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deedireads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Winter is another quiet but profound installment of Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet. I’m once again awed by how she does so much with so little. Can’t wait for Spring!
For you if: You like a short book that begs you to take your time.
FULL REVIEW:
Winter had me hooked from the very first line, “God was dead: to begin with.” Many readers will recognize this as a spoof of the opening line of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (“Marley was dead: to begin with”), which is one of my favorite books of all time. What a way to set the stage for this quiet, focused story about perception and family and climate change and immigration and connection and the “post-truth” era.
At the center of the novel is a man named Art, who runs a (disingenuous) blog called Art in Nature. After his girlfriend, Charlotte, dumps him right before he was supposed to bring her home for Christmas, he meets a girl named Lux at a bus stop and pays her to come and play the role of Charlotte. They arrive to find Art’s mother — who is secretly hallucinating a floating baby head — in the dark with no food in the house. They call Art’s estranged aunt, a former nuclear protester, to come help.
I sort of wish I had read this book in December, but it was still a delight. There are so many layers here in such a short book, not least of which is the theme of visitations and spectres recalling A Christmas Carol again. I loved Lux: she’s near-homeless, an immigrant, arriving unexpectedly, gluing everyone together — more hints of Christmas. But it’s really not a Christmas book; it’s really about these characters and their interiorities and relationships amidst the broader context of England’s political landscape at the time (post-Brexit), all of which Ali Smith writes so well.
I know Winter doesn’t tend to be most people’s favorite of the Seasonal Quartet, but I might have liked it even more than Autumn — if only for its connection to my dear old Scrooge. Can’t wait to continue on to Spring!
TL;DR REVIEW:
Winter is another quiet but profound installment of Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet. I’m once again awed by how she does so much with so little. Can’t wait for Spring!
For you if: You like a short book that begs you to take your time.
FULL REVIEW:
Winter had me hooked from the very first line, “God was dead: to begin with.” Many readers will recognize this as a spoof of the opening line of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (“Marley was dead: to begin with”), which is one of my favorite books of all time. What a way to set the stage for this quiet, focused story about perception and family and climate change and immigration and connection and the “post-truth” era.
At the center of the novel is a man named Art, who runs a (disingenuous) blog called Art in Nature. After his girlfriend, Charlotte, dumps him right before he was supposed to bring her home for Christmas, he meets a girl named Lux at a bus stop and pays her to come and play the role of Charlotte. They arrive to find Art’s mother — who is secretly hallucinating a floating baby head — in the dark with no food in the house. They call Art’s estranged aunt, a former nuclear protester, to come help.
I sort of wish I had read this book in December, but it was still a delight. There are so many layers here in such a short book, not least of which is the theme of visitations and spectres recalling A Christmas Carol again. I loved Lux: she’s near-homeless, an immigrant, arriving unexpectedly, gluing everyone together — more hints of Christmas. But it’s really not a Christmas book; it’s really about these characters and their interiorities and relationships amidst the broader context of England’s political landscape at the time (post-Brexit), all of which Ali Smith writes so well.
I know Winter doesn’t tend to be most people’s favorite of the Seasonal Quartet, but I might have liked it even more than Autumn — if only for its connection to my dear old Scrooge. Can’t wait to continue on to Spring!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death and Body horror
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent
ruthmoog's review
challenging
slow-paced
3.5
Poetic weirdness, this seems like it didn't continue from Autumn but there is a theme that is picked up again here.
We look at a bunch of Christmasses through time, but the floating babies head isn't especially festive.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Toxic relationship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
penofpossibilities's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Racism, Misogyny, and Body horror
Minor: War, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death of parent
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