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jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
This is the 2nd book in Smith's seasonal quartet. I read the first book, Autumn, well, back in autumn and liked it. And since it is now winter, it seemed like the perfect time to read Winter. I bet you can't guess what I'll be reading this spring? ;)
Nature-blogger, Art, treks out to his mom's country manor to spend Christmas with her. It ends up being a bizarre gathering with lots of flashbacks to earlier times in Art's life and his mom Sophia's life. Some of the best moments were the scenes featuring Sophia and her sister Iris. They are both polar opposites and quarrel a lot but clearly have a soft spot for each other. They will be arguing then randomly break into song.
As usual, Smith's writing is stellar. The book is a series of vignettes with ponderings on nature, art, treatment of immigrants and refugees and more.
My random brain dump of thoughts on this book:
More social commentary on Brexit (and Trump). Very current and aware. Clever, offbeat, engaging. Lots of word-play and literary references. Good stuff!
This book counts towards the Popsugar 2020 Reading Challenge prompt #39: a prompt from a past PopSugar challenge (for which I picked the 2019 prompt to read a book in the season it takes place).
Nature-blogger, Art, treks out to his mom's country manor to spend Christmas with her. It ends up being a bizarre gathering with lots of flashbacks to earlier times in Art's life and his mom Sophia's life. Some of the best moments were the scenes featuring Sophia and her sister Iris. They are both polar opposites and quarrel a lot but clearly have a soft spot for each other. They will be arguing then randomly break into song.
As usual, Smith's writing is stellar. The book is a series of vignettes with ponderings on nature, art, treatment of immigrants and refugees and more.
My random brain dump of thoughts on this book:
More social commentary on Brexit (and Trump). Very current and aware. Clever, offbeat, engaging. Lots of word-play and literary references. Good stuff!
This book counts towards the Popsugar 2020 Reading Challenge prompt #39: a prompt from a past PopSugar challenge (for which I picked the 2019 prompt to read a book in the season it takes place).
melodyrose25's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sian_m's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book more. This authors books always intrigue me, but it just didn’t reel me in. I will definitely try another book sometime.
tigerkind's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
these books make me feel kind of stupid but I love the vibes
On a more serious note; Smith once again accomplished what she set out to do – capture the essence of a season. The books in this series are intelligent, nuanced and populated by well-rounded characters.
Even though I find them somewhat obscure and would probably need to read secondary literature to fully understand them, I will definitely be reading more.
On a more serious note; Smith once again accomplished what she set out to do – capture the essence of a season. The books in this series are intelligent, nuanced and populated by well-rounded characters.
Even though I find them somewhat obscure and would probably need to read secondary literature to fully understand them, I will definitely be reading more.
elthompson97's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
katie_skean's review against another edition
Lovely. Really appreciated how the wealthy, politically conservative sister was fleshed out into a full human character and the creative, compassionate, awesome activist sister had some humanizing flaws. Like I know that should be a low bar, and Ali Smith did a lot more noteworthy things in this book like her famous wordplay and creativity in general, I guess I've just suffered through too many subpar books in my lifetime to not appreciate and notice these sorts of hallmarks of basic, competent novel writing.
annivalo's review against another edition
3.0
- inhimillisyys, mielenterveys, mielenosoitus, ihmissuhteet, sisarsuhde, perhedynamiikka
- poukkoileva, hetkellinen
- poukkoileva, hetkellinen
suvata's review against another edition
4.0
This is the second 5-star read by Ali Smith. Her work is magical and poetic. This not just another novel. In this, the second in her Seasonal series, she totally captures the essence of winter — the bleakness, the darkness, the bitter cold. At the same time, the baroness of the trees make more things visible. The book also feels hopeful at times — full of joy and happiness and the promise of things to come. All the this is told through the story of Sophia Cleves and her family getting together for Christmas. Very Dickensian tale. I can’t wait for Spring to come!
jennybpenny's review against another edition
4.0
"I said, Art is seeing things. And your aunt said, that's a great description of what art is."
motherofladybirds's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the structure of returning to Christmases past. The relationship between the sisters over time and the references to art and literature. I also enjoyed finding out more about rge Greenham ommon protests.