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brughiera's review against another edition
4.0
Ali Smith was inspired to write this novel in 2013 when she saw a reproduction of one of Francesco del Cossa's frescoes in an art magazine. She became interested in the fifteenth century artist and tried to find out more about him, eventually going to Ferrara to see the frescoes at the Palazzo Schifanoia. She has said that the duality of the novel was inspired by the frescoes, the layering of paint over drawings, in particular, the question of what comes first. But there are many ways in which 'How to be both' is explored.
There are two inter-linked stories, that of the artist Francescho and of George, a contemporary British teenager. The first way of being both lies in the book's structure, whereby the reader can decide whether to read Francescho's or George's story first. However I would agree with the reviewer in The Atlantic who said: “Regardless of the order, the book requires at least one-and-a-half readings to appreciate clues in either half that resonate only after having read the other.“ It is also helpful to have at hand reproductions of the frecoes painted by Francesco del Cossa, easily found on the web.
Both protagonists share profound mourning for a much–loved and prematurely dead mother. The relationship with their fathers, while still loving ‘au fond’, is less straightforward. They also share some ambiguity of gender or is it of identity? as Francescho is really Francesca while the girl George, who goes by a boy’s name, is initially taken to be a boy by Francescho.
Francescho’s story, when it is not concerned with shadowing George as a spirit in the purgatorium which is contemporary England, revolves around his life from when he first showed his talent for drawing as a child and then, at the suggestion of his bricklayer father, masqueraded as a boy in order first to train and then to practise as an artist. The novel dwells on the highlight of his artistic career, the painting of the frescoes at the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara.
Another of his paintings, this time of San Vincenzo Ferrer, is the one which George finds so absorbing at the National Gallery. There is a strong connection here with Francescho’s father as he was devoted to this Saint, the patron saint of bricklayers, and would have liked Francescho to take his name. Francescho also says he makes the figure of the scandalously old-appearing Christ in that painting in the likeness of his father. Bricks and building walls are another theme of the book, from Francescho’s father’s trade to the poorly built wall from which George monitors Lisa Goliard. Then there is the ‘wall’ of photos that George builds from her pics of Lisa’s house.
George’s story can be seen as a coming to terms with the recent death of her mother. This involves both in-depth research on the painter whose main work her mother had recently taken both George and her brother to see in Italy and her investigation of the mysterious Lisa Goliard whom she suspects of having been spying on her mother – or was there a more intimate relationship?
Ali Smith demands an active participation of the reader as recognizing and appreciating the links between the two stories requires an effort. But there are also many rewards such as Francescho's perspectives on modern technology like mobile phones and tablets, which he perceives as votives and icons to which people "look or talk to or pray to...all the while by holding them next to their heads or stroking them with fingers and staring only at them." For those who are daunted by the first reading, it is well worth persisting with the extra half.
There are two inter-linked stories, that of the artist Francescho and of George, a contemporary British teenager. The first way of being both lies in the book's structure, whereby the reader can decide whether to read Francescho's or George's story first. However I would agree with the reviewer in The Atlantic who said: “Regardless of the order, the book requires at least one-and-a-half readings to appreciate clues in either half that resonate only after having read the other.“ It is also helpful to have at hand reproductions of the frecoes painted by Francesco del Cossa, easily found on the web.
Both protagonists share profound mourning for a much–loved and prematurely dead mother. The relationship with their fathers, while still loving ‘au fond’, is less straightforward. They also share some ambiguity of gender or is it of identity? as Francescho is really Francesca while the girl George, who goes by a boy’s name, is initially taken to be a boy by Francescho.
Francescho’s story, when it is not concerned with shadowing George as a spirit in the purgatorium which is contemporary England, revolves around his life from when he first showed his talent for drawing as a child and then, at the suggestion of his bricklayer father, masqueraded as a boy in order first to train and then to practise as an artist. The novel dwells on the highlight of his artistic career, the painting of the frescoes at the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara.
Another of his paintings, this time of San Vincenzo Ferrer, is the one which George finds so absorbing at the National Gallery. There is a strong connection here with Francescho’s father as he was devoted to this Saint, the patron saint of bricklayers, and would have liked Francescho to take his name. Francescho also says he makes the figure of the scandalously old-appearing Christ in that painting in the likeness of his father. Bricks and building walls are another theme of the book, from Francescho’s father’s trade to the poorly built wall from which George monitors Lisa Goliard. Then there is the ‘wall’ of photos that George builds from her pics of Lisa’s house.
George’s story can be seen as a coming to terms with the recent death of her mother. This involves both in-depth research on the painter whose main work her mother had recently taken both George and her brother to see in Italy and her investigation of the mysterious Lisa Goliard whom she suspects of having been spying on her mother – or was there a more intimate relationship?
Ali Smith demands an active participation of the reader as recognizing and appreciating the links between the two stories requires an effort. But there are also many rewards such as Francescho's perspectives on modern technology like mobile phones and tablets, which he perceives as votives and icons to which people "look or talk to or pray to...all the while by holding them next to their heads or stroking them with fingers and staring only at them." For those who are daunted by the first reading, it is well worth persisting with the extra half.
4nadant's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jeremymorrison's review against another edition
4.0
The lives of a Renascence painter and modern day high school girl intersect.
kamasue's review against another edition
4.0
Weird that I've never read an Ali Smith book. The connection between two people centuries apart but connected through art is so interesting and cleverly structured.
wynnepei's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
stripeyunicorn's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
laurencenz's review against another edition
5.0
Remarkable. The weaving of stories and narratives with a superfine and deft touch - a couple of words here, and reference there. The story of George a young girl in Cambridge, who loses her mother an activist, who in interested in/obsessed by a 15th century italian painter Francesco del Cossa. The first half is centered on her, with some lovely sidelines in friends and family, and the second half on the artist himself. But the two tales are so expertly intervweaved - not just the characters and the plot but the interiors of the characters and the ideas.
O for Awesome.
O for Awesome.
colinlusk's review against another edition
5.0
I took this on holiday to be my delicious beach read. It was harder-going than I expected though, and not even nearly as munchable as the seasonal quartet. As you probably know, it's in two parts, and some editions have the "modern" part before the historical part. Mine was in what I regard as the "right" order, but that means I was immediately thrown in at the deep end with some very non-beachy reading. It faded in via some odd poetry, followed by some strange, broken-up sentences before solidifying into a narrative. The protagonist is a renaissance artist who has died and is looking back on his/her life. The painter is real - Francesco del Cossa - so why do I say "his/her"? Well, have a read and you'll see. It's fascinating but it's pretty hard work at first, and it took me about 3 days to warm to it. Finally, after telling its story, it fades out in much the same way as it started, breaking up into looser language and poetry
The second (in my edition) part is much easier and I flew through it. A pedantic teenager is looking back not on her own life and death but her mother's. There are all sorts of callbacks to the first story, not least that the mother became obsessed with the artist and the palace whose decoraction forms the backdrop of their story. On one level, the book is about loss and mourning, but there's a deeper theme about memory and whether something, or somebody really leaves a mark when they're not remembered. Along the way, there's some good stuff about friendship, about the different ways men and women create art and about the value of artistic creation itself. So in the end, despite worrying I'd picked the wrong book, it turned out to be a hugely entertaining and rewarding read.
The second (in my edition) part is much easier and I flew through it. A pedantic teenager is looking back not on her own life and death but her mother's. There are all sorts of callbacks to the first story, not least that the mother became obsessed with the artist and the palace whose decoraction forms the backdrop of their story. On one level, the book is about loss and mourning, but there's a deeper theme about memory and whether something, or somebody really leaves a mark when they're not remembered. Along the way, there's some good stuff about friendship, about the different ways men and women create art and about the value of artistic creation itself. So in the end, despite worrying I'd picked the wrong book, it turned out to be a hugely entertaining and rewarding read.
hennershenners's review against another edition
4.0
I only picked this up because I thought the cover looked 60's and cool! ‘How to be Both’ by Ali Smith is two interconnected novellas both called Part 1(one has the picture of Eyes the other of a CCTV Camera.) CAMERA is the story of George, a young adult grieving for her mother; EYES is the (partly true) story of Francesco, a Renaissance artist of the 1460s.
But here’s the rub: In half of all printed editions of the novel the narrative EYES comes before CAMERA. In the other half of printed editions the narrative CAMERA precedes EYES.
The narratives are exactly the same in both versions, just in a different order. Everyone thinks that the way they read it is the best way; the way that makes most sense.
Called by some, an adult Choose Your Own Adventure, ‘How to be both’ is best appreciated not as two stories but – as described by George’s mum - "like reading a book in which all the lines of the text have been overprinted, like each page is actually two pages but with one superimposed on the other".
I started with George’s story. And I would recommend that way round because it’s easier (less stream of consciousness) and because the present day setting grounds the story.
I thought 'How to be both' would be tricksy and “Modern” and annoying, especially as George’s story ends (abruptly) and the Painter’s story begins all
Stream of
Consciousness and
Written in shapes
On the page like
It’s a poem
Or
Something
But, it’s so very brilliant that I want to tell the whole world. And it really is both; both: annoying and brilliant, tricksy and traditional, straight and LGBT, male and female, death and life, romantic and cynical, elderly and teenage…
Warning; the Painter sequence especially is very, very ‘Poetic’ almost pretentious, described by Elizabeth Day as “poetic fragments that pull the chronology forward and back and so out-of-shape that sometimes, it is difficult to know what is happening.”
But here’s the rub: In half of all printed editions of the novel the narrative EYES comes before CAMERA. In the other half of printed editions the narrative CAMERA precedes EYES.
The narratives are exactly the same in both versions, just in a different order. Everyone thinks that the way they read it is the best way; the way that makes most sense.
Called by some, an adult Choose Your Own Adventure, ‘How to be both’ is best appreciated not as two stories but – as described by George’s mum - "like reading a book in which all the lines of the text have been overprinted, like each page is actually two pages but with one superimposed on the other".
I started with George’s story. And I would recommend that way round because it’s easier (less stream of consciousness) and because the present day setting grounds the story.
I thought 'How to be both' would be tricksy and “Modern” and annoying, especially as George’s story ends (abruptly) and the Painter’s story begins all
Stream of
Consciousness and
Written in shapes
On the page like
It’s a poem
Or
Something
But, it’s so very brilliant that I want to tell the whole world. And it really is both; both: annoying and brilliant, tricksy and traditional, straight and LGBT, male and female, death and life, romantic and cynical, elderly and teenage…
Warning; the Painter sequence especially is very, very ‘Poetic’ almost pretentious, described by Elizabeth Day as “poetic fragments that pull the chronology forward and back and so out-of-shape that sometimes, it is difficult to know what is happening.”