The most successful farmer in his northwest iowa county, larry suddenly and inexplicably decides to. Set on a farm in iowa, a thousand acres draws on william shakespeares king lear c. A bunch of tragic shit happens that is mostly the fault of the men. It is a story in which the characters attempt to manipulate one another through the secrets they. Yet another novel that could not be done justice by turning it into film. Apr 12, 20 a thousand acres stayed with me, in my unconscious, so that ten years later, when i had the urge to write my first novel, the story came fully formed. A thousand acres study guide literature guide litcharts. Written in 1991, a thousand acres is a pulitzer prizewinning novel by author 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. Although the first half hour is really dreadful, with its hokey plot. A thousand acres is a modern retelling of king lear, that is similar to king lear, but it is not an exact word for word copy. Unlike king lear, a thousand acres has one of the bad daughters as its narrator, which provides insight into the bitter conflict that undoes the family in the end. Larry cook is a prominent midwestern farmer with three daughters, ginny the eldest, and the narrator of the novel, rose, and caroline, the youngest.
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. Oct 19, 1997 a thousand acres may simply be one of those books that cant be made into anything but a plotdriven movieoftheweek. The danger of temptation and unnatural behavior jane smiley s novel a thousand acres viewed as a feminist revising of shakespeares king lear. One of his sons, jess, has returned after dodging the draft for thirteen years. 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.
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. A film adaptation was released in 1997 starring michelle pfeiffer and jessica lange. Sep 30, 2015 a thousand acres by jane smiley in epub, rtf, txt download ebook. Like the shakespeare play, the film contains an old man who wants to.
A thousand acres is an american retelling of shakespeares tragedy king lear. The film a thousand acres, based on the jane smileys book of the same name, is a contemporary twist on an old william shakespeare play. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the land and what it means. Were considering expanding this synopsis into a fulllength study.
A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. With five thousand you can buy a pretty little house with two acres of land. The country is flat, except for a small bump in the middle of a tintersection in a road. Find summaries for every chapter, including a a thousand acres chapter summary chart to help you understand the book. The land the promise a summary of the promise in mildred d. Caroline in a thousand acres the film a thousand acres, based on the jane smileys book of the same name, is a contemporary twist on an old william shakespeare play. Jul 25, 2014 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. The a thousand acres community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and.
This was more like closing up shop, or, say, having a big garage sale, wher. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of a connecticut yankee in king arthurs court and what it means. With michelle pfeiffer, jessica lange, jennifer jason leigh, jason robards. This summary of a thousand acres includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. Its a model novel, the kind that should be, and is. A thousand acres of analysis this novel, as well as the film, is most notably different from king lear because of its female viewpoint and stance on issues affecting women shakespeares king lear vs. A summary of in mark twains a connecticut yankee in king arthurs court. An overview of jane smileys a thousand acres essays. A thousand acres screamed to me from its cover that it was that kind of book, that focused on the dissolution of the family as seen through a retelling of the king lear story. Oct 15, 2011 a thousand acres is a classic novel in at least one sense. 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.
A thousand acres by jane smiley in epub, rtf, txt download ebook. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a thousand acres. A thousand acres stayed with me, in my unconscious, so that ten years later, when i had the urge to write my first novel, the story came fully formed. A thousand acres is designed as a modernization of william shakespeare s 1606 play king lear, sometimes called the greatest play or even the greatest work of literature ever written. See plot diagram summary book 1 it is may of 1979 and 36yearold narrator ginny cook smith describes the thousand acre iowa farm owned by her widowed father larry cook. An analysis of jane smileys a thousand acres smiley. 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. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on litcharts. The bragging infuriates a slightly drunk larry cook.
She does this through juxtaposed portrayals of the characters, developing the men as negative archetypical figures of abuse and the female characters as victims of their violence and lack of compassion. A thousand acres is a novel that carries the reader through many ups and downs. Teach your students to analyze literature like litcharts does. Larry cook is an aging farmer who decides to incorporate his farm, handing complete and joint ownership to. Published in 1991 and winner of the national book critics circle award in 1991 and the. Like the shakespeare play, the film contains an old man who wants to retire and divide his kingdom between his three daughters.
Get all the key plot points of jane smileys a thousand acres on one page. 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 a 1991 novel by american author jane smiley. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 371 pages and is available in paperback format. 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 is considerably more sympathetic toward the two older daughters and harder on the failings in the father and caroline at least internally. At the party, harold begins bragging about a new tractor he bought. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. An ambitious reimagining of shakespeares king lear cast upon a typical american community in the late twentieth century, a thousand acres takes on themes of truth, justice, love, and pride, and reveals the beautiful yet treacherous topography of humanity. Pdf a thousand acres book by jane smiley free download.
An overview of a thousand acres a thousand acres is the story of king lear updated for a modern audience hungry for an understanding of the malady that ripped apart lears family. A thousand acres makes disappointingly sudsy stuff out of the source material, but benefits from solid performances by a strong cast. The main characters of this fiction, literary fiction story are. Jane smileys a thousand acres uses feminist doctrines. This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion on a thousand acres by jane smiley. When larry cook, the aging patriarch of a rich, thriving farm in iowa, decides to retire, he offers his land to his three daughters. In a seaming, 20thcentury version of shakespeares tragedy, smileyclawing open the ingratitude of a monarchs elder daughters to reveal a rage that could outtempest learsonce again examines the buried secret hurts within families and the deadly results when damaged egos are unleashed. The land has been in the family for generations, beginning in 1890 when her greatgrandparents emigrated from england and drained several hundred acres of marsh to grow crops. 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. The novel is told in firstperson from ginnys perspective. Having previously read two books by jane smiley the quite amusing moo and the intelligent and thoughtful thirteen ways of. Interestingly, the spectators to the action within the novel still largely seem to view the two older daughters as evil, manipulative, and greedy, while their father is seen as heroically. The character of larry cook corresponds to the title character of that play. The first edition of the novel was published in 1991, and was written by jane smiley.
It won the 1992 pulitzer prize for fiction, the national book critics circle award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name the novel is a modernized retelling of shakespeares king lear and is set on a thousandacre four hundred hectares farm in iowa that is owned by a family of a father and his. Instant downloads of all 1297 litchart pdfs including a thousand acres. The natives on the farm are mostly from which tribe. We do not collect or store information about visitors of our site. Reedited without the help of the director, jocelyn moorehouse, the storys latter sections are so abrupt and emotionless that they seem to have been freezedried. By bringing the trauma of incest to the forefront of the novel, its reverse emotional structures allow the reader to obtain a new perspective to a. I heard her speak at the 2015 national book festival, and she said she wanted to write books in many genres. A thousand acres by jane smiley book club discussion. A thousand acres can jane smileys modern day, countryside retelling of king. 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. A thousand acres by jane smiley plot summary litcharts.
A thousand acres jane smiley, 1991 knopf doubleday 384 pp. A thousand acres may simply be one of those books that cant be made into anything but a plotdriven movieoftheweek. Need help with book 1, chapter 1 in jane smileys a thousand acres. 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. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors.
It is a story in which the characters attempt to manipulate one another through the secrets they possess and the subsequent revelation of those secrets. A thousand acres begins at a pig roasting party hosted by neighbor harold clark. Pdf a thousand acres book by jane smiley free download 371. Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic. 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. It is may of 1979 and 36yearold narrator ginny cook smith describes the thousandacre iowa farm. See plot diagram summary book 1 it is may of 1979 and 36yearold narrator ginny cook smith describes the thousandacre iowa farm owned by her widowed father larry cook. It won the 1992 pulitzer prize for fiction, the national book critics circle award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name. A thousand acres follows the lear story not slavishly, but obviously enough to provoke thought. 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. These links will give you a chapter by chapter summary of the book, character analysis, plot and much more.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The overall plot has been retained from king lear, but some of the minor details have been changed to provide an intriguing new take on the same story. A thousand acres is a classic novel in at least one sense. Free download or read online a thousand acres pdf epub book. A thousand acres opens up questions about gender formation, issues that are misrepresented and occluded in shakespeares king lear. The readers follow ginnys trails of thought as she wanders into her own troubled past. She is also the author of five works of nonfiction and a series of books for young adults. Problems with a thousand acres would be apparent even without the wellpublicized news that the film, almost fittingly, saw an initially viable collaboration end in acrimony. 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. The novel is a modernized retelling of shakespeare s king lear and is set on a thousand acre four hundred hectares farm in. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Summary winner of the 1992 pulitzer prize and national book critics circle award. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of a thousand acres by jane smiley. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of a thousand acres by jane smiley.
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