It's quite something how many little lines, images and scenes had stayed with me from when I previously read this, nearly a decade ago - a testament to the sharpness of Høeg's writing and his ability to find unusual (and evidently memorable) angles on things.
The main reason I went back and re-read it was the first person present tense voice in which it's written, and I must say that while the voice contributes a lot to its distinctiveness, this time round I'm not sure what purpose is served by the use of the present tense in particular; also interesting is the way that the narrative jumps around in time quite a bit, and that Peter often speaks in the present tense.
Other things: extensive use of simile; often funny (Smilla Jaspersen really is a wonderful creation); frequent misdirects (e.g. Smilla internally monologues in one direction and then turns around and says that what's going on with her is its exact opposite) - the last of which are frequently the entry points into a scene, serving treble purpose as backstory-delivery, characterisation and avoiding jumping straight in with either the bluntness of action or the filler-ness of scene description. Also, it's still a great read, pacy, atmospheric, philosophical and human.
The main reason I went back and re-read it was the first person present tense voice in which it's written, and I must say that while the voice contributes a lot to its distinctiveness, this time round I'm not sure what purpose is served by the use of the present tense in particular; also interesting is the way that the narrative jumps around in time quite a bit, and that Peter often speaks in the present tense.
Other things: extensive use of simile; often funny (Smilla Jaspersen really is a wonderful creation); frequent misdirects (e.g. Smilla internally monologues in one direction and then turns around and says that what's going on with her is its exact opposite) - the last of which are frequently the entry points into a scene, serving treble purpose as backstory-delivery, characterisation and avoiding jumping straight in with either the bluntness of action or the filler-ness of scene description. Also, it's still a great read, pacy, atmospheric, philosophical and human.
