You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
A strange and haunting book about strangers and distance between people. Funny, odd and dangerous. Worth reading.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ali smith is a perpetual master of writing different voices and breaking with the conventional ideas of writing so casually that any other author seems to be the odd one out. (i especially enjoyed michael’s section in the middle, and eve’s section in the beginning.) the alhambra sections confused me, and i’m sure someone smarter than me knows what to do with them. also, the ending made me think “is that it?”, but once again, i’m sure there is a greater philosophical idea to it that the heat of this scotrail train is preventing me from getting
mysterious
reflective
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I finished this a few weeks ago and it was truly just… eh for me. which is a bummer bc I’m a big Ali Smith fan! but the manic pixie dream girl meets dysfunctional family was just a little too much for me. although the way Smith writes a precocious and weird 12 year old girl is spot on (as a former precocious and weird 12 year old girl).
Ali Smith always succeeds at capturing the complexity of the human condition, and doing it beautiful. However, I didn't feel this book was as strong as There But For The, which had more drive and was more cohesive. Amber's sections felt more like clever word-play than part of a story; actually this goes for a lot of the book, not just Amber's sections. Still, it is an enjoyable read if you are into literary fiction and definitely a poetic feat.
I mooched this because BookMooch kept recommending it to me. On the evidence of this book, Ali Smith is a really good writer, but somehow it didn't live up to my expectations. The basic idea (disruptive outsider bursts into the family's lives and by exposing each person's inner demons causes transformations to happen) isn't exactly original. It felt a bit pretentious in places, and it's one of those books where none of the characters is likeable, so I couldn't really get engaged with it because I didn't care what happened to them. I have a feeling I missed a lot of the references to Hollywood films I haven't seen (this aspect of the book, and the stylistic playfulness, reminded me of [a:Jonathan Coe|19916|Jonathan Coe|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1233589818p2/19916.jpg]). It gets 3 stars for the quality of the writing, and the last section when the Smarts return home, which was more interesting than the rest. I might read another of her books if it comes my way.
I can't beIieve I've had this book in my to-be-read book box for over ten years. Ten years it's been taking up space. No longer. Really, really, really didn't like this book. Far too clever for it's own good, full of highly annoying, self-absorbed characters, densely written in a tiresome way and just... ugh. I ended up skim reading it. How/why did this win all these awards? It's so full of its own cleverness that one of the chapters, based on Michael (the academic)'s experiences is written in different types of poetry. Which is clever I guess if I didn't just want to slap everything about this book.
So, we're at a holiday cottage in Norfolk and the chapters go from one family member to the next in a kind of stream of consciousness that gets really boring to read. There's Astrid, about 12 who is scornful of everything, precocious and annoying. Then Magnus about 16 who is depressed as he helped two of the popular boys created an image from porn, pasting a schoolgirl's head on top, and emailing it to everyone. Said girl was so humiliated that she commited suicide. Nasty nasty. The mother, Eve, is some kind of writer but doesn't have much to do with her kids (I'm really not trying to do mother judging here, but she isn't interested. At the end of the story, when their home has been emptied of EVERYTHING (even carpets), husband facing law suits, son just having escaped prosecution, she buggers off and leaves them all to do a world tour on her own). And Michael, her husband (but not biological father of the children) is an academic who shags one of his students every year. Then this woman, Amber turns up randomly, saying her car broken down and ends up staying with them for weeks with no explanation or invitation. Sorts of brings Astrid out of herself, sleeps a lot with Magnus, ends up punching Eve in the face. Just... what? And then at the end, Eve's car breaks down and she goes to this big American house for help. The house is home to a family from hell and it looks like she will be the next Amber. But... what? Why? Didn't enjoy the ride at all. Didn't like the characters. Don't get it. Dreadful book. Time to move on from my house.
So, we're at a holiday cottage in Norfolk and the chapters go from one family member to the next in a kind of stream of consciousness that gets really boring to read. There's Astrid, about 12 who is scornful of everything, precocious and annoying. Then Magnus about 16 who is depressed as he helped two of the popular boys created an image from porn, pasting a schoolgirl's head on top, and emailing it to everyone. Said girl was so humiliated that she commited suicide. Nasty nasty. The mother, Eve, is some kind of writer but doesn't have much to do with her kids (I'm really not trying to do mother judging here, but she isn't interested. At the end of the story, when their home has been emptied of EVERYTHING (even carpets), husband facing law suits, son just having escaped prosecution, she buggers off and leaves them all to do a world tour on her own). And Michael, her husband (but not biological father of the children) is an academic who shags one of his students every year. Then this woman, Amber turns up randomly, saying her car broken down and ends up staying with them for weeks with no explanation or invitation. Sorts of brings Astrid out of herself, sleeps a lot with Magnus, ends up punching Eve in the face. Just... what? And then at the end, Eve's car breaks down and she goes to this big American house for help. The house is home to a family from hell and it looks like she will be the next Amber. But... what? Why? Didn't enjoy the ride at all. Didn't like the characters. Don't get it. Dreadful book. Time to move on from my house.