Burial Rites
Author: Hannah Kent
My Review and Thoughts:
Burial Rites is a complex character study of one women’s
inner thoughts and the surroundings around her as she goes through her last
days. You become sour in the realization of this tormented soul of a character.
Her past is bleak and clouded with pain, suffering and the world seems to have
beat her down. Hannah Kent has away with capturing the ordeal in a harsh,
destructive emotional reality that makes the reader truly feel sorry for this
person.
The descriptive narrative by the main character of Agnes is
by far the highlight of this book. Her personal thoughts, her storytelling in
first person narrative at times truly bleeds off the page into the emotional
heart strings of the reader. As you go about reading this brilliantly written
novel you become like the fly in the room and you hear, see, watch and become
apart of the ordeal in truly emotional and humble ways as Agnes truly becomes apart
of your inner soul, mind, thoughts and most of your heart.
The story is about the character of Agnes. She has been
accused alongside two others in a brutal double murder. She has been sentenced
to be beheaded. Her execution lingers throughout the story. She has been placed
in the care of a farm until her coming death. There a Minister in training has
been hired to see that Agnes comes about freeing her soul and comes to ask God
for forgiveness for her brutal crimes. As the Minister Toti comes to know her,
he realizes the story is more complex as it slowly unravels in vivid
storytelling detail.
Agnes is a brilliant character. A personal character. A
complex character of mystery. Well weaved in written form. Agnes truly grows on
you. You can’t help but want to save her, to listen to her, to comfort her even
in her hard bitterness. She has such a past that the writer displays that you
the reader can’t help but want to know everything about her and what happens to
her. You want to listen to her past, her present her inner darkness.
I think what truly stands out is this is based on a True
Story and Hannah Kent displays that true story in vivid detail and truly an
emotional ordeal that the reader follows along with until the very end. You can’t
help but turn the page to see what unfolds in this graphic tale of a woman’s
life in so many bitter filled ways.
Hannah Kent is a is a flawless writer of detail. She
captures the sadness. The torment. The dread. The love. The idea of suffering.
Hannah takes the reader on a journal that never gives up in detail and
emotional reality. What I love about Hannah’s writing is it’s so vivid. She displays
the rough living reality of farm life in the 1800’s. The dirt and grime. The
hard labor. The emotional happenings. The close minded people. The gossip and
hatred. The ideas of women being lesser than man and treated horribly during
the time periods displayed. Hannah captures it all vivid detail and that makes
the book more complex, graphic and truly memorable page after page.
I found myself very emotional toward the last pages of this book. I will not lie, I cried. The writing was so well down the emotional reality of this story gets to you and you can't help but shed a tear.
I found myself very emotional toward the last pages of this book. I will not lie, I cried. The writing was so well down the emotional reality of this story gets to you and you can't help but shed a tear.
Would I Return to: I think I would? This is going to become
a movie I gather and so it will be interesting to see how they capture the
darkness, dread and torment of this novel in movie form.
Would I Recommend: In a heartbeat. I think this is a book
that should be read, experienced and honored in all it’s wonderful written
detail. As I have stated it’s a complex story with tight weaved and emotional
realities in characters described in great detail on each page.
Final Four Words: Complex. Emotional. Descriptive beauty.
My Rating: 5 out of 5