Harvest (Jim Crace)

Harvest by Jim Crace follows a community’s upheaval when newcomers arrive and fires break out, threatening their way of life. As suspicions arise and blame is cast, the villagers must confront the changes that disrupt their settled existence, leading to a tale of survival, loss, and the fragility of human connections.

Author: Jim Crace
List: Recent Prize Winner
Year of publication: 2013
Pages: 208

Complexity

CEFR: B2

Plot Complexity: moderate
Language Complexity: moderate
Ideas Complexity: moderate

Harvest by Jim Crace falls within the B2 level category in terms of language, ideas, and plot complexity. The language used in the novel is moderately complex, employing a range of vocabulary and sentence structures that go beyond the basics. The ideas explored are thought-provoking, delving deeper into certain themes and requiring readers to engage in contemplation. The plot presents a moderate level of complexity, incorporating multiple storylines and twists that demand readers’ attention and involvement. Overall, “Harvest” offers an engaging and intellectually stimulating reading experience for B2-level readers.

Blurb

On the morning after harvest, the inhabitants of a remote English village  awaken looking forward to  a hard-earned day of rest and feasting at their landowner’s table. But the sky is marred by two  conspicuous columns of smoke, replacing pleasurable anticipation with alarm and suspicion.
One smoke column is the result of an overnight fire that has damaged the master’s outbuildings. The second column rises from the wooded edge of the village, sent up by newcomers to announce their presence. In the minds of the wary villagers a mere coincidence of events appears to be unlikely, with violent confrontation looming as the unavoidable outcome. Meanwhile, another newcomer has recently been spotted taking careful notes and making drawings of the land. It is his presence more than any other that will threaten the village’s entire way of life.

In effortless and tender prose, Jim Crace details the unraveling of a pastoral idyll in the wake of economic progress. His tale is timeless and unsettling, framed by a beautifully evoked world that will linger in your memory long after you finish reading.

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