I don't normally go for thrillers, but thought this was a fun read. I am a fan of the anti-hero(ine) and Smilla did not disappoint. In the last third or so, I wasn't able to suspend my disbelief quite as much as needed, but the pace was quick and I never lost interest in the final pages. Great sentences throughout, with at least some credit going to the translator.

When I (finally) finished this book I had to resist the urge to launch it across the room, and probably would have done so if not for the risk of waking my 12 week old baby.

Throughout my reading, it really reminded me of David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars. The two books aren't narratively similar in the slightest, but they are both snow-themed, and they are both FUCKING BORING.

Seriously this book was dull to the point where it actually induced extreme rage. The plot (if one can even call it that) moves at a glacial pace (thematically appropriate but infuriating to read), and the narration of it is so buried beneath the tedious stream of consciousness and endless, dreary reminiscence of the protagonist that when something relatively exciting happened I barely even noticed. I had to read the cliff notes to even find out the full resolution of the story because it was so poorly presented.

The first person narration of the protagonist was grating to the point that I actually hated her by the end. Secondary characters were often introduced merely by their pronouns (unhelpful when they are nearly all male), making it difficult to discern who they were, though they were all so sinfully boring that I didn't really care anyway. The storytelling was jagged, and haphazard. It would barely move forward at all and then suddenly trip over itself making small bouts of progress.

There was no flare to the writing, no attempt to engage the reader or present likeable, relatable or even interesting characters.

No. Just no.

Smilla's Sense of Snow is a vast and challenging book. It's challenging because the main character, Smilla, resists every attempt that the reader makes to like her. She is totally unapolgetic. And that is wonderful. The book also makes use of setting. Hoeg transmits the feeling of Cophenhague. There is also a good sense of character and family struture. The book seems to lose steam slightly once the setting shifts to the boat. Still, this is a good read.

Silences, freezing cold and etherial light set alongside the maths of Euclid all seen through the world of Smilla. She follows Isaiah's final steps in the snow into a dark and harsh world of greed, lies and, this is why I didn't give the five stars, a somewhat unsatisfying tangle of battles and almost, explanations.

Smilla is an interesting character with depth and insight and many of the other characters are really well drawn and engaging but sadly the possibilities of these characters is held at bay and as the story development shifted in the latter part of the story into a grand but confusing battle of good v bad and it seemed it could have offered so much more.

I got halfway through and couldn’t finish it. Parts I liked, especially for the writing, which was often sparse with carefully chosen words. However, it was hard to follow. Sometimes I wasn’t sure which character was being referred to. Pronouns often had no antecedents and sentences no subjects. Then it got sort of weirdly sexual. I’m not a prude, but some of the sexual references were just a little too weird for me. I don’t really care to read about a mid-30’s woman reminiscing about feeling a neglected 9-year-old’s erection against her leg while he was sleeping. It was also too scientific, such as being hard to follow explanations of scientific procedures and terms when the prose used to describe them is sparsely written. By page 197, I just didn’t care about the book nor what happens. The main character was likable but in need of therapy.

I saw the movie years ago. It was good. The book, however, drags on, seeming to take almost twice the time needed to tell the story. I gave it two stars because the writing was beautiful in some ways, but I just didn’t care about the story. I wanted to care. I tried, but halfway through a book I expect to at least give a damn. Unfortunately, I didn’t.

I didn't like this book in the way I imagined I would, and in a way it feels like two stories. There were moments of quirkiness and depth to the character, but equally I found the voyage in the arctic overly-long and confusing - plus, no matter how much detail you put into the description of a ship's hull, I'm still not really going to picture it. Having said that, the book has stayed on my min and I remained interested enough to the end.