I adored Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres. It was one of the books that made my epic Andrea Reads America reading project worth the effort. I don’t think I would have discovered her book without actively seeking books set in Iowa, and I am very happy I found it.
Somewhere recently, I read someone writing about The Greenlanders. I love books set in cold places. The Shipping News in Newfoundland, The Snow Child in Alaska, Winter’s Bone in Missouri, and The Tricking of Freya in Iceland are some of my favorite novels. I didn’t realize until I looked it up that The Greenlanders is written by Jane Smiley, and I got very excited.
Then I opened the book and saw a huge long list of character names with descriptions of how they fit into the story. That’s never a good sign for me. It doesn’t help that the novel is a long one, either. It’s no War and Peace, but it is more than 600 pages.
After the first 50 or so pages, I shelved the book. I was bored and couldn’t keep up with all the people and places. I looked for other novels. I started and stopped a few. After a couple of days of trying other books, I kept wanting the landscape and ice and fjords of The Greenlanders. So I opened it up again.
I’m restless because I’m still not sure yet if I like it. I’ve noticed when I’m restless in the book I’m reading, I’m also restless in my life. I’m constantly looking for the next thing to do, or wanting things I can’t have (like spring) when the book I’m reading hasn’t hooked me.
It’s strange to think that books would be my anchor, rather than, say, reality. I’m hoping I’ll settle into this one soon. I’ve still got six weeks until spring, and I don’t know if I can stand to be this fidgety for that long.
Butterfly Mind 
Haha sorry, it was probably me. I love The Greenlanders.
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I mean, the winters are like….they all just get into their beds and go to sleep, and then in the spring, someone goes around and sees who all is still alive! And the insane hunting scenes!! There was this whole society there, in this inhospitable place where no one could live, and they somehow clung on there for generations, and then just all died out like they never even existed. It’s such a weird, unexpected book — it’s this improbable, wild epic fantasy-style tale, but it’s not fantasy. I found reading it to be an immersive, transportive experience. But I can also totally understand how it could just be super boring and long and tedious!
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You’re really selling it, Elizabeth.
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I understand what you mean, but by contrast, I get restless in summer. The long hot days make it hard to get into anything so I end up reading rubbish and then get cross with myself for wasting my precious reading time.
I recently read a book called The Sealwoman’s Gift (set in Iceland) and it was good but I was really put off my the explanations of what some of the Icelandic words meant in the front of the book. I know the author was being helpful but it makes me feel as if I’m back in school.
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