Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow By Peter Høeg

[vodkafan]

2. How do you feel about a male author writing from the point of view of a woman? How successful was Peter H�eg in portraying the inner life of his heroine, Smilla?

 

I think he had a fair stab at it but it didn't work for me. This last year I have been intensely interested in reading a lot of women authors; Sarah Waters, Margaret Atwood, Joanna Briscoe, Jane Austen, to name a few. Hoeg just comes up short against these in my opinion. It is extraordinarily difficult for a man I think. A man thinks in terms of: she does this, she did that . He cannot help it. A woman writer would be: she feels this, she felt that. (ladies, please feel free to take me to task if you feel insulted; not my intention)

 

3. Is Smilla devoid of feelings or is she merely hiding them? What are the causes of her antisocial behavior?

 

Nobody is devoid of feelings. I thing Hoeg tried to disguise his inability to write a woman convincingly by making her character complex, and an outsider to the culture she was in. But Smilla had so many inconsistencies she did not make sense.

 

4. Discuss Smilla's relationship with her father. What are the causes of the rift between them? Do you feel he deserves the poor treatment he receives from Smilla? Is there some degree of reconciliation between them in the course of the novel?

 

Yes there was reconciliation between them. But her treatment of him did not make much sense. The ballerina girlfriend was another cardboard cutout.

[vodkafan]

The way Hoeg used the eyeliner and good clothes, I got the impression she only used them as a form of defense against the world. She felt she had little enough defense, and used whatever she thought would work on "civilized" people.

 

.

 

pontalba, I think you make a fair point here; I have known a couple of women in my life who built up a defensive "shell" like this, using articles of appearance. But for me, with Smilla's background, it didn't make sense for her to be one of those people.

 

I would be interested to see if your opinion on anything has changed after your second reading

[pontalba]

But for me, with Smilla's background, it didn't make sense for her to be one of those people.

Why do you say that it doesn't make sense for her?

 

I would be interested to see if your opinion on anything has changed after your second reading

Won't be for a while I'm afraid, The tbr stacks are too high, but one day the mood will strike me. Edited June 29, 2010 by pontalba
clarification

[Ooshie]

2. How do you feel about a male author writing from the point of view of a woman? How successful was Peter H�eg in portraying the inner life of his heroine, Smilla?

 

I very rarely even remember the sex of an author when I am reading their book, so that doesn't bother me at all. I thought he was very successful in portraying Smilla, who I hugely enjoyed as a character - everyone is different, and there is no "right way" or "wrong way" to portray the way a particular female character thinks or behaves. Not all women are emotionally literate or think or express themselves in anything like the same way.

 

3. Is Smilla devoid of feelings or is she merely hiding them? What are the causes of her antisocial behavior?

 

I felt that Smilla was good at dissociating herself from her feelings when they would have got in the way of the actions she needed to take. And her unconventional behaviour regarding society would have been due in a great part to the trauma she suffered when she was removed from Greenland after her mother's death.

 

Regarding her use of expensive clothes and make-up, I was surprised the first time I read this, but then felt that it was the exterior she put on to face the world she was living in and to help her be a part of it when she needed to.

 

4. Discuss Smilla's relationship with her father. What are the causes of the rift between them? Do you feel he deserves the poor treatment he receives from Smilla? Is there some degree of reconciliation between them in the course of the novel?

 

When reading the book, I did feel that Smilla was too harsh on her father. But many people, particularly (I think) when they haven't had children themselves, find it hard to forgive a parent for mistakes they made and failings they had/have. I do think it would be uncomfortable not to feel loved for yourself, but just because you were the only remaining part of their loved one. There was some reconciliation between them, I felt, particularly when Smilla's father chose to help her after she had been betrayed by his girlfriend. That showed where his loyalties truly lay.

[pontalba]

.....I did feel that Smilla was too harsh on her father. But many people, particularly (I think) when they haven't had children themselves, find it hard to forgive a parent for mistakes they made and failings they had/have.

 

 

There was some reconciliation between them, I felt, particularly when Smilla's father chose to help her after she had been betrayed by his girlfriend. That showed where his loyalties truly lay.

 

Both good points. I had not considered not being a parent herself a factor in her relationship with her father. Perhaps then, her love for Isaiah softened her towards her father?

[Ooshie]

Yes, I think that could well be the case - I hadn't carried my thought process far enough to have though of that!

 

I feel that when you are dealing with/responsible for/loving a child yourself, you realise that you make mistakes which affect that child even though you are doing the best you can at the time, which allows you to see episodes in your own childhood in a different light. I think that could well have been the case with Smilla.

[pontalba]

Yes, I think that could well be the case - I hadn't carried my thought process far enough to have though of that!

 

I feel that when you are dealing with/responsible for/loving a child yourself, you realise that you make mistakes which affect that child even though you are doing the best you can at the time, which allows you to see episodes in your own childhood in a different light. I think that could well have been the case with Smilla.

 

Our perspective changes so radically throughout life with experience.

 

Regarding a male author writing a female role....unless the situations/stories are blatantly chauvinistic [one way or the other] I don't particularly notice the gender author difference/sameness. We are all such a combination of male/female that an author can mine both for either gender IMO.

 

Take someone like Diana Gabaldon. She writes both male and female perspective well as far as I have seen. I felt Hoeg did well with catching a dysfunctional female tone with Smilla.

[Kylie]

I have to say that I really didn't think the question about a male writing from a female's point of view was very pertinent. All authors do it to some degree, although I guess some do it better than others.

 

John Marsden, a middle-aged Australian author of young adult fiction, wrote a series of books from the perspective of a teenage girl and got it spot on. He's brilliant.

 

And I agree with everything that has been said about child/parent relationships. I was discussing this with my friend last night, who has several brothers who blame everything on their parents. They don't seem willing to understand that parents do the best they can with what they have.

[frankie]

I feel really guilty about voting for this book, and not taking any part in the conversation. The book was for me a real disappointment and just seeing the name of this thread in the unread posts is making my mojo want to quit on me

[Kylie]

I had a similar thought when I just saw there was an unread post in the thread. I guess if you don't have anything nice to say...

 

Maybe time will heal your wounds and then you'll be able to talk about it.

[pontalba]

I feel really guilty about voting for this book, and not taking any part in the conversation. The book was for me a real disappointment and just seeing the name of this thread in the unread posts is making my mojo want to quit on me

 

You've nothing to feel guilty about, evidently you thought you'd like it from the synopsis, but didn't. No use wasting time reading something you don't enjoy. We've all been through that tunnel.

 

If however you actually read the book and still didn't like it, why? That in and of itself is interesting to me.

 

 

........I guess if you don't have anything nice to say...

Ummmmm....in polite society, I'd agree. However, I've been in some good rollicking book discussions that ignored that nicety, and they were fabulous. Sometimes the very reasons we don't like something can bring a whole new perspective to a discussion, and take it into deep and interesting territory.

[Kylie]

It's definitely very interesting reading about such different viewpoints of a particular book.

 

I'm interested in why Frankie didn't enjoy it too, but I didn't want to push her (and possibly traumatise her further ).

[frankie]

I think I already mentioned a few reasons in my first post which answered all the questions..? All in all, I was interested in the detective novel aspect and the whole Copenhagen meets Greenland and Eskimos aspect, and I liked a lot of the characters or was at least very interested to get to know them a bit better.

 

However, at some point the style of the writing, in all the technical parts about ships and such and such started to get to me. I'm scared of water and can't swim and I think that my not enjoying the ship part of the story has a bit to do with that. And in hindsight, Smilla went all Jane Bond on us while she was aboard, didn't she?

 

I guess I just like it when stories have more to do with people and are written from a people-focused perspective, not the machine one.

 

Edit: I hope this thread won't be closed after a few weeks, because I still would like to try and read all the other comments other people have made, maybe I'll get rid of my dislike for the book later one and will comment more. That's not a promise though!

[Kylie]

Rest assured the thread will never close. It will be here for all eternity...

[frankie]

Rest assured the thread will never close. It will be here for all eternity...

 

I've now realised that while it's a good thing for the reasons I explained in my previous post, there are also other repercussions to it...

[vodkafan]

I'm scared of water and can't swim

 

Frankie you really owe it to yourself to learn to swim. I used to be afraid of water too, I didn't learn to swim until I was 28, because I wanted to be a diver.

Now I love it.

It is only your fear that is stopping you. Once you get over your fear, swimming is just moving your arms and legs. Anybody can do that. Remember there has not been a human born yet who can breathe under water.

 

Sorry I just realised I am digressing off topic

[frankie]

vodkafan, I know, I've been thinking about going to one of those adult classes where grown up people learn how to swim. I mean I do know how to swim a bit, I can keep myself above the waterline, but I panic the minute I know my feet can't touch the ground. And I hate it when I can't see what's in the dark waters.

 

I used to be afraid of water too, I didn't learn to swim until I was 28, because I wanted to be a diver.

 

Hey, I'm 28 Maybe this is the year to do it. I've started both gym and zumba which are totally new territory for me so why not learn and swim? When I go to UK maybe I'll go to the swimming pool with CW and the kids and learn there.

 

And it's not just myself to whom I owe it to learn to swim, it's my future kids and grandchildren as well.

Edited July 8, 2010 by frankie

[vodkafan]

About Smilla, I think it is great that we get a book sometimes that some of us DON'T like rather than ones we all agree are great. As far as that goes, I think Smilla has been a good subject for the reading circle. I have certainly thought more about her (and the book) than some previous reading circle choices, and I am glad I read it.

[pontalba]

All in all, I was interested in the detective novel aspect and the whole Copenhagen meets Greenland and Eskimos aspect...

 

However, at some point the style of the writing, in all the technical parts about ships and such and such started to get to me. I'm scared of water and can't swim and I think that my not enjoying the ship part of the story has a bit to do with that. And in hindsight, Smilla went all Jane Bond on us while she was aboard, didn't she?

 

I guess I just like it when stories have more to do with people and are written from a people-focused perspective, not the machine one.

 

Edit: I hope this thread won't be closed after a few weeks, because I still would like to try and read all the other comments other people have made, maybe I'll get rid of my dislike for the book later one and will comment more. That's not a promise though!

 

Yes! I found the locations very interesting as well. It isn't often that I read about those places, and I enjoyed learning a bit about them.

 

I don't swim either, but ships don't bother me, and I found the jargon kind of fun. All in all, it was a learning experience mixed in with a mystery. I did find the mystery part a bit on the thin side.

 

Someone above questioned why Smila followed Tork out onto the ice, well she had to didn't she? Otherwise, the whole trip would have been for nothing. That's where I thought she reasoned like a real detective. She simply had to know exactly what happened, and why. I doubt she, in any real way, considered she might die in the process, the thought of death was an abstract one to her. She didn't care deeply one way or the other about her own death.

 

I didn't find the story "machine-based", it's interesting how each reader focuses on a different aspect, and tends to remember those aspects more clearly than others. But...in retrospect, Smila was a bit machine like wasn't she?

 

LOL Jane Bond, love it. It's true!

[pontalba]

About Smilla, I think it is great that we get a book sometimes that some of us DON'T like rather than ones we all agree are great. As far as that goes, I think Smilla has been a good subject for the reading circle. I have certainly thought more about her (and the book) than some previous reading circle choices, and I am glad I read it.

 

I couldn't agree more. Some dissension is the meat of discussion. If we all sat around and say, 'yes, I liked it', it'd get a little dull.

[Ooshie]

I felt that Smilla went out onto the ice after Tork because, if he hadn't gone to his death on his own, she would have used her knowledge of snow and ice to lure him into a more dangerous situation where he would have died. I agree with pontalba that Smilla just did not care much about whether she lived or died.

 

Regarding the ship, I agree that Smilla did go a bit "Jane Bond" when she was on board, but I had felt that was her whole reason for arranging to be there so didn't find that surprising or out of place at all. Because I was so into Smilla and the story, I didn't find the part on board ship too long at all - when she was investigating, I could see and feel everything that was described, and it added to the overall atmosphere to me.

[Maureen]

I have just finished this book, and I am in two minds about it. I enjoyed the first half of the book, how the character of Smilla was slowly unfolding, and how much she cared for the boy, although in other ways she was quite cold in her other relationships (especially the one with her father - and I still do not get why this was so). However the second part let me down - the way she got all of the required information so quickly, the way a lot of people were falling all over themselves to help her on her quest, her actions aboard the ship, the way she got out of physical danger, when she was not trained to do so etc. I also thought the ending was abrupt, as if it was time to wrap things up quickly.

It is the first Hoeg book I have read, and I did enjoy the setting - the fact the book is set in Denmark and Iceland, which are both places where I have never been before, never read about and know nothing of.

[pontalba]

IIRC, she resented her father for leaving her mother....he'd left the mother and gone back to Denmark to pursue his career. Of course the mother didn't want to leave her way of life, so they separated. When the mother died, he came back for Smilla.

She felt deserted by him, and in a sense she was. I felt she forgave him in the end though because he backed her up when she needed it.

Edited September 21, 2010 by pontalba