download ebook. A thousand acres, told from the middle of three daughters, is a story about a small farming community in rural iowa during the mid1970s and is loosely based on king lear. A thousand acres jane smiley, 1991 knopf doubleday 384 pp. It won the 1992 pulitzer prize for fiction, the national book critics circle award for fiction in. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. It is may of 1979 and 36yearold narrator ginny cook smith describes the thousandacre iowa farm. A thousand acres, jane smileys novel based on king lear, won the pulitzer prize and was later made into a movie starring michelle pfeiffer and jessica lange. Is there a cliffnotessparknotesliterary guide for a thousand acres by jane smiley. A thousand acres book 1 chapters 1 4 summary course hero. But in reality, the characters most importance inheritance is abstract.
Chapter summary for jane smileys a thousand acres, book 2 chapters 8 10 summary. The country is flat, except for a small bump in the middle of a tintersection in a road. This was more like closing up shop, or, say, having a big garage sale, wher. A thousand acres by jane smiley study guide consists of approx. A young man infiltrates an anarchist cult in search of his exlove who disappeared there some time before. A thousand acres summary supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Summary winner of the 1992 pulitzer prize and national book critics circle award. A thousand acres by jane smiley plot summary litcharts.
I have looked at book stores and around the internet but have had no luck. A thousand acres is a 1991 novel by american author jane smiley. A thousand acres follows the lear story not slavishly, but obviously enough to provoke thought. A film adaptation was released in 1997 starring michelle pfeiffer and jessica lange. The story takes place in a small farming town in 1979 iowa and centers around the cook family. Discuss how the symbiotic relationship between person and place addressed in ms. King lear is everyones favorite shakespearean tragedy about an aging king who decides to become a nudist erhold up. A thousand acres study guide literature guide litcharts. The novel is told in firstperson from ginnys perspective. A thousand acres is an american retelling of shakespeares tragedy king lear. Comparative essay a thousand acres by jane smiley and king lear by william shakespeare shakespeares play, king lear, depicts lears journey to wisdom and humbleness before his tragic demise.
Its about family dynamics and the secrets that shape children into the adults that they become. Carter was seen by many as an incompetent, ineffectual leader, and perhaps the novels themes of impotence and infertility, and its frustrated tone are meant to mirror the famous malaise of the carter era. A thousand acres original motion picture soundtrack. I need to read the book for a lit class but am having trouble understanding parts of the novel. The novel begins in zebulon county of iowa where a family led by larry cook is composed of himself and three daughters by the names of ginny, rose and caroline. An analysis of jane smileys a thousand acres smiley. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on litcharts. His decision alters the familys life forever and forces his oldest daughter, ginny, the books narrator, to confront her past. With the help of young john cook and time, they drained the land. She is also the author of five works of nonfiction and a series of books for young adults. It is a rather large farm, so there is quite a bit of land to divvy up. The a thousand acres community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you.
A thousand acres makes disappointingly sudsy stuff out of the source material, but benefits from solid performances by a strong cast. With michelle pfeiffer, jessica lange, jennifer jason leigh, jason robards. In her pulitzer prize winner, jane smiley tells about an iowa farm family broken apart by death, time, and their dysfunctional relationships with one another. Ginny is married to ty, a farmer, rose is married to pete, a musician from another state, and caroline, the only one of the three daughters who attended college, is soon to be married to frank. Study guides a thousand acres by jane smiley plot summary jane smiley provides a powerful retelling of shakespeares classic lear story set on a contemporary iowa farm. A bunch of tragic shit happens that is mostly the fault of the men. We have to stand up to that, and say, at least to ourselves, that what. Each of whom are trying to receive an equal part of the farm corporation that their father had set up over the years. A thousand acres is divided into six books of varying length, each of which is composed of several numbered, untitled chapters. It looks like we dont have a synopsis for this title yet. Is there a cliffnotessparknotesliterary guide for a. A thousand acres is a 1997 american drama film directed by jocelyn moorhouse and starring michelle pfeiffer, jessica lange, jennifer jason leigh and jason robards it is an adaptation of the pulitzer prizewinning novel of the same name by jane smiley, which itself is a reworking of william shakespeares king lear. An analysis of the main themes in a thousand acres by jane. The a thousand acres community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and.
A thousand acres is indeed about farm life, but it is so much more than just that. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. A thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini is superbly written, has a pageturning story, and will help your book club learn more about afghanistan. Use these book club discussion questions to probe deeper into the story. Find summaries for every chapter, including a a thousand acres chapter summary chart to help you understand the book. Teach your students to analyze literature like litcharts does. An analysis of jane smileys a thousand acres jane smileys a thousand acres tells a dark tale of a corrupt patriarchal society which operates through concealment.
Depending on the study guide provider sparknotes, shmoop, etc. Hes laconic but prone to abusive outbursts, and this volitile temperment makes him unpredictible. The tragic ideas brought out by king lear are revisited in a thousand acres both containing universal themes in which societies from past to present can identify with. The main characters of this fiction, literary fiction story are. A thousand acres is mostly set in the late 1970s, when jimmy carter was the president of the united states.
The novel, a thousand acres, by jane smiley, revisits this classic tragedy through a modernday interpretation of shakespeares king lear. In the introduction, virginia ginny cook is describing her home of zebulon county, iowa. Written in 1991, a thousand acres is a pulitzer prizewinning novel by author jane smiley. A thousand acres, by jane smiley, is a story of incest, ignorance, and the imperialistic voice of the almighty man.
Published in 1991 and winner of the national book critics circle award in 1991 and the. A thousand acres is an ungainly, undigested assembly of womens issues, milling about within a halfbaked retread of king lear. Orlando looks up and realizes that the sky is like the veils which a thousand madonnas have let fall from their hair. Jane smiley is the author of numerous novels, including a thousand acres, which was awarded the pulitzer prize, and most recently, golden age, the concluding volume of the last hundred years trilogy. Find a summary of this and each chapter of a thousand acres. From that rise, you could see the farmland of three neighboring farms. The land and the body in a thousand acres writing anthology. She wants to figure out why she has become a placid, nonconfrontational woman, so her thoughts revolve around her struggles to contain her own opinions. Need help with book 1, chapter 1 in jane smileys a thousand acres. Three daughters and their husbands are pulled into a tangle of love, jealousy, and fear when their father, larry cook, grows too old to manage the familys fertile thousandacre farm.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of ginnys narration. In an era of hollywood scores defined by emotional bombast and sonic overkill, a work as intimate and moody as richard hartleys a thousand acres would seem to virtually demand critical praise and yet, in many respects its as heavyhanded as its more conventionally blustery counterparts, going so far overboard in establishing its sensitivity and tastefulness that the end result is quite. Passage daddy thinks history starts fresh every day, every minute, that time itself begins with the feelings hes having right now. When we are good girls and accept our circumstances, were glad about it. Instant downloads of all 1297 litchart pdfs including a thousand acres. Smileys choice of epigraph plays itself out in the novel. This novel, a thousand acres, is about three sisters. When larry cook, the aging patriarch of a rich, thriving farm in iowa, decides to retire, he offers his land to his three daughters. How is zebulon county itself a major character in a thousand acres. Comparing jane smileys a thousand acres and william shakespeares king lear jane smileys novel a thousand acres is a modern version of william shakespeares king lear.
King lear is shakespeares most gruesome tragedy about a nobleman getting his eyes gouged out, oberyn martellstyle hmm. Get all the key plot points of jane smileys a thousand acres on one page. The first edition of the novel was published in 1991, and was written by jane smiley. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion on a thousand acres by jane smiley. A thousand acres book 2 chapters 8 10 summary course hero.
Larry cook is a prominent midwestern farmer with three daughters, ginny the eldest, and the narrator of the novel, rose, and caroline, the youngest. Read book a thousand acres by jane smiley read ereader. King lear is a supertragic play by some guy named bill about how, 5066. Set on a farm in iowa, a thousand acres draws on william shakespeares king lear c. Free download or read online a thousand acres pdf epub book. The cook family patriarch is larry, a prosperous farmer. The aging father of three daughters decides to hand his farm over to their.
This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of a thousand acres by jane smiley. Thats how he keeps betraying us, why he roars at us with such conviction. It is a story in which the characters attempt to manipulate one another through the secrets they. The film is so unfocused that at the end of its very long 104 minutes, i was unable to say who i was supposed to like and who i was supposed to hatealthough i could name several characters for whom i had no feelings at all. I heard her speak at the 2015 national book festival, and she said she wanted to write books in many genres.
974 415 1047 184 94 147 1427 378 634 387 364 4 577 259 453 299 728 375 373 1085 619 458 60 831 727 349 1402 331 276 1453 227 1405 555 1323 974 175 951 1352 1014