Reviews

Winter by Ali Smith

astridvdgeest's review

5.0

Winter is een prachtig verhaal wat net als Autumn veel actualiteiten bevat, maar dat voelt heel natuurlijk. Ik kan me niet perse identificeren met de hoofdpersoon, gelukkig stoort dat niet. Mooie magisch realistische verhalen/elementen af en toe. Laat je niet afschrikken door de lange hoofdstukken (dat doe ik namelijk wel).

sanchara's review

4.0

4.25

amjammi's review against another edition

5.0

I think I'd like to share a late night plate of scrambled eggs (made with butter) with Ali Smith.

gracerider's review

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

heybrownberry's review against another edition

Found this one tough to get into as an audiobook. A friend shared that it might be easier to understand the dialog between different characters and the time jumps in book format. 

blairmahoney's review

5.0

I loved this second instalment in Smith's seasonal quartet as much as I loved the first. Again it plays around with an overlooked artist as a backdrop and again the main focus is on the kind of country that the UK has become in the wake of the Brexit vote. Smith has a great sense of humour and the characters are all engagingly drawn. The Greenham Common peace camp also plays a significant role. Great stuff.

sualmeida's review against another edition

3.0

Here's the thing: I think Ali Smith is an acquired taste. Or maybe I'm just not literary enough for it.
I didn't hate this book. I just didn't get it, much like Autumn although this one was easier to understand.
I think this author requires some habituation to her themes, her writing, her approach.
I kind of liked it even though I didn't understand it as well as I hoped.

kirsten0929's review against another edition

2.0

[2017] (This start rating is a reflection of my own personal reading experience, not of the book itself.) Notes to self…The second in the seasonal quartet. Cleverly ties this book to the prior one, Autumn, through one of the characters. Similar in tone to the first, similar in the mixing of charater story, current and historical cultural events, dreams, reminiscences. I felt like every sentence was a clue to the puzzle that was the overall book. Each sentence heavy with meaning(s), much of which was lost to me as I skirted across the surface, taking what I could from that, as it was so much effort (without enough reward for me) to dip down below. It was a little exhausting. But I do like Smith’s writing and I do like what she is doing with this quartet.

sammybook's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

oatcappuccino's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

• found the set-up more interesting than the meat of the book (largely reverie)
• exoticised foreigner was not given the same depth or growth as other characters
• ending felt a bit easily earned
• bizarre epilogue 

📝 sight, technology, inertia, attention, what would freud say, shoe person, oh! you pretty things, to day, denial, it would be good to be full of holes, cheshire catly, coastlined, liberalism.