Dec 15, 2003 11:28 AM
3938 Views
(Updated Dec 18, 2003 04:35 PM)
A warm book with a glacial theme, Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow (or Smilla's Sense Of Snow, depending on the edition you read) is a fascinating read. Time magazine, in fact, named it the Book Of The Year in 1994. Set in contemporary Copenhagen in Denmark, the book is the story of Smilla Jaspersen, a feisty, mathematically inclined woman, daughter of an Inuit (Eskimo for those not clued into political correctness yet) mother from Greenland and a Danish father. Greenland has long been Danish territory.
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The gist
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The story opens with the death of Isaiah, a young boy from Greenland who lives in the same building in Copenhagen as Smilla. The authorities say that it was an accident, but Smilla, who shared a close relationship with the boy, is convinced that the death was, in fact, murder. For she has a unique understanding of snow, an understanding that is part of her identity. (The Inuit have roughly 9 different words for snow, describing it in its various forms) Examining Isaiah's tracks, Smilla is convinced that the boy was in fact pushed to his death. As she begins to investigate, she uncovers facts that implicate some of the most powerful people in Copenhagen. Her quest for truth, her desire to make sense of it all, (uh oh, I am beginning to sound like a trailer on HBO) takes her all the way back to Greenland, as a stowaway on a cruise liner.
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The romance
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The love angle is covered by a fellow resident, the stuttering, dyslexic Peter who is more often referred to as 'The Mechanic'. Like Smilla, he was especially close to Isaiah. He gets involved in Smilla's investigations and inevitably, in her life. But is he as innocuous as he seems?
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The humour
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Against the bleak backdrop of Scandinavia in winter, the warmth of Smilla's humour stands out. Her ruminations on everything, from her father's pretty, airheaded young girlfriend to European culture, are laced with wry humour. Her observations are cryptic yet profound.
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The style
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Peter Hoeg's style is as sparse as the terrain in Greenland, but unexpected gems take your breath away. This is a book that will haunt you long after you have closed the last pages and digested 'the twist in the tale'. While the plot is ingenious, it is undoubtedly the character of Smilla that takes this book on to a different plane. It is difficult to categorise this book: The closest I can think of is 'philosphical thriller', but that sounds too pretentious.
Julia Ormond played her in the movie version. I haven't seen it, but I can't help feeling that Smilla is not a pretty-pretty Nancy Drew kind of sleuth. She is a strong woman of immense depth, with an opinion on nearly everything, yet heartbreakingly vulnerable. She is a woman who wears her origins with pride, who is contemptuous of the glibness and facility of European culture, a woman who values her freedom above all (to the extent of getting herself kicked out of her Danish boarding school). I hope the movie has not turned Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow into a typical who-dun-it. That would be a shame.
